D-Day Reminiscences in Noir
A recent post on TPM dealing with the "burden" Southerners carried because of slavery touched a nerve regarding African-American participation in battles fought by the US military. One off the cuff remark made by the person who created the Southern lamentations post posited that the African-American soldiers who fought for the Union were not an important part of the War effort because of their small numbers.
The reason that remark touched a nerve was that it was a theme heard throughout the history of the United States military. During WWII many felt that placing African-American troops in battle was unwise. War was not the the time to engage in social experimentation said opponents . Limiting African-Americans to menial tasks in the military was supported by a 1925 report by the Army War College concluding that Blacks lacked the intellect and courage required for war.
Two stories emerged during the D-day memorial this weekend that put the lie to the report. The first was a story in the NYT that reported the activity of the All-Black 320th AntiAircraft Barrage Balloon Battalion. The helium filled balloons deployed by the battalion contained explosives that resulted in the downing of several Nazi aircraft when the German planes struck the balloons. The lone survivor of the unit, William G Dabney, was honored this weekend in France. A total of 700,000 African-Americans served in the Army during WWII. Initially Blacks were kept out of combat roles. However due to manpower shortages, by the end of 1944 two-thirds of Black troops were serving overseas The late entry of Black troops in a war effort, and only after shortages in White troops was also noted in the Civil War.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/06/world/europe/06iht-troops.html?ref=us
The second D-Day story about African-American troops during WWII dealt with honoring 350 African-American soldiers who were held as slave labor in Berga, a subcamp of Buchenwald. The captured Black troops were forced to work on tunnels at Berga, where the Nazis had a secret V-2 rocket factory. More than 100 soldiers died at the prison camp or on a forced 200 mile march in 1945. After the war, two Nazi cammanders of Berga had their death sentences commuted by the US government in 1948 for unknown reasons. Samuel Fahrer, a medic and Berga survivor, tried but failed to get the death penalty reinstated for the camp commanders. The men were finally recognized for bravery on Saturday, June 6th in Orlando, Florida. Six of the 22 surviving prisoners attended. Awards ceremonies for remaining survivors are being planned in local communities. Wayne Drash CNN played a major role in publicizing this story.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/06/08/berga.recognition/index.html?iref=newssearch
The recent recognization of African-American patriots who were long overlooked because of the color of their skin tells us that the country is trying to turn another corner on issues of race. The contributions of men and women who literally had to kick in doors to serve their country is not a little thing. In fact the conditions that they face makes their effort above and beyond the call of duty. These men did their contry proud..
The reason that remark touched a nerve was that it was a theme heard throughout the history of the United States military. During WWII many felt that placing African-American troops in battle was unwise. War was not the the time to engage in social experimentation said opponents . Limiting African-Americans to menial tasks in the military was supported by a 1925 report by the Army War College concluding that Blacks lacked the intellect and courage required for war.
Two stories emerged during the D-day memorial this weekend that put the lie to the report. The first was a story in the NYT that reported the activity of the All-Black 320th AntiAircraft Barrage Balloon Battalion. The helium filled balloons deployed by the battalion contained explosives that resulted in the downing of several Nazi aircraft when the German planes struck the balloons. The lone survivor of the unit, William G Dabney, was honored this weekend in France. A total of 700,000 African-Americans served in the Army during WWII. Initially Blacks were kept out of combat roles. However due to manpower shortages, by the end of 1944 two-thirds of Black troops were serving overseas The late entry of Black troops in a war effort, and only after shortages in White troops was also noted in the Civil War.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/06/world/europe/06iht-troops.html?ref=us
The second D-Day story about African-American troops during WWII dealt with honoring 350 African-American soldiers who were held as slave labor in Berga, a subcamp of Buchenwald. The captured Black troops were forced to work on tunnels at Berga, where the Nazis had a secret V-2 rocket factory. More than 100 soldiers died at the prison camp or on a forced 200 mile march in 1945. After the war, two Nazi cammanders of Berga had their death sentences commuted by the US government in 1948 for unknown reasons. Samuel Fahrer, a medic and Berga survivor, tried but failed to get the death penalty reinstated for the camp commanders. The men were finally recognized for bravery on Saturday, June 6th in Orlando, Florida. Six of the 22 surviving prisoners attended. Awards ceremonies for remaining survivors are being planned in local communities. Wayne Drash CNN played a major role in publicizing this story.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/06/08/berga.recognition/index.html?iref=newssearch
The recent recognization of African-American patriots who were long overlooked because of the color of their skin tells us that the country is trying to turn another corner on issues of race. The contributions of men and women who literally had to kick in doors to serve their country is not a little thing. In fact the conditions that they face makes their effort above and beyond the call of duty. These men did their contry proud..
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. . . by the end of 1944 two-thirds of black troops were serving overseas.
They may have been overseas, but as at home in Pt. Chicago, they were still treated as slaves (stevedores and teamsters, cooks and personal servants).
June 9, 2009 1:19 AM | Reply | Permalink
The dangerous conditions at Port Chicago Naval Magazine in California resulted in an explosion killing 320 sailors and civilians. Most of the dead were African-American sailors.
Fifty Black sailors refused to continue to work under the dangerous conditions, and were charged with mutiny. Oddly enough, the mutiny trial focused attention to the poor conditions Black sailors faced and was part of the reason that the Navy desegregated in 1946.
June 9, 2009 8:58 AM | Reply | Permalink
Excellent post! Thank you!
This is certainly a subject that deserves far more exposure and appreciation by the general public. Whether dying in the Boston Massacre as Crispus Attucks did in the 18th century or fighting and dying in every conflict our nation has been involved in since that time, African Americans have always served the US military with great distinction and honor. This makes the second or third or fourth class treatment they've received in the past all the more offensive to their memory.
For the record, I just want to add that if someone commenting here actually claimed that African Americans played a less than major role in the Civil War then I must say they had no business commenting on the subject. 209,145 African Americans fought for the United States in the Civil War. Over 36,000 of them were killed. Without the "colored" troops and their courage and valor it would have taken even longer to suppress the rebellion and end the war. Dont' let anyone ever tell you or anyone else that African Americans didn't make a major contribution to the victory of the United States in the Civil War. And the above are only the raw numbers of actual soldiers. This says nothing of the vast contribution of free African Americans in the north or of the huge numbers of African Americans known at the time as "contraband" who followed the union armies in the south by the tens of thousands and who became a vital part of the operations of those armies which was an enormous contribution and help in the cause of preserving the Union.
June 9, 2009 2:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
Here is part of the exchange
Desidero, your "Southern" viewpoint is racially biased. Many Southerners with different ethnic backgrounds do not share your perspective.
Your initial dismissal of the efforts of Black union soldiers as "romantic BS" pointed out your bias. You then amended your remarks to say that you admired those Black soldiers who fought for the Union, but had to find Southern comfort by adding that the Black effort was minor in the grand scheme of things. Then you topped it off by stating that the masses of African-American did not rise up against the Confederacy.
Perhaps you should spend time reading the history of darker hued Southerners who engaged in work slow downs on plantations, significantly impairing the Southern war effort. In addition slave escapes presented the North and South with a dilemma. Initially, slaves were returned to their owners by Union soldiers. The shear number of slave escapes played a role in Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation. Your viewpoint that slaves did not play a role in the defeat of the South is in error. The slaves aided the collapse of the Southern economy.
There have been repeated statements that slavery would have ended without the War because of industrialization. You should read about the Tredegar Iron Works in Richmond, Virginia. This munitions plant supplied the South and half of the staff, including mechanics, were slave labor.
Industrialization would have led to the use of slave labor as cheaper labor to complete with the cheap White labor force in the North.
Even when slavery ended, the South used techniques like sharecropping and use of prison labor to continue access to a cheap labor force. techniques would change, but profiting from another man's sweat would have continued. The war did provide a whiff of freedom for former slaves who could keep the funds that they earned.
Posted by rmrd0000 in reply to a comment from Desidero
May 29, 2009 11:50 AM | Reply | Permalink
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Distorted readings.
The masses of black did not rise up against the Confederacy. Some did, a small percentage of the fighting forces, as I gave the figures - 4.5 million soldiers in all, 180,000 black, half from the South, a number of which defected to the North ASAP, some of whom fought on the other side. Those who fought likely committed a great amount of bravery and heroism, but I don't see why we should act as if black involvement in the Civil War was hugely significant militarily. My back-pedaling was simply that I'm not trying to insult either the passion or the skill of those who fought. This all began because someone accused *me* of having a romantic notion of the glory and honor of the Old South and then threw in this tidbit as if every slave rose to fight off their shackles.
Now, whether slaves running away affected the war was an issue I never addressed.
Whether an industrial version of sharecropping could exist requires its own thesis. Not for me. The presumption that the South could have turned to industry fast enough to employ the millions of slaves is rather absurd. Factories are capital-intensive, cotton farming isn't. The South didn't manage to industrialize much in the course of 100 years after the war.
Posted by Desidero in reply to a comment from rmrd0000
May 31, 2009 1:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
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Context can be found in the original post
http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/talk/blogs/jade7243/2009/05/north-versus-south-justices-an.php#comment-3484374
June 9, 2009 2:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
Oy! I stand by my comments above.
June 9, 2009 4:30 PM | Reply | Permalink