The Michigan chronicle. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1936-current, 1945-09-01
10000 Negro Troops Fought Through Pacific War
NEGRO RECORD
REVEALED BY
NEWS DIVISION

WASHINGTON. p { Ever
,nce Dccer.ae, a le4l. when Pri-
vate Raoo b B-,yks become re
.-st 80, sr q NE Armoted
Yorcc as 81. o.6y ne Ame can
AIRY -..c a., re q, For, S'ot.
t5rbar- a ,ae Philippines Nc-ro
Iald!e,s lave c Instituted blood
sweat aud &C., 20 ,he Cause =
freedom % The Pacific
Fver since April, l9ie, when
SWArihy Nero engineers stream.
I'd ashore from landing craft 10
whip out steel carpets on New
Guinea for the reception Of The
planes Of the 18th Bombardnent
Group Negro soldiers have a-o
sisted militariaiiy in avenging
the infAmy Of Pearl HArbor, per
petrated nv the Japanese less
than four months earlier
TIE siTH I'M ANTRY Regiment
was the FIRST all-NecrO com bat grN
20 face the Nipporese when =
landed ~ the New GeOre o
Islands two days before tCc Bat
tie OF the Coral Sea May A. 1912
Men Of this organization have been
sneled out by the Inspector Cen
oral Of the army for their eNcep-
tioNaily meri;orious conduct in
routing the enemy from Saipan in
the NarlanaS.
On December l. 1912. Negro sol
siers we're included in the FIRST
c0-'ingent OF American troops 20
arrive a; Ledo in India 10 con.
s'ruc; the famed Ledo nov Stll.
weln Road Utilizing a handful of
bul'dozers and fleet Of delapidat-
ed British iorries, the Negro en-
Gineers had pushed the road Is
miles into the Patkais by January
], 1913.
AS early az January %. 1919.
ten Negro units. ranging from
engineer 10 chemical Warfare
service outfits. had been com
mended by General Macarthur
for their courage. spirit and de-
votion TO duty" In expelling the
enemy from Papua, New Guinea.
FOR EXTRAORDINARY hero
ism displayed al Pordoch Harbor,
New Guinea. on March g. l943,
Private George Watson, 81 Bir-
ringham. Ala. received the dis
tinguished service cross post
hurously. Since that time the
number Of decorated soldiers OF
color has become. legion.
In April. 1914. the s3rd infan-
try Division had Its first taste Of
action Al Empress Augusta hay
on BougAinvilis Island In the
Soionons. BY the end Of that
month, the 93rd had secured the
Saua River and . portion Of the
land east Of the Torokina River.
The Division next went 10 the
Treasury Island group, thence to
Mo-otai Island In the Dutch East
Indies and more recently TO the
Philippines.
WHEN THE MIGHTY B-29 SUI
perfortresses frst took off from
China 10 hammer Japan proper,
they TAXED off OF superb landing
fields constructed by Negro Ensin-
GERS from General Joseph w Still
wells China Burma-lndia theatre.
In the words OF Major General
Kenneth b. Wolfe: They came
with q battery of concrete mixers
and put on the damnedet exhihi-
ton OF instantaneous concrete lay
ing you ever saw. Beautiful con-
crete, no mud pies"
Besides the oath Infantry and
e3rd Division. six other Negro COM
bat units have been announced as
being in the Pacific They are, with
present stations: 207th Coast Artil-
lery tAA). New Guinea: 369th
Coast Artillery (AAD, Okinawa:
742nd Anti-aircraft artillery, New
Guinea: 234th Anti-aircraft Artil-
lery. Sapan: 320th Antl-aircraft
Barrage Balloon Battalion and the
372 Infantry, both in Hawaii.
Roughly 100000 Negro soldiers
are scattered throughout the Pa
ciic and Far East from Noumea,
New Caledonia 20 Calcutta, India;
from Running, China 20 Attu
Island in the Aleulian chain. Sub
stantial numbers are deployed in
the Alaskan Department, Pacific
theatre. and the China and India
Burma theatres 81 operations They
ere serving In such highly techni-
cal organizations as the i0lst
Chemical Processing Company az
Manila in the Philippines and 'he
689ih Signal Air Warming tRadar)
Company in The SJlu Archlcelago
Three months after tie CON pie,e
capitulat!on OF TIE Germans, Ne.
gro troops. fresh from the European
and Mediterranean theatres q OPP
erations, began arriving ~ The
Philippine. and many more were
awaiting shipping orders AS of
July. lSi5 more than $50 all-Ne-
gro organizations were assigned TO
stations 10 NE Middle, South and
Western Pacific areas.
GALE SIGNS TAPS" MILLER
One d! the newest and mos, non.