i orian examines role of
f ican American in' II
As the recent hit movie
"Glory" makes clear, African
Americans have long a his­
tory ofbra-ve and honorable ser­
vice in wartime as any of their
untrymen.
Although many performed
·th equal valor in the still
segregated u.s. Army of World
War Il, their stories have been
oversh dowed by ccounts of
morale and discipline problems
within African American units
and of racial disturbances in­
volving Black soldier .
According to Heath
Twichell, a historian 0 is now
researching the performance of
certain B regiments during
World War n, uch problems
certainly . ed. But, he )'S,
"U Americans develop a
better appreciation of the role
of Bla So diers in th t war,
and more understanding of the
reaso for both their successes
and failures, the biases, precon- '
ceptio and stereotyped think-
ing that continue to impede
racial harmony will linger eYeD
longer",
-We are coming up on the
50th 'anni ersary of World War
n," says Twichell," and it's time
to take a fresh 100 at the con- .
tribution of Black Americans to
that U.S. victory."
He concedes that some of
the best stories involving
African American so diers are
already in the history boo the
exploits of the famous Red Ball
Express in Europe being one
examp e. But he maintains that
to focus on the extremes of the
Black wartime experience,
whether good Or bad, "distorts
our under tanding of what the
war was like for the majority of
Blacks who served in it."
Army policies concentrated
most Blac s in service type
unites, often wdl-equippcd
and trained than their hite
counterparts, and them sent
them, henever possible, to
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INFOR ED. SE D E
The idhigan Citizen
routine assignments in remote,
thinly populated areas.
Among the Black outfits with
uch an experience were four
. that helped to build the
Highway and CANOL
pipeline in 1942 and 1943; the
93rd, 95th, 97th and 388th En­
gineer Regiments.
• II, whose father com-
minded the 95th Regiment, is
.. a history which will give
proper credit to the Black sol­
diers who did much of the work
o that vast engineering effort.
He is trying to locate Blac
veterans of the Alaska Highway
and CANOL projects willing to
share their experiences in
Canada or AI '·th him. He
may be contacted: at RID Box
114, Vineyard Haven, MA
02568.
[.J Bill me
[ J Find closed ym m
9 for 8 month _ 15 for one y r
$25for y ...
me I
Addr ----------��------�-
City �-- __ St _ Zip __
JUNE 3-" 1
MICHIGAN cmZRN PAGE 1111 n:
TTOBE
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