does anyone know any african american WW2 vets?

[dolf]

specifically, ones who were stationed in england?

i just saw a history program where they said that the black soldiers arrived first and were established in the community before the white soldiers arrived. when the white dudes arrived and wanted to establish segregation, objecting to having black soldiers in the same shops, pubs, etc, the brits were having none of it.

there wasn't ever official segregation in britland but, while it's nice to think that we told bigots we wouldn't play that game, i'm not convinced until i've been convinced.

who wants to enlighten me?

 

[mercury14]

Just one stationed in Italy.

 

[dolf]

Just one stationed in Italy.

what did he make of the italian experience?

 

[Wat_Tyler]

I knew a guy who drove for the Red Ball Express chasing Patton across France. He enlisted right after Pearl Harbor and was in for the duration. He mentioned being in England but spent most of his time talking about being in France.


I'd be happy to ask him, but sadly, he's been dead for several years now.

 

[4est_4est_Gump]

Our vets are all white women, 'cept one and he's about to retire...



The dogs like him a lot, but he is white too.

 

[dolf]

I knew a guy who drove for the Red Ball Express chasing Patton across France. He enlisted right after Pearl Harbor and was in for the duration. He mentioned being in England but spent most of his time talking about being in France.


I'd be happy to ask him, but sadly, he's been dead for several years now.

bummer... i think i might be asking ten years too late. not a lot of vets are still with us.

what did he say about the frogs?

 

[4est_4est_Gump]

My teacher down on the res was a frogman...



I guess Injuns are not what you are looking for. He was mainly on submarines.

 

[dolf]

My teacher down on the res was a frogman...

I guess Injuns are not what you are looking for. He was mainly on submarines.

you know, i never thought about injuns! tell me what you know!!

 

[4est_4est_Gump]

you know, i never thought about injuns! tell me what you know!!

Not much.

One day he finally told me some stories over beers.

He was dropped off on an island with some civilian workers with orders to kill them if found...

Then he tried to pick a fight for me with some frat boys.

I stood up, they left.

 

[CandiCame]

bummer... i think i might be asking ten years too late. not a lot of vets are still with us.

what did he say about the frogs?

I was wondering that. If you were old enough to serve in WW2, you would be ancient now. Anyone left alive after that has got to be amazing.

 

[Wat_Tyler]

bummer... i think i might be asking ten years too late. not a lot of vets are still with us.

what did he say about the frogs?

Or twenty. They've been dying off for years. He talked almost exclusively about the army and I don't remember any comments about the locals.


He had a large drum-type floor sander that was my age and was the least expensive game in town to sand and refinish old floors. Sadly, since no one wants to work in a house when the floors are being sanded, we didn't chat as much as we might if he had done, say drywall work.


I liked him a lot.

 

[4est_4est_Gump]

A Korean war vet taught me how to refinish furniture.

He never talked about the war, ever...

He also never stopped smoking or drinking coffee.

He had the funny Minnehota accent. My name is Jan Jahnson...

 

[Wat_Tyler]

Actually, y grandfather talked as much about the war as any vet I knew. They shipped his ass off to the Pacific when he was a spritely 39 years old.


Mom just gave me his scrapbook of pics he took while in occupied Japan. I need to haul that stuff out and go through it again. I haven't looked at it in . . . wait for it . . .


40 years.

 

[4est_4est_Gump]

You old fucker...

 

[Wat_Tyler]

I know.


How did that happen?


I turned around, and here we are.

 

[Byron In Exile]

I don't know any.

They weren't as common there as in Vietnam.

 

[4est_4est_Gump]

I know.


How did that happen?


I turned around, and here we are.

Ask Byron, Byron will tell you...



Ol' Charlie stole the handle.

 

[Byron In Exile]

Ask Byron, Byron will tell you...

Ol' Charlie stole the handle.

No way to... slow... down...

 

[Wat_Tyler]

Realization, I'm a soldier at 63 . . .


no easy way to be free.


Off for the stimulus . . .


no film at 11.

 

[4est_4est_Gump]

Keep Hymn 43 in your heart...

 

[4est_4est_Gump]

Now Charlie's growing Bootheel rice, up from N'Awlins...

 

[Johnny_Ray_Wilson]

I do not know any African American WWII veterans. I do know a black Korean War veteran whose father fought in WWI and II. He told me once that he still has letters, a diary of sorts, his father kept when fighting in Europe alongside the English. I bet those letters are very interesting. The African American vet I am talking about was in one of the first all black American infantries in Korea. They faced harsh racial prejudice from their own leaders, as did his father.

 

[Byron In Exile]

Keep Hymn 43 in your heart...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amhUURR6y2o

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

I do not know any African American WWII veterans. I do know a black Korean War veteran whose father fought in WWI and II. He told me once that he still has letters, a diary of sorts, his father kept when fighting in Europe alongside the English. I bet those letters are very interesting. The African American vet I am talking about was in one of the first all black infantries in Korea. They faced harsh racial prejudice from their own leaders, as did his father.

Black troops, going back to the Revolution, have been disappointments. Peter Horry called them MORE USEFUL TO THE BRITISH THAN ROADSIGNS. Black troops are known for their false bravado and bullshit, when the chips are down they skeedaddle.

 

[4est_4est_Gump]

I used to get all wound up on Sunday...



It is hard for a kid to sit still and keep quiet all day. By Monday I was ready for school, but they never seemed ready for me!