MORE ON WORLD WAR II HEROES

World War II set in motion a movement that eventually led to freedom

TIMELINE

1939-40

*          To absorb the larger numbers of African Americans being admitted, the Army formed several new all-black units, primarily in the service and technical forces. The 47th and 48th Quartermaster Regiments formed in 1939 were followed in 1940 by the first Chemical Decontamination Company, the 41st General Service Engineer Regiment as well as artillery, coastal artillery, and transportation units.

*          President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Selective Training and Service Act, the first peacetime draft in U.S. history. The act contained an anti-discrimination clause and established a 10 percent quota system to ensure integration. Shortly thereafter, Assistant Secretary of War Robert Patterson issued a memo on segregation that seemingly contradicted the new legislation’s racial policy. Segregated troops remained official U.S. Army policy throughout World War II, because it did not consider racial separation discriminatory. The Army did attempt to dispel racist beliefs among its white officers by issuing Army Service Forces Manual M5, Leadership and the Negro Soldier.

*          Black leaders met with the Secretary of the Navy and the Assistant Secretary of War to present a seven-point program for the mobilization of African Americans. Included were demands for flight training, the admission of black women into Red Cross and military nursing units, and desegregation of the armed forces. President Roosevelt issued a statement on 9 October 1940 that argued against the latter demand on the basis that it would adversely affect national defense. Although he promised to ensure that the services enlisted blacks in proportion to their demographic presence, Roosevelt continued policies dating back to WWI. Many African Americans were angered by the White House’s erroneous claim that the black leaders had approved the statement. However, additional political pressure by African Americans and some Republicans convinced Roosevelt to do more. Consequently, Benjamin O. Davis, Sr. was promoted to Brigadier General, flight training for blacks was planned, more blacks were drafted, Judge William H. Hastie was made a special aide to the Secretary of War, and a black advisor was appointed for the Selective Service Board.

*          Judge William H. Hastie, dean of the Howard University Law School, assumed the position of Civilian Aid to the Secretary of War in Matters of Black Rights. The position was similar to that held by Emmett J. Scott (highest-ranking African-American in Woodrow Wilson’s Administration) during World War I.

*          The U.S. Army Air Corps sent plans to Tuskegee Institute in Alabama concerning the training of African-American pilots. On 6 January 1941, General Henry H. ("Hap") Arnold informed the Assistant Secretary of War about his decision to restrict the training of black flyers to Tuskegee where the necessary facilities to more quickly implement the program were available. In addition, the school was close enough to Montgomery to be supervised by the Maxwell Field Commander

1941 The U. S. Army activated the 366^th Infantry Regiment, the first all-black Regular Army unit commanded by black officers.       

1941 Willa B. Brown becomes a training coordinator for the Civil Aeronautics Administration a teacher in the Civilian Pilot Training Program.

January 1942 Black labor organizer and civil rights leader (and later politician, writer, and professor) Ernest Calloway was the first black to refuse to be inducted because he objected to the Army's racist segregation policy. He was a member of the Conscientious Objectors Against Jim Crow; a group that claimed African American should be exempt from military service because of discrimination. Calloway's protest and subsequent imprisonment generated a lot of national publicity.  Although this particular group disbanded after Calloway was incarcerated, over 400 other black men also became conscientious objectors during WWII. Some were members of the Nation of Islam who refused induction on religious grounds, while others like William Lynn refused to serve because the quota system established by the armed forces contradicted the anti-discrimination clauses of the September 1940 Selective Service and Training Act. January 1941 Labor and civil rights leader, A. Philip Randolph, president of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, proposed a massive March on Washington in July 1941 to protest unfair labor practices in the defense industry and the military’s discrimination against African Americans. During WWI, Randolph had not endorsed other black leaders’ calls to put aside their own grievances and unite behind the war effort, stating, "that rather than volunteer to make the world safe for democracy, he would fight to make Georgia safe for the Negro." His demands for full black participation continued in WWII. 9 January 1941 Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson formally approved the establishment of the flight-training program at Tuskegee Institute. 13 January 1941 The U.S. Army established the 78th Tank Battalion, the first black armor unit. The first African-American tankers reported to Fort Knox, Kentucky, to begin armored warfare training in March 1941. The Seventy-eighth was re-designated on May 8, 1941 as the 758th Tank Battalion (Light). It was the first of three tank battalions comprising the 5th Tank Group, which was made up of black enlisted men and white officers. The other two tank battalions were the 761st and 784th. Initially inactivated on 22 September 1945 at Viareggio, Italy, the 758th was reactivated in 1946 and later fought in the Korean War as the 64th Tank Battalion. February 1941 The 1st Battalion, 351st Field Artillery Regiment was activated at Camp Livingston, Louisiana, as part of the 46th Field Artillery Brigade. Re-designated the 351st Field Artillery Battalion in 1943, the unit arrived in Europe in December 1944. The African-American enlisted personnel were officered by 16 blacks and 15 whites. While stationed in England from December 1944 to February 1945, the 351st Field Artillery Group-Colored’s 50-man Caisson Choir sang for the British public in such notable places as Westminster Abbey and St. Paul’s Cathedral. After being transferred to France in March 1945, the unit was attached to the 9th U.S. Army. While engaged in fighting with the Germans, the 361st fired over 6200 rounds of 155mm Howitzer artillery ammunition into enemy territory. 25 June 1941 President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Executive Order 8802, which reiterated the federal government’s previously stated policy of nondiscrimination in war industry employment. It also created a Committee on Fair Employment Practice to oversee the application of the president’s directive and to expand new job opportunities for black workers. This action was in keeping with a promise made to A. Philip Randolph if he would call off his planned "March on Washington" to protest discrimination and segregation. 29 June 1941-16 November 1944 While on assignment with the Army’s Inspector General, Brigadier General Benjamin O. Davis, Sr., completed several notable inspections involving black troops stationed at northern and southern posts. In a memorandum of 9 November 43, Davis pointed out the nearly impossible task required of African-American soldiers in developing "a high morale in a community that offers him nothing but humiliation and mistreatment." He reported that instead of working to eliminate "Jim Crow" laws in the military, "the Army, by its directives and by actions of commanding officers, has introduced the attitudes of the ‘Governors of the six Southern states,’ in many of the other 42 states of the continental United States." He also conducted several important inquiries into racial clashes between white soldiers or civilians and black soldiers stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina; Alexandria, Louisiana; Fort Dix, New Jersey; Selfridge Field (now Air Force Base), Michigan; and Camp Stewart, Georgia. In his reports, Davis recommended that African-American soldiers gradually be removed from southern posts and that black officers be assigned to command black troops. General Davis also represented the War Department at numerous functions involving black civilians, such as war bond rallies or speeches given to war industry workers. July 1941 The Army opened its integrated officer's candidate schools. For the first 6 months, however, only 21 of the more than 2000 men admitted were black. Whites protested the policy and some black leaders demanded a quota be established to ensure parity, but the Army justified its policy of ignoring race in regard to officer training on the grounds of efficiency and economy. Unfortunately, race continued to determine assignments after newly commissioned officers graduated. Too often, more qualified African-American officers were put in charge of service units, while less qualified white officers continued to be assigned to black combat units. The degree of authority and respect given to black officers also remained a serious problem, since black officers were unable to command even the lowest ranking white soldiers. 19 July 1941 The U.S. Army Air Corps began training African-American pilots at the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. Actual flight instruction began on 25 August. The Tuskegee Institute, which prepared the 926 members of the famed "Tuskegee Airmen" for combat in WWII, remained the only official military flight training school for black pilots until its program closed with the graduation of the last class on 26 June 1946. 4 August 1941 The first commanding officer of Huntsville Arsenal (Alabama), Colonel Rollo C. Ditto, arrived and broke ground for the initial construction of the installation. Huntsville Arsenal, which was part of the Chemical Warfare Service, was the sole manufacturer of colored smoke munitions. It also produced gel-type incendiaries and toxic agents such as mustard gas, phosgene, lewisite, and tear gas. The Army broke ground on neighboring Redstone Arsenal on 25 October 1941. This Ordnance Corps installation manufactured chemical artillery ammunition, burster charges, rifle grenades, and various types of bombs. African-American men and women worked at both arsenals during WWII. By May 1944, when civilian employment reached its wartime peak of 6,707 men and women, blacks represented 22 percent of the work force at Huntsville Arsenal. Notable Black units in WWII Some of the most notable African American Army units which served in World War II were: 92nd Infantry Division 366th Infantry Regiment 93rd Infantry Division 369th Infantry Regiment 371st Infantry Regiment 2nd Cavalry Division 4th Cavalry Brigade 9th Cavalry Regiment 10th Cavalry Regiment 5th Cavalry Brigade 27th Cavalry Regiment 28th Cavalry Regiment  Air Corps Units 332d Fighter Group (Tuskegee Airmen)  Non Divisional Units Infantry Units 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion  Cavalry/Armor Units US Military Academy Cavalry Squadron  5th Reconnaissance Squadron  758th Tank Battalion  761st Tank Battalion  784th Tank Battalion  Field Artillery Units 46th Field Artillery Brigade [15] .  184th Field Artillery Regiment, Illinois National Guard.  333rd Field Artillery Regiment [16] .  349th Field Artillery Regiment [17]  350th Field Artillery Regiment [18]  351st Field Artillery Regiment [19]  353rd Field Artillery Regiment [20]  578th Field Artillery Regiment [21]  333rd Field Artillery Battalion  349th Field Artillery Battalion  350th Field Artillery Battalion  351st Field Artillery Battalion  353rd Field Artillery Battalion  578th Field Artillery Battalion  593rd Field Artillery Battalion  594th Field Artillery Battalion  595th Field Artillery Battalion  596th Field Artillery Battalion  597th Field Artillery Battalion  598th Field Artillery Battalion  599th Field Artillery Battalion  600th Field Artillery Battalion  686th Field Artillery Battalion  777th Field Artillery Battalion  795th Field Artillery Battalion  930th Field Artillery Battalion, Illinois National Guard  931st Field Artillery Battalion, Illinois National Guard  969th Field Artillery Battalion  971st Field Artillery Battalion  973rd Field Artillery Battalion  993rd Field Artillery Battalion  999th Field Artillery Battalion Tank Destroyer Units 614th Tank Destroyer Battalion 646th Tank Destroyer Battalion 649th Tank Destroyer Battalion 659th Tank Destroyer Battalion 669th Tank Destroyer Battalion 679th Tank Destroyer Battalion 795th Tank Destroyer Battalion 827th Tank Destroyer Battalion 828th Tank Destroyer Battalion 829th Tank Destroyer Battalion 846th Tank Destroyer Battalion  Two segregated units were organized by the United States Marine Corps:  51st Defense Battalion. (Composite)  52nd Defense Battalion. (Composite