Mar.28th, 1940 Allied Politics
Britain and France plan to mine Norwegian waters to force Nazi ships into the open seas and expose them to naval attack. Put off to April 8th, this is too late to prevent the Nazi invasion planned for the 9th.
Mar.31st, 1940 Atlantic Sea War
German cruiser Atlantis, captained by Bernhard Rogge, sets out to sink enemy ships. Over the months of early 1940, the total tonnage sank reaches over 93,000.
It is followed by the Orion on April 8th.
Apr.8th, 1940 Sea War, Norway
As the British lay mines off the coast of Norway, the British destroyer HMS Glowworm intercepts part of the German fleet but is sunk after ramming the heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper. A British submarine sinks the transport Rio de Janiero. The deployed Royal Navy is unable to intercept the German invasion fleet.
Apr.9th, 1940 Invasion of Denmark and Norway
Codename Fall Weserubung or Operation Weser Exercise, begins in the early morning. The German tactic of blitzkrieg is put into full effect by lightning speed, meticulous planning and total secrecy. Denmark puts up little to no resistance. Two German aircraft are shot down and a few armored cars are damaged. Thirteen Danish soldiers are killed and only 23 wounded.
The German naval invasion of Norway incurs heavy losses, with three cruisers, the Karlsrube, Konigsberg, and Blucher sank and a battleship badly damaged. Invading with a 1000 aircraft, Luftwaffe units took over airfields and established air superiority while ships land ground forces at six locations. Norwegian forces are taken completely by surprise. King Haakon of Norway manages to escape to the north with most of his government. The whole campaign ends up lasting 62 days with 5000 casualties on both sides.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Schindler's List up for sale
Mar.23rd, 2010
One of only a handful of surviving copies of Oskar Schindler's list, made famous in Steven Spielberg's Oscar-winning film, is up for sale for a whopping $2.2 million.
"It's the only one remaining in private hands," Gary Zimet, who lives in upstate New York, told the London's Telegraph.
The list, compiled by Schindler and Itzhak Stern, is reportedly dated April 18, 1945, is 13 pages long, and contains 801 names. The price for the item is set and will not be auctioned off, but instead offered on a "first come, first serve" basis.
Schindler has been credited with saving more than 1,000 Jews from Nazi concentration camps near the end of World War II.
Although the film "Schindler's List" suggests there was only one list, several copies were actually drafted. Today, only a few are known to have survived, and now reside at museums in the United States and Israel. The list for sale now was discovered in an Australian library last year. It was found in a box of material that once belonged to Thomas Keneally, who wrote the award-winning novel that inspired the film.
One of only a handful of surviving copies of Oskar Schindler's list, made famous in Steven Spielberg's Oscar-winning film, is up for sale for a whopping $2.2 million.
"It's the only one remaining in private hands," Gary Zimet, who lives in upstate New York, told the London's Telegraph.
The list, compiled by Schindler and Itzhak Stern, is reportedly dated April 18, 1945, is 13 pages long, and contains 801 names. The price for the item is set and will not be auctioned off, but instead offered on a "first come, first serve" basis.
Schindler has been credited with saving more than 1,000 Jews from Nazi concentration camps near the end of World War II.
Although the film "Schindler's List" suggests there was only one list, several copies were actually drafted. Today, only a few are known to have survived, and now reside at museums in the United States and Israel. The list for sale now was discovered in an Australian library last year. It was found in a box of material that once belonged to Thomas Keneally, who wrote the award-winning novel that inspired the film.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Finland ends Winter War while Scandinavia targeted
Mar.11th, 1940
Eastern Front, Finland
After 105 days of conflict since being invaded, Finland signs a peace treaty with the Soviet Union, ceding 10% of their territory around the Baltic to improve Soviet defenses around their ports. Finland did not capitulate to the Soviet Union's attempt to annex their country, and retained independence. The war was near disaster for the Red Army, losing 200,000 men, while the Finns lost only 25,000.
Northern Front, Scandinavia
Hitler, convinced of his military planning ability after the victory against Poland in 1939, orders an attack on Norway. Denmark is also included in the plan. He takes personal charge, issuing orders through General Keitel and his Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (OKW) rather than planning through Oberkommando des Heeres (OKH), the Army high command.
Following on the heels of February's decision to circumvent a direct route planning to invade France and Western Europe, this sudden plan to invade the tactically weak north should have clued military advisers that Hitler's state of mind was on shaky ground even at this early a stage. By this time the Generals who had the most power were all cronies of Hitler, catering to his every whim and outrageous demand. Their lack of backbone would haunt them during the war to come.
Eastern Front, Finland
After 105 days of conflict since being invaded, Finland signs a peace treaty with the Soviet Union, ceding 10% of their territory around the Baltic to improve Soviet defenses around their ports. Finland did not capitulate to the Soviet Union's attempt to annex their country, and retained independence. The war was near disaster for the Red Army, losing 200,000 men, while the Finns lost only 25,000.
Northern Front, Scandinavia
Hitler, convinced of his military planning ability after the victory against Poland in 1939, orders an attack on Norway. Denmark is also included in the plan. He takes personal charge, issuing orders through General Keitel and his Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (OKW) rather than planning through Oberkommando des Heeres (OKH), the Army high command.
Following on the heels of February's decision to circumvent a direct route planning to invade France and Western Europe, this sudden plan to invade the tactically weak north should have clued military advisers that Hitler's state of mind was on shaky ground even at this early a stage. By this time the Generals who had the most power were all cronies of Hitler, catering to his every whim and outrageous demand. Their lack of backbone would haunt them during the war to come.
Monday, March 8, 2010
Female Pilots of WWII to be honored
Mar.8th, 2010
In 1942, with a shortage of male pilots and a desperate need to muscle up for war, the military needed new recruitment material. Famed aviatrix Jacqueline Cochran had been lobbying First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt for a corps of female pilots. Eventually, Gen. H.H. "Hap" Arnold agreed. The Women Airforce Service Pilots, or WASP, program was born, training the first women to fly U.S. military aircraft.
Recruited by newspaper ads and public service announcements, about 25,000 women answered the call. Of the more than 1,800 selected for training, 1,102 graduated.
During the war, they flew 60 million miles in every aircraft available -- Piper Cubs to B-29 bombers. Prohibited from flying in combat, they transported military personnel, towed targets for gunnery practice and tested planes newly repaired or overhauled.
By the time the program was disbanded in December 1944, 38 women pilots had lost their lives. But there were no flags or military honors at their funerals. Their bodies were sent home and buried at their families' expense. The surviving WASP veterans paid their own way home and melted from history's pages.
The military decreed that their existence had never been cleared by Congress, and denied them benefits. Arnold's son Bruce lobbied for their recognition as veterans, a status Congress finally conferred in 1977.
This week, with fewer than 300 WASP members still alive, Congress is bestowing Congressional Gold Medals on all the trailblazing pilots.
In 1942, with a shortage of male pilots and a desperate need to muscle up for war, the military needed new recruitment material. Famed aviatrix Jacqueline Cochran had been lobbying First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt for a corps of female pilots. Eventually, Gen. H.H. "Hap" Arnold agreed. The Women Airforce Service Pilots, or WASP, program was born, training the first women to fly U.S. military aircraft.
Recruited by newspaper ads and public service announcements, about 25,000 women answered the call. Of the more than 1,800 selected for training, 1,102 graduated.
During the war, they flew 60 million miles in every aircraft available -- Piper Cubs to B-29 bombers. Prohibited from flying in combat, they transported military personnel, towed targets for gunnery practice and tested planes newly repaired or overhauled.
By the time the program was disbanded in December 1944, 38 women pilots had lost their lives. But there were no flags or military honors at their funerals. Their bodies were sent home and buried at their families' expense. The surviving WASP veterans paid their own way home and melted from history's pages.
The military decreed that their existence had never been cleared by Congress, and denied them benefits. Arnold's son Bruce lobbied for their recognition as veterans, a status Congress finally conferred in 1977.
This week, with fewer than 300 WASP members still alive, Congress is bestowing Congressional Gold Medals on all the trailblazing pilots.
Sidney Phillips' World War II experience a central part of HBO's 'The Pacific'
Mar.8th, 2010
Some men are broken by war, unable to escape the memories of what they've done or seen. Dr. Sidney Phillips, a Mobile native and survivor of some of the most brutal combat in World War II, is not one of them.
"Well," Phillips said Thursday. "Sit down and let's start telling some lies. ..."
But his life is the stuff of history, not lies. Phillips is a central character in "The Pacific," a 14-hour HBO miniseries that will premiere in Mobile this weekend.
As a 17-year-old just graduated from Murphy High School, Phillips witnessed barbarity of the most base kind in the jungles of Guadalcanal during the opening battle of America's war in the Pacific. Even today, he can recall finding decapitated and mutilated bodies of fellow Marines left to rot in the jungle, bodies that had suffered indignities too cruel to repeat.
"Our battalion never took a prisoner that I know of after that," he says.
But instead of coming home with a bitter heart, Phillips returned with a calling. It happened in the heat of battle as he fired mortars from an encampment next to a surgical tent at an enemy he couldn't see.
"They were bringing all these wounded men in past me. I wanted to be able to help so badly, but I didn't know how," Phillips said. "When I got home I went into medicine ... I was determined not to be scarred by the war."
He said the hundreds of autopsies he watched in medical school took some power from what he saw on the battlefield. "The concept of horror disappeared from my life. Those things didn't bother me anymore."
Phillips said his high school buddy, Eugene Sledge, had a harder time coming home.
"I told him over and over, 'Just forget all that crap. Get it out of your mind and get on with your life. We would stay up until 2 in the morning talking about the war."
Eugene Sledge's World War II memoir is used heavily in "The Pacific."
Decades later, Sledge wrote a celebrated memoir titled "With the Old Breed." Phillips also knew Robert Leckie, author of "Helmet for My Pillow." Those two books form the backbone of the story told in the HBO special.
"Eugene was my best friend. He was the best man at my wedding. And Robert Leckie, we were in the same company in the war. I knew him well," Phillips said.
"Robert was nobody. Eugene was nobody. Just so happens they wrote these incredible books. Now Sledge is dead and Leckie is dead. I'm all that's left. Those Hollywood producers were so excited to learn I was still around. For an 85-year-old codger to be catapulted into this is startling," he said, grinning. "You find Tom Hanks on one side, Steven Spielberg on the other, both arm in arm with you, flashes going off on the red carpet, that's heady stuff."
(article edited from the Mobile Press-Register)
Friday, March 5, 2010
"Basterds" latest WWII entry in the Oscars
Mar.3rd, 2010
Quentin Tarantino rewrote the ending of World War II with "Inglourious Basterds," his "Dirty Dozen"-style commando adventure that is nominated for best picture at Sunday's Academy Awards.
Filmmakers have been writing the war itself into Oscar history almost since combat broke out. No other subject has resulted in more key Oscar contenders, with nearly three dozen World War II-themed films nominated for best picture, starting with Charles Chaplin's 1940 Nazi satire "The Great Dictator."
Seven films with the war as a backdrop have won the top prize at the Oscars — roughly one in 10 of the best-picture winners since 1940.
The winners are bookended by two wartime romantic adventures, 1943's "Casablanca" and 1996's "The English Patient."
Also winning best picture were 1946's homecoming drama "The Best Years of Our Lives"; 1953's Pearl Harbor saga "From Here to Eternity"; 1957's prisoner-of-war tale "The Bridge on the River Kwai"; 1970's film biography "Patton"; and 1993's Holocaust epic "Schindler's List."
Sunday's ceremony marks the first time since the heart of the war that 10 films, rather than the usual five, are competing for best picture. That last time came with the triumph of "Casablanca," when two other World War II tales — "In Which We Serve" and "Watch on the Rhine" — also were among the 10 nominees.
Other best-picture contenders over the decades have included Holocaust dramas (1959's "The Diary of Anne Frank," 1998's "Life Is Beautiful" and 2002's "The Pianist"); battle epics (1942's "Wake Island," 1962's "The Longest Day" and 1997's "Saving Private Ryan"); naval and aerial stories (1949's "Twelve O'Clock High," 1954's "The Caine Mutiny" and 1955's "Mister Roberts"); crime and justice narratives (1961's "Judgment at Nuremberg," 1984's "A Soldier's Story" and 2008's "The Reader"); and home-front chronicles (1942's "Mrs. Miniver" and 1987's "Hope and Glory").
Before "Inglourious Basterds," the most recent best-picture contender set during the war was 2006's "Letters From Iwo Jima."
While set years after the war, "The Reader" earned Kate Winslet the best-actress Oscar a year ago for her role as a former concentration camp guard on trial. Other acting winners for World War II-themed films include William Holden for 1953's "Stalag 17," Frank Sinatra and Donna Reed for "From Here to Eternity," George C. Scott for "Patton"[who was one of only two actors to turn down his award], Juliette Binoche for "The English Patient" and Adrien Brody for "The Pianist."
"Avatar" and "The Hurt Locker" are considered the best-picture front-runners, but "Inglourious Basterds" seems certain to win at least one major prize. Dominating at earlier Hollywood honors, Christoph Waltz is heavily favored to earn the supporting-actor Oscar for his "Basterds" role as a chillingly amiable Nazi known as the Third Reich's ace Jew hunter.
(edited article from the San Francisco Post)
Quentin Tarantino rewrote the ending of World War II with "Inglourious Basterds," his "Dirty Dozen"-style commando adventure that is nominated for best picture at Sunday's Academy Awards.
Filmmakers have been writing the war itself into Oscar history almost since combat broke out. No other subject has resulted in more key Oscar contenders, with nearly three dozen World War II-themed films nominated for best picture, starting with Charles Chaplin's 1940 Nazi satire "The Great Dictator."
Seven films with the war as a backdrop have won the top prize at the Oscars — roughly one in 10 of the best-picture winners since 1940.
The winners are bookended by two wartime romantic adventures, 1943's "Casablanca" and 1996's "The English Patient."
Also winning best picture were 1946's homecoming drama "The Best Years of Our Lives"; 1953's Pearl Harbor saga "From Here to Eternity"; 1957's prisoner-of-war tale "The Bridge on the River Kwai"; 1970's film biography "Patton"; and 1993's Holocaust epic "Schindler's List."
Sunday's ceremony marks the first time since the heart of the war that 10 films, rather than the usual five, are competing for best picture. That last time came with the triumph of "Casablanca," when two other World War II tales — "In Which We Serve" and "Watch on the Rhine" — also were among the 10 nominees.
Other best-picture contenders over the decades have included Holocaust dramas (1959's "The Diary of Anne Frank," 1998's "Life Is Beautiful" and 2002's "The Pianist"); battle epics (1942's "Wake Island," 1962's "The Longest Day" and 1997's "Saving Private Ryan"); naval and aerial stories (1949's "Twelve O'Clock High," 1954's "The Caine Mutiny" and 1955's "Mister Roberts"); crime and justice narratives (1961's "Judgment at Nuremberg," 1984's "A Soldier's Story" and 2008's "The Reader"); and home-front chronicles (1942's "Mrs. Miniver" and 1987's "Hope and Glory").
Before "Inglourious Basterds," the most recent best-picture contender set during the war was 2006's "Letters From Iwo Jima."
While set years after the war, "The Reader" earned Kate Winslet the best-actress Oscar a year ago for her role as a former concentration camp guard on trial. Other acting winners for World War II-themed films include William Holden for 1953's "Stalag 17," Frank Sinatra and Donna Reed for "From Here to Eternity," George C. Scott for "Patton"[who was one of only two actors to turn down his award], Juliette Binoche for "The English Patient" and Adrien Brody for "The Pianist."
"Avatar" and "The Hurt Locker" are considered the best-picture front-runners, but "Inglourious Basterds" seems certain to win at least one major prize. Dominating at earlier Hollywood honors, Christoph Waltz is heavily favored to earn the supporting-actor Oscar for his "Basterds" role as a chillingly amiable Nazi known as the Third Reich's ace Jew hunter.
(edited article from the San Francisco Post)
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Dr. Seuss' birthday
Mar.2nd, 1904 was the birthday of Ted Geisel, more popularly known as Dr. Seuss, famous for his children book series. Not so commonly known was that he produced 100s of political cartoons during the war. They can be found in a collected volume through most bookstores. Most of them were of course politically incorrect for our time, but not even modern cartoons claim correctness, some even intentionally stepping over the line of good taste, racist issues, or outright slander, just to make a point.
Parachute Infantry prayer
I know this is out of time-line context, but a lot of things I will be writing here (instead of copy/pasting/editing/etc) will be little tidbits of stuff I've found interesting or wanted to rant about.
I've been reading "Parachute Infantry", the memoir by David Kenyon Webster. Anyone who has seen Band Of Brothers know his character. He was the one who gave the small Netherlands boy his first taste of chocolate. When he was hit in Holland he said, "They got me. Can you believe I said that?". He also had the episode where upon returning to Easy Co. after the Battle Of The Bulge, he went on a night-raid with the new Lieutenant across the river in Hagenau. The last bit focusing on him was where he stood up in back of a truck to rant against the surrendered marching Germans.
Anyway, he recounts a memorial service that the 506th Parachute Battalion had for the 231 men lost in the Normandy operation. It was held in Littlecote, England on August 28th. The assembled men recited the Parachute Infantry prayer, written by Lt. James G. Morton. Webster said it was "a fine example of the Gott mit Uns spirit of parachute infantry". I'm not sure if he was being sarcastic in implying that U.S. soldiers were no better in their religious beliefs than the Germans, or if he was pointing out the brotherhood of all honorable soldiers.
"Almighty God, we kneel to Thee and ask to be the instrument of Thy fury in smiting the evil forces that have visited death, misery, and debasement on the people of the earth. We humbly face Thee with true penitence for all our sins, for which we do most earnestly seek Thy forgiveness. Help us to dedicate ourselves completely to Thee. Be with us, God, when we leap from our planes in the dark abyss and descend in parachutes into the midst of enemy fire. Give us iron will and stark courage as we spring from the harnesses of our parachutes to seize arms for battle.
The legions of evil are many, Father; grace our arms to meet and defeat them in Thy name and in the name of the freedom and dignity of man. Keep us firm in our faith and resolution, and guide us that we may not disho0nor our high mission or fail in our sacred duties. Let our enemies who have lived by the sword turn from their violence lest they perish by the sword. Help us to serve Thee gallantly and to be humble in victory."
They also played Taps, which Webster included the lyrics for. I have never known that there were words to the song, but reading them I cannot help but hear the lonely notes to the song.
When your last
Day is past,
Some bright star
From afar
O'er your grave,
Watch will keep.
While you sleep
With the brave.
I've been reading "Parachute Infantry", the memoir by David Kenyon Webster. Anyone who has seen Band Of Brothers know his character. He was the one who gave the small Netherlands boy his first taste of chocolate. When he was hit in Holland he said, "They got me. Can you believe I said that?". He also had the episode where upon returning to Easy Co. after the Battle Of The Bulge, he went on a night-raid with the new Lieutenant across the river in Hagenau. The last bit focusing on him was where he stood up in back of a truck to rant against the surrendered marching Germans.
Anyway, he recounts a memorial service that the 506th Parachute Battalion had for the 231 men lost in the Normandy operation. It was held in Littlecote, England on August 28th. The assembled men recited the Parachute Infantry prayer, written by Lt. James G. Morton. Webster said it was "a fine example of the Gott mit Uns spirit of parachute infantry". I'm not sure if he was being sarcastic in implying that U.S. soldiers were no better in their religious beliefs than the Germans, or if he was pointing out the brotherhood of all honorable soldiers.
"Almighty God, we kneel to Thee and ask to be the instrument of Thy fury in smiting the evil forces that have visited death, misery, and debasement on the people of the earth. We humbly face Thee with true penitence for all our sins, for which we do most earnestly seek Thy forgiveness. Help us to dedicate ourselves completely to Thee. Be with us, God, when we leap from our planes in the dark abyss and descend in parachutes into the midst of enemy fire. Give us iron will and stark courage as we spring from the harnesses of our parachutes to seize arms for battle.
The legions of evil are many, Father; grace our arms to meet and defeat them in Thy name and in the name of the freedom and dignity of man. Keep us firm in our faith and resolution, and guide us that we may not disho0nor our high mission or fail in our sacred duties. Let our enemies who have lived by the sword turn from their violence lest they perish by the sword. Help us to serve Thee gallantly and to be humble in victory."
They also played Taps, which Webster included the lyrics for. I have never known that there were words to the song, but reading them I cannot help but hear the lonely notes to the song.
When your last
Day is past,
Some bright star
From afar
O'er your grave,
Watch will keep.
While you sleep
With the brave.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Marines land on Iwo Jima to mark 65th anniversary
Mar.2nd, 2010
Hundreds of U.S. Marines land today on Iwo Jima to prepare for the 65th anniversary of one of World War II's bloodiest battles.
The Marines flew in trucks, water and food to support Wednesday's commemorations of the 1945 battle that was a turning point in the Pacific theater. It claimed 6,821 American and 21,570 Japanese lives in 36 days of intense fighting.
The commemoration is to be attended by about 1,000 people, including members of Japan's parliament and representatives of the Iwo Jima survivors' association.
Only about two dozen American veterans of the battle are expected to attend the "reunion of honor" ceremony because few of the survivors — now in their 80s and 90s — are able to make the trip.
Iwo Jima, a tiny island the size of Manhattan, is a maze of tunnels, caves and dense, scraggly underbrush. It is believed to be covered with too much unexploded ordnance left over from the battle to be developed, and has been largely untouched since the war.
It is, instead, an open tomb.
Though dozens of remains are recovered every year, about 12,000 Japanese are still classified as missing in action and presumed killed on the island, along with 218 Americans.
The Marines who arrived Tuesday from the 3rd Marine Expeditionary Force on the island of Okinawa, many of whom have been to battle either in Iraq or Afghanistan, said they were visiting hallowed ground.
Joined by Japanese troops and U.S. Navy sailors, many of the Marines trekked down to the beach where the invasion of the island began on Feb. 19, 1945, and filled bottles with its famous black volcanic sand. Others jogged to the top of Mount Suribachi, where the U.S. flag was raised on Feb. 23 — an image captured by AP photographer Joe Rosenthal that became one of the most enduring ever taken of war.
Iwo Jima was declared secured on March 26, 1945. Japan surrendered in August of that year.
(article edited from Associated Press)
Hundreds of U.S. Marines land today on Iwo Jima to prepare for the 65th anniversary of one of World War II's bloodiest battles.
The Marines flew in trucks, water and food to support Wednesday's commemorations of the 1945 battle that was a turning point in the Pacific theater. It claimed 6,821 American and 21,570 Japanese lives in 36 days of intense fighting.
The commemoration is to be attended by about 1,000 people, including members of Japan's parliament and representatives of the Iwo Jima survivors' association.
Only about two dozen American veterans of the battle are expected to attend the "reunion of honor" ceremony because few of the survivors — now in their 80s and 90s — are able to make the trip.
Iwo Jima, a tiny island the size of Manhattan, is a maze of tunnels, caves and dense, scraggly underbrush. It is believed to be covered with too much unexploded ordnance left over from the battle to be developed, and has been largely untouched since the war.
It is, instead, an open tomb.
Though dozens of remains are recovered every year, about 12,000 Japanese are still classified as missing in action and presumed killed on the island, along with 218 Americans.
The Marines who arrived Tuesday from the 3rd Marine Expeditionary Force on the island of Okinawa, many of whom have been to battle either in Iraq or Afghanistan, said they were visiting hallowed ground.
Joined by Japanese troops and U.S. Navy sailors, many of the Marines trekked down to the beach where the invasion of the island began on Feb. 19, 1945, and filled bottles with its famous black volcanic sand. Others jogged to the top of Mount Suribachi, where the U.S. flag was raised on Feb. 23 — an image captured by AP photographer Joe Rosenthal that became one of the most enduring ever taken of war.
Iwo Jima was declared secured on March 26, 1945. Japan surrendered in August of that year.
(article edited from Associated Press)
Glenn Miller's birthday
Alton Glenn Miller (March 1, 1904 – missing December 15, 1944), was an American jazz musician, arranger, composer, and bandleader in the swing era. He was one of the best-selling recording artists from 1939 to 1943, leading one of the best known "Big bands". Miller's signature recordings include In the Mood, American Patrol, Chattanooga Choo Choo, Tuxedo Junction, Moonlight Serenade, Little Brown Jug and Pennsylvania 6-5000.[1] While traveling to entertain U.S. troops in France during World War II, Miller's plane disappeared in bad weather over the English Channel. His body has never been found.
Monday, March 1, 2010
Racial Equality at the cutting edge during WW2
About 900,000 black Americans served in the Army during World War II, but only the 92nd division saw infantry combat in Europe. Most African Americans in the military were assigned to segregated construction or supply units. The government excluded black soldiers from combat until the spring of 1944 and did not end segregation in the armed forces until July 26, 1948, three years after World War II.
Robert Shumpert was drafted in the spring of 1943, served in the Army until November 1945 and was assigned to the 1323rd Engineer Regiment, an all-black unit. He drove a truck and delivered supplies to the front lines in Europe during World War II.
"Nobody that I knew complained that they didn't get to fight," Shumpert said. "That's just the way it was, and nothing was said about it."
The black units worked together, apart from white units, he said. The only mixing of races occurred on the troop transport ships.
"There were blacks and whites all over the ship, and we all had fun," he said. The only time segregation came into play was at chow time. "Blacks didn't eat with whites," he said. "We had our own mess hall."
Segregation was not as prevalent in Europe as in the United States, he said. When he got the chance to do some sightseeing in Paris and London after the war, he noticed the differences.
"You could mix with whites," he said. "And you could sit where you wanted to on the buses. You didn't have to go to the back. I would say we were treated better over there than at home."
When Shumpert returned from the war, he rode a bus and had to go to the back of the bus behind a curtain that separated blacks from white passengers. Such treatment bothered Shumpert even more after his war experiences, but it was the law of the land at the time.
President Harry Truman signed an executive order in 1948 integrating the military.
Still, the last all-black Army unit wasn't disbanded until 1954.
The most famous segregated military units that saw combat in World War II were the Tuskegee Airmen and the 761st Tank Battalion under Gen. George S. Patton.
(article adapted from jacksonsun.com)
Robert Shumpert was drafted in the spring of 1943, served in the Army until November 1945 and was assigned to the 1323rd Engineer Regiment, an all-black unit. He drove a truck and delivered supplies to the front lines in Europe during World War II.
"Nobody that I knew complained that they didn't get to fight," Shumpert said. "That's just the way it was, and nothing was said about it."
The black units worked together, apart from white units, he said. The only mixing of races occurred on the troop transport ships.
"There were blacks and whites all over the ship, and we all had fun," he said. The only time segregation came into play was at chow time. "Blacks didn't eat with whites," he said. "We had our own mess hall."
Segregation was not as prevalent in Europe as in the United States, he said. When he got the chance to do some sightseeing in Paris and London after the war, he noticed the differences.
"You could mix with whites," he said. "And you could sit where you wanted to on the buses. You didn't have to go to the back. I would say we were treated better over there than at home."
When Shumpert returned from the war, he rode a bus and had to go to the back of the bus behind a curtain that separated blacks from white passengers. Such treatment bothered Shumpert even more after his war experiences, but it was the law of the land at the time.
President Harry Truman signed an executive order in 1948 integrating the military.
Still, the last all-black Army unit wasn't disbanded until 1954.
The most famous segregated military units that saw combat in World War II were the Tuskegee Airmen and the 761st Tank Battalion under Gen. George S. Patton.
(article adapted from jacksonsun.com)
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