Charles Blatcher III. Of Thee I Sing: Minority Military History. MJOTA 2012 v5n1 p0525

Good evening Ladies and Gentlemen. I would like to acknowledge our host – the ACES Museum’s Board of Directors. I appreciate your arranging this book signing event on my behalf.

Many years ago as the co-founder of the former Black Veterans Association in Oakland, California, I became interested in the history of Black and other Minority Americans participation in the defense of the nation. The more I learned about it, the more my interest developed into a passion for knowledge regarding the subject. In 1978, my passion led me to establish a Foundation. The entity is called the National Minority Military Museum Foundation. I am the founder and chief executive officer. Our primary goal is to raise public awareness about the importance of the subject and promote the preservation of the history. Our primary objective is to establish a National Museum to serve as a repository for the history.

Over the years, I have had the opportunity to hear many stories from veterans, one served as far back as the Spanish American War. Yes, I did say the Spanish American War. I had a dear friend name Samuel Waller who was the last surviving Black Veteran of that era in the State of California. Sam resided in the Veterans Home in Yountville, California.

Sam was blind and hard of hearing, but he loved company.

His favorite subject was his military experiences. During one of my frequent visits, Sam told me about his tour of duty in the Philippine Island as a member of the (24^th) Infantry Regiment during the war. He vividly recalled the jungle, the heat and the hardship. One of his nurses, a young lady with good intentions overheard the conversation. Noting that Sam was hard of hearing, with no fear of insulting him she said, “I hope you do not believe those stories? He can’t remember what he had for breakfast this morning.”

A few weeks later, I had the opportunity to visit the National Archives in Washington, DC. While going through the files on Black Military History. I came across photographs of the (24^th) Infantry Regiment in the Philippines Islands, during the Spanish American War. It was Sam’s regiment. I recalled his vivid descriptions of the jungle, the heat and the hardship. He spoke of how they drank rain water from puddles on the ground to survive. How they strained the water through rags to remove the slime in order to drink it.   He described it as if it was yesterday.

On my following visit to Yountville, I could not wait to see the nurse to inform her how wrong she was. Sam suffered from short-term memory lost. However, the photographs validated his long-term memory was intact.

There are many things Sgt Waller said to me, that I will never forget. He introduced me to the history of the legendary Colonel Charles Young. The Colonel was the highest ranking Black Officer in the United States Armed Forces for the majority of his career that spanned 32 years.

According to Sgt. Waller, had it not been for his color, he would have been a General in the United States Army.

Learning more about Colonel Young, I concur. If you are not aware of Colonel Young, please come join us tomorrow for the program of Honor. I will acquaint you to him through the words of W.E.B. Du Bois, historian and founder of the NAACP.

However, there is one thing that he said to me that changed how I viewed the importance of history and influenced the writing of “Of Thee I Sing.” He said, “Son, they write you out the future by writing you out the past. Don’t let them write us out.”

I am honored to have had the opportunity to meet Sargent Waller and the fact that he shared his military experiences with me. Sam passed away in 1980 at the age of 102.

Like the story I heard about a member of the Triple Nickel, the 555^th Black Paratroopers in World War II. They were the first Black Paratrooper Battalion in the history of the Armed Forces. The way the story was told, a member of the battalion jumped from an aircraft in Alabama and landed an hour or so later in Georgia. (How about that?) It is told, that one day the battalion was going up for a practice jump. As they were walking toward the aircraft, trooper Ranson Holt seen an object on the ground, it was a pocket knife. He picked it up and put it in his pocket.

They boarded the plane and went up. When he jumped from the aircraft, a wind-draft pulled him toward the tail section of the airplane. As a result, a few of the lines on his parachute became snagged in the tail-wing of the plane. The pilot and crew members became aware of the situation. They knew eventually they would have to land the plane. They knew it would be sure death for the trooper if he could not free himself. They decided that they would fly around as long as the fuel lasted to give him the opportunity to try to free himself.

The way the story was told, he managed to retrieve the pocket knife that he found and cut the lines that were snagged in the tail-wing. As far-fetched as this story may sound, it is true. Trooper Holt jumped out the plane in Alabama and landed safely in Georgia.

Then, there is the story told by Sargent Frank Barbee, a former member of the same Paratrooper Battalion. Sargent Barbee gave up his stripes to volunteer for duty in the first and only integrated company of soldiers who saw action during the War. In order to volunteer, he had to give up his rank because the Black Soldiers could not out rank the White members of the company.

Sgt. Barbee recalled his first experience in combat. According to him, when the bullets began to fly, he became so afraid that he pulled his steel helmet all the way down to cover his feet. He acknowledged that his claim was impossible, but his point was to emphasize the level of fear he experienced.

Sargent Barbee passed away last year at the age of 90. His story is captured in the documentary titled, “African Americans In World War II: A Legacy Of Patriotism and Valor.”  

It is titled; Among The 1^st To Fall.

In the winter of 1770

The colonial days of old;

An incident took place in Boston,

So the history is told.

The King of England ordered a tax,

Payable on products arriving by sea;

The proclamation outraged the Colonist,

So, they filled the harbor with his tea.                                                                

On March 5^th, a cold winter’s day;

The Colonist gathered in the town square;

To formally voice their protest,

That the taxes were unfair.

They were met by the British Redcoats;

And, Fire – was the order called;

As the shots heard around the world rang out,

Crispus Attucks was among the first to fall.

Freedom and Justice became the cry that day;

Liberty was the call;

After that infamous incident,

They knew the Crown must fall.

The Revolution began that winter’s day;

Yes, the Crown did fall;

But, the question that lingers in many minds,

Is, Why did Attucks answer the call?

For he was born into slavery;

But, in his quest to be free;

He escaped the chains of bondage,

And, took to life at sea.

Slavery, was the norm those days,

In the South the law of the land;

And although chattel in the South,

In the North he was a free man.

He worked the harbor of Boston,

Unloading cargo arriving by sea;

The proclamation the King had issued;

Imposed on his Liberty.

So, when the word was passed,

About the meeting in town square;

It was only natural,

For Crispus Attucks to be there.

He took his stand for Freedom,

Justice for us all;

And, in the name of Liberty,

He was Among the 1^st To Fall.

When Paul Revere made his famous ride announcing the British were coming, Black Minutemen responded. When General George Washington made his historic boat ride across the Delaware River, Prince Whipple, a Black soldier was in the boat with him. Over 5,000 Blacks fought on behalf of the Colonies in the Revolutionary War.

Fewer are aware of the Native American and Hispanic American contributions to the Revolutionary War efforts. Both groups joined with the Colonist to repel the British Army. The Native American community contributed to the survival of the colonist when they arrived on the continent in the 1600’s. Had it not been for their friendship and help, the early settlers would not have survived the first winter.

In 1861 at the onset of the Civil War, the Cherokee Nation joined forces with the Confederate Army and the Seminole and Creek Nations joined with the Union Forces. There is a story that has been passed down about what happened when a Cherokee unit met up with a Seminole and Creek unit fighting for the North. The way the story is told, the 2 sides refused to fight each other and parted ways.

In 1941, at the outbreak of World War II, the Army once again employed the service of the Native American community. They were integrated and segregated in the armed forces. The Signal Corps chose the Navajo language as the means of communication. It was chosen because it was impossible for the enemy to understand or break the code. At the start of the war there were 30 Navajo Code Talkers in the Army, that figure increased to 420 by the end of the war.       

Have you ever heard of Francis Salvador (Also Known As Joseph Rodriguez)? He was among the first and most prominent Hispanic patriots of the American Revolutionary War. He served in the General Assembly of South Carolina. When the Revolution began; he took up arms on the behalf of the newly declared United States.

Are you familiar with the name George Farragut, a sailor of Spanish heritage, who served in the Continental Navy. He rose to the rank of Admiral and went on to distinguish himself in the War of 1812. The name Farragut holds a prominent place in United States Naval History. The Admiral’s son, David Glasgow Farragut rose to the rank of Admiral in the Union Navy. He distinguished himself by leading the fleet to victory in the Battle of Mobile Bay.

Have you ever heard of the 100^th and the 442^nd “Go For Broke” Infantry Battalions. The two battalions were made –up of Japanese American men from Hawaii and internment camps on the main land. They were the most decorated battalions for its size and strength in the history of the United States Armed Forces. The medal count for the 17,000 men who served as a part of the battalions include the following: 22 Medal of Honor, 4,000 Bronze Stars and 9,486 Purple Hearts. The 100^th Infantry Battalion gained the reputation as the “Purple Heart Battalion.” Within their first 2 months in combat, the Battalion suffered over 500 casualties.  

The book “Of Thee I Sing” contains all the facts. I have also brought with me today copies of the documentary titled; “African Americans In World War II: A Legacy of Patriotism and Valor.” The documentary was produced by the Department of Defense. We, the National Minority Military Museum Foundation served in collaboration on the production. The documentary is different from other Department of Defense productions. It is not a recruitment tool. It’s the history told in the words of some of the men and women who lived it. That was one of the condition of our participation. The other was that we were granted the right to make the documentary available for the purpose of public education.

We are of the opinion the book and documentary should be in every home, classroom, public and school libraries throughout the nation.

We are asking that you purchase an additional copy of the Book and make a ($10) donation for a copy of the documentary and donate them to your local public school or community library.                      

In closing, I would like to present the ACES Museum with a  signed framed set of our Black History verses that is also available as a part of our fund raising effort.

The set including Among The 1^st To Fall, Dauntless, written in commemoration of Fredrick Douglass and the 54^th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment and What Shall I Tell Thee written in recognition of Colonel Charles Young. The proceeds will go toward supporting our effort to erect a monument in our nation’s Capitol honoring the late soldier-diplomat.

You have been a great audience. Thank you.

SJ Dodgson MJoTA 2012 v5n1 p0503

The last few days I have watched a documentary on the 1940 Battle of Britain. After watching the fictionalized account. The documentary was far more exciting, and listening to the speeches of Winston Churchill made me feel that I was there, with my parents who were so young and beautiful, both young physicians patching up the civilians after horrible bombing raids in which more than 40,000 were killed.

Listen to leaders declaring war on Germany after Germany launched the first tri-force invasion (air, land, sea) of Poland in 1939, click here. All I am hearing is sorrow that war had not been prevented, and that war has been declared to block Germany, not conquer it.

Watch videos of Churchill giving stirring speeches, click here. And read the declaration of independence of the nation of Biafra, click here.

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Very exciting times at Ganymede Movies LLP. The movie script and the financial plan are in the middle stages, and will be ready for a meeting of the Ganymede Movies LLP Advisory Board in South Jersey in September.

The first movie project is slated to be a fictionalized version of the stories of Biafran Air Force Squadron Leader Augustine De Hems Okpe, who was Chief Pilot of the defunct nation of Biafra, and after enormously difficult times, went on to become Chief Pilot of Nigeria's defunct national airline, Nigeria Airways. You can read a lot about Captain Okpe on this site, a good place to start, click here. (In April he sent me 200 copies of his book in April, you can buy a copy from me, click here for my book review.)

We have good people on the Ganymede Movies LLP Advisory Board, mostly African, African American and Caribbean African. You will not read their names on any of my sites, the working of the Advisory Board is secret, but you will see how well they do by what comes out of it.

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I have compiled some of the diabetes resources on MJoTA.org, to access them, click here.