Does any one know if there were any African American soldiers in the 101st. I know this would be extremely because of the segragation in the military, but were there any exceptions? If not could some one tell me one of the African American divisions?

I found a little something for you...http://www.blackamericaweb.com/site.aspx/bawnews/bulge1215
The 101st did not have any African American troops, but, from this article, they were part of the 969th Field Artillery during the Battle of the Bulge. Hope that answers your question.

There weren't any African Americans in the 101st during WWII. However there was one Oriental in the 82nd and a few soldiers of Hispanic and Native American decent. The African Americans were in segregated units. By the time of the Korean war the U.S. Army was racially integrated, and Americans of all racial backrounds fought side by side.

ok thanks guys. I really wish more blacks were deployed during wwii.

There were some African American Divisions deployed in Italy, North Africa, and throughout other theaters. They were involved in alot of the crucial transportation and construction needed to win the war. The Tuskegee Airmen, a group of African American pilots, were arguably one of the best bomber escorts in history. While under their protection, no bombers were lost throughout the war. Pilots sought to be escorted by them. An African American cook (can't think of his name) manned a 50 Cal at Pearl Harbor and shot down a good deal of Japanese planes. I believe he was the first African American to be awarded the Navy Cross. While not technically "African Americans", there were blacks fighting for Great Britain, whose army was unsegregated by then unless my memory fails. While not the most numerous racial faction fighting the war, African Americans fought with great heroism for a nation that treated them unfairly. That, in my opinion, is very selfless and deserves alot of respect.

Just to add to that: An African-American armored unit liberated a Nazi concentration camp if I'm not mistaken.

I recall seeing U.S. govt information movie made for gi's stationed in England.
There was a little old brit woman chatting merrily away to a black american soldier on a train.
The narrator was trying to explain that the reason the little old lady was treating the black guy like a human being and not like a piece of garbage was because,
'things are a little bit different here in the UK'
when you consider that the older generation of brits were/are ravingly racist anyway(thought black people were a species of monkey)it makes you wonder about the land of the free!
We treated blacks in the same way the germans treated jews, very little difference, its just thst your not supposed to say think things like that but its the truth! like it or lump it.

Last time I checked, we didn't force African Americans into extermination camps. Very little difference indeed.

quote
Tycho_lives

Posted Thu June 09 2005 13:42
Last time I checked, we didn't force African Americans into extermination camps. Very little difference indeed.
end quote

What do you think the indian reservations were,(they were meant to die!)
what about the ghettoes in America!, racist prisons,

there's no point in flinging accusations around. and I,m sorry if I come over as being mean minded and *****y
Its simply that anyone who cares to go into any depth re this subject will find that
its a historical fact the reason there were so few blacks on the front line is because the american military were well aware of the amount of rascim in american society was so great that they felt it inadvisable to issue arms to black soldiers who might, they feared, turn their weapons on white officers/soldiers.
Thats why black soldiers were used mostly for ancillary services.
The few occasions that black soldiers were allowed to fight they excelled themselves.

The American military these days is one of the least segregated institutions in the country.

quote:

The American military these days is one of the least segregated institutions in the country.

Well, actually all legal public institutions are required to be desegregated in the U.S.A. Some area have a larger percentage of one race compared to the other, but that has more to do with the local population than segregation.

quote:

What do you think the indian reservations were,(they were meant to die!)

The reservations weren't intended to kill the Indians, but rather to get them out of the picture. There were instances such as the "Trail of Tears" where Indians were forced on a march during relocation in which many died. Was what the U.S did to the Native Americans right? No, but it never reached the point of genocide.

quote:

We treated blacks in the same way the germans treated jews, very little difference

That is an unfair comparison. Throughout history there have been factions, usually a small minority, in the U.S. that specifically killed people from other races. However, it was never on the scale as the Holocaust. The U.S. government never attempted to wipe an entire race off of the face of the earth. Both were cases of racism, but Hitler's solution was far different from any of those in U.S. history.

With that said, we should probably get back on topic.

Please guys, if you want to argue over this, do it through PM`s and not here. As TT said, we should get this back on topic. If not, I will have to close this discussion.

Okay,
Sorry, just that I remembered this film clip from years ago.
found this
http://www.holocaustandhumanity.org/chhe_boundlesseducation.htm

Books

Brothers in Arms: The Epic Story of the 761st Tank Battalion, WWII's Forgotten Heroes. 2004. Abdul-Jabbar, Kareem and Anthony Walton. Broadway. New York.

In this inspiring book, basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar recounts the courageous story of the first all-black tank battalion to see combat in WWI including page-turning interviews with surviving members of the 761st Battalion and their families.
...............................................
History of Black American soldiers
A few excerts

6 June 1944 The D-Day landings on the beaches of Normandy, France, began. The 320th Negro Anti-Aircraft Barrage Balloon Battalion assisted with this assault against the Germans, the only African-American combat troops to take part in D-Day. Classified as an anti-aircraft unit, it was the only U.S. unit of its type in the European theater. In addition, black Private Warren Capers contributed to the D-Day landing by helping to establish a dressing station where he treated more than 330 soldiers. His devotion to duty won him a Silver Star.

25 August 1944 The Red Ball Express began operations. Crucial to the defeat of Nazi Germany, this massive supply effort ran until 16 November 1944 and involved over 6000 trucks and trailers. Red Ball drivers transported 412,193 tons of materiel to American troops as they advanced through France from Normandy to the German border. About 75 percent of all drivers on the segregated Red Ball Express were African Americans.

December 1944-January 1945 The U.S. Army integrated black volunteers with white troops to fight during the "Battle of the Bulge," the Germans’ last desperate counteroffensive to break through in the Ardennes forest in Belgium. Over 5000 African-American soldiers in the Army’s service units volunteered; 2500 of them were accepted. After 6 weeks of training, the black troops were organized into 37 platoons of 40 men each, which were then attached to white units of 200 men each. Suggested by General John Lee and approved by General Dwight D. Eisenhower, this was the first and only example of an integrated Army fighting force in WWII. White officers later judged that these black soldiers had performed "very well" or "fairly well." Although this experiment proved to be quite successful, the Army withheld a favorable survey on the intermixing of its troops because it would supposedly have undermined southern political support for a postwar peacetime draft.

I think your right, but you also have to consider there were plenty of whites serving in the military that never got the proper credit they deserved either and that also went through the same hell.

ive talked to a number of vets, 29th, 82nd, etc but no 101st, who were in frontline action. at the recruiting office they claimed they were Dominican, hispanic, and other races of color

quote:

Originally posted by Basher66:
ive talked to a number of vets, 29th, 82nd, etc but no 101st, who were in frontline action. at the recruiting office they claimed they were Dominican, hispanic, and other races of color

I have to say that all I know is from books documentaries etc

"Does any one know if there were any African American soldiers in the 101st. I know this would be extremely because of the segragation in the military, but were there any exceptions? If not could some one tell me one of the African American divisions?"

There were none in the 101st of that im sure. Most Afro-Americans fought for Amoured, because of where the drafting and volunteering took place. There was an entire Afro-American Armoured Division (maybe not as big as a division) that took part in The Battle of the Bulge.

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