President Truman and Executive Order 9981

Today’s Information On African American History: October 31, 2009

Ever since slavery, white people have been reluctant to put guns in the hands of black people or give them military training, even it such actions could help white people.

There has long been a fear among whites that if enough blacks owned guns, they would retaliate against the whites for years (centuries!) of injustice. However, some African Americans didn’t need guns to retaliate; some used poison, others used slacking on the job, some would deliberate break equipment, and some would just use their mouth and influence. A few slave uprisings gave white people reason to keep a keen eye on slaves, and any black person, during the mid-19th century. After a horrendous slave uprising led by prophet/minister/seer Nat Turner in Virginia, 55 whites killed during the revolt, many of the slaves involved were tried and hung. Nat Turner was skinned after he was hung, but hundreds of blacks that had nothing to do with the uprisings were illegally murdered. This incident frightened white people because they thought they had completely dominated the minds of black people.

Although there were other slave uprisings, another one that caught the attention of white people and gave them cause for alarm was the one led by François-Dominique Toussaint Louverture in Haiti. This man became general, repulsed Spanish and British forces because they wanted to reinstitute slavery. He even stood his own ground against some French forces. Ultimately, he was taken in a surprise “freedom meeting” with some French officers on his farm and shipped to France where he died of pneumonia.

Whites in America were shocked that a black man like Toussaint could wield so much power and repel forces that were supposedly more superior than he and his own forces. However, this news did cause some whites to consider the negative images of what that they had been fed by those in the slave business was not entirely correct. Plus, many whites had seen blacks with discipline in the South as well as in the North, leading some to believe that maybe slavery for all black people was not right after all.

When President Harry S. Truman signed Executive Order 9981, ending “segregation in the Armed Forces of the United States” in 1948, African Americans had earned a history of outstanding military conduct. They were further honored when the Cheyenne Indians called them “wild buffalo” soldiers, due to their fierce fighting spirit when cornered like the buffalo. The term soon evolved to “Buffalo Soldier,” and has been expanded back to Crispus Attucks and brought forward to the Space Age.

According to research on the history of African Americans in military service by Captain Paul J. Matthews of the Buffalo Soldiers National Museum, as well as others, African Americans have served this country “valiantly in all the nation’s major wars.” So, before slavery, during slavery, after slavery, during the Civil War and beyond, African Americans fought for America’s freedoms while they still suffered from white-imposed cruelties, discrimination, and economic impotence.

Here is a quick review of Buffalo Soldiers (or blacks fighting for America):

Revolutionary War: served from all of the original colonies “as volunteers, draftees, and paid substitutes for White draftees…guerilla fighters and spies for the Army, and as pilots and crew members of several naval vessels.” A stamp was issued for another: Salem Poor. Born a free Black man in the early 1750s, Salem Poor joined a Massachusetts Militia company commanded by Benjamin Ames in 1775. According to the Ebony Society Of Philatelic Events And Reflections, “he is believed to have fired the shot that killed a high ranking British officer, Lt. Col. James Abercrombie. Whatever the case, his conduct was so exceptional that it was noted in a petition to the Massachusetts Legislature signed by fourteen of his officers. The petition stated, "A Negro called Salem Poor of Colonel Frye's regiment, Captain Ames' company, in the late battle at Charlestown, behaved like an experienced officer, as well as an excellent soldier. It would be tedious to go into more detail regarding his heroic conduct. We only beg leave to say, in the person of this said Negro centers a brave and gallant soldier."

War of 1812 (aka The Second Revolutionary War): Jesse Williams helped defend Philadelphia “against the British…served in the Navy at the Battle of Lake Erie,” and helped General Andrew Jackson in “the decisive battle of New Orleans.” He was “awarded a silver medal from the State of Pennsylvania for his role in the battle. The world was shocked that America would even dare declare war on Britain. At the same time, “The status of Blacks in early America was still in flux, and the established laws provided little protection. Even though slave importation was banned by 1808, some 250,000 more slaves were illegally imported into America from 1808-1860. Those Blacks who were willing, able, or chosen to fight the British for America's defense did so with unusual valor. They fought in various campaigns on both sea and land. Blacks served in naval vessels, in mixed regiments, and in all "colored" regiments. Many were taken as prisoners by the British. One exemplary unit was the TWENTY-SIXTH U. S. INFANTRY REGIMENT consisting of 247 "colored" recruits from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania under the command of Captain William Bezean. Many of these willing and able regiments were held at bay, but many provided the backup and labor to keep the army running effectively. Sketchy records show blacks at the BATTLES OF LAKE ERIE and NEW ORLEANS.”

Civil War: When they were initially refused, some African Americans “organized and equipped drill units at their own expense.” With the help of Frederick Douglas working with the Adjutant General of the Army, African American men were recruited right after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation and over 200,000 served in just about every campaign, including those involving Navy vessels. The approximate number killed was 38,000 who still suffered from discriminatory practices and economic deprivation.

Native American Wars: gave the African American soldiers their legendary name, “Buffalo Soldiers.” These men, and at least one woman, assisted in keeping the peace, chasing bandits, keeping Indians safe from murdering settlers, “building roads, stringing telegraph wires, escorting groups across Indian territory, and scouting hostile Indian tribes.” Most of this occurred in Texas and throughout the Southwest, although there is history showing some Buffalo Soldiers in the North. “Congress…recognized the military merits of black soldiers by authorizing two segregated regiments of black cavalry, the Ninth United States Cavalry and the Tenth United States Cavalry and the 24th, 25th , 38th , 39th, 40th and 41st Infantry Regiments…In 1869…the black infantry regiments were consolidated into two units, the Twenty-fourth United States Infantry and the Twenty-fifth United States Infantry. All of the black regiments were commanded by white officers at that time. As always, the African American soldier was meritorious in combat with “Thirteen enlisted men and six officers…[earning] the Medal of Honor during the Indian Wars.”

Spanish-American War: African American soldiers were “in the battle of San Juan Hill with the ‘Rough Riders.’ Twelve received the Congregational Medal of Honor for bravery in combat. At least one African American received the Medal of Honor for extreme bravery under combat.

World War I: Many African American troops were assigned to the French, with two units and several individuals (Henry Johnson & Needham Roberts) receiving “The Croix de Guerre for “routing a German raiding party.” Some African Americans did the cooking for the Navy; not allowed in the Marines; with most given supportive roles. It has been recorded by “By the time of the armistice on November of 1918, over 350,000 African Americans had served with the American Expeditionary Force in on the Western Front…One of the most distinguished units was the 369th infantry regiment, known as the "Harlem Hell-fighters", which was on the front lines for six months, longer then any other African American regiment in the war. 171 members of the 396th were awarded the Legion of Merit.”

World War II: It has been stated that over one million African Americans served “in all branches of the Armed Forces” during this war, and finally given “the opportunity to direct military and medical operations.” It may have been the military combat skill of the Tuskegee Airmen and the U.S. 761st Tank Battalion which caused President Harry S. Truman to move to desegregate the nation’s military in July, 1948 (officially ending the Buffalo Soldiers’ units). My step-father still has stories to share about his combat service. I also heard stories about my father in service, and other stories from uncles and other African Americans. They remember the great leaders then like Benjamin O. Davis, Jr. who “served as commander of the famed Tuskegee Airmen…[and] later went on to become the first African American general in the United States Air Force. His father, Benjamin O. Davis, Sr., had been the first African American Brigadier General in the Army (1940).”

Other stories were told of men like “Doris Miller, a Navy mess attendant…the first African American recipient of the Navy Cross, awarded for his actions during the attack on Pearl Harbor. Miller [by] voluntarily [manning] an anti-aircraft gun and” firing and destroying several suicide bombers, although he was just a cook! In 1944, the Navy first had its first “African American commissioned officers…In 1945, Frederick C. Branch became the first African-American United States Marine Corps officer.

Other Wars: There are recorded numbers of African Americans, men and women, in the Korean Conflict where an all-African American 24th Infantry, won the first victory. In Vietnam, over 56,000 African Americans were involved, twenty receiving the Medal of Honor for their actions, with one African American receiving the Congressional Medal of Honor (U.S. Army Specialist Five Lawrence Joel: The Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Winston-Salem, North Carolina is dedicated to his honor). In this war, the first African-American U.S. Marine became the recipient of the Medal of Honor for his heroic actions and sacrifice of life. Another became the first African American commissioned officer to be awarded the Medal of Honor (presented posthumously to his wife).

Then came the Invasion of Panama, the Gulf War, Desert Storm, and currently the “Iraqi Freedom Intervention” and “The Afganistan Relief.” During some of this time, Colin Powell became Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, making him, a West Indies black man, the “highest ranking military officer of the United States military, and the principal military advisor, to the President of the United States.”

Although desegregation officially ended the reign of the Buffalo Soldiers as a separate fighting unit in America’s military, there are still many “honorary” Buffalo Soldiers (African American men and women) who continue to honor the history of the Buffalo Soldiers by being identified as “a lean, mean, fighting machine---a Buffalo Soldier!”


Credits:
David C. Cook “Black America: Yesterday and Today”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_history_of_African_Americans
www.buffalosoldier.net
http://www.liu.edu/cwis/cwp/library/aaffsfl.htm#1812


Next time: The story of a worldwide peacemaker.