The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1949-06-09
Los Angeles Probe
Uncovers Truths
Of Army Jimcrow

Los Angeles NPA)-California
veterans-Negroes and white, of
ficers and enlisted men--gave elo-
quent testimony here last week on
the evil of segregation in the arm
ed forces. They told their stories
before commission Of inquiry
sponsored by the national Commit
tee Against. Jim Crow in the Arm
ed Forces and Training, of which
A. Philip Randolph and Grant Rey-
nolds are co-chairmen. Randolph is
president of the Brotherhood of
Sleeping Car PortersAFL and
Reynolds is a New York State
Commissioner of Correction.
The veterans testimony ranged
in scope from fantastic but true
histories of Negro GI being
court-martialed for writing to the
Undersecretary of War in protest
against segregation, to the whole
sale arrest of 81 Negro Air Force
officers for attempting to enter an
officers club at a Michigan airbase.
In all, more than 20 veterans
testified before the commission,
whose members included: Susan ID.
Adams, w. j. Bassett, Aubrey Blair
and John Donovan, all of the Los
Angeles Central Labor Council
AFL; Lorenso Bowdoin of the
Natl Association for the Advance
Iment of Colored People; Irwin De-
Shelter, CIO regional director;
John Despol of the CIO Steelwork-
ers; William knight, president of
the California State Council, Lum-
Der & Sawmill Workers, AFL; Dale
Gardner, Los Angeles County Com
mittee on Human Relations; Rob
ert Gilbert, AFL counsel; Superior
Court Judge Stanley Mosk; Albert
t. Lunceford, secretary, Greater
Los Angeles CIO Council; Floyd
Covington, director, Los Angeles
Urban League; Leonard Levy,
Amalgamated Clothing Workers
CIO; Ernest Pascal, screenwritei
and Louis Levy of the ILGWU.
AFL.
Chairman of the commission was
Will Rogers, Jr. with Loren Miller
and A. l.. Wirin acting as counsel
to tho commission
The story of being courtmartial-
ed for writing the secretary of war
was unfolded by William Black,
now a student at the University of
Southern California. Black wrote
the secretary while hospitalized
with a broken ankle at MacDill
Field, Fla. A week later he was
visited by his commanding officer
and told he was to be court mar
tailed.
81 was assigned a defense coun
SELL" said Black, "who | saw once
for 20 minutes a few days before
the court The next thing
| knew | had been sentenced to
year in prison."
Black was released from the
Army prison four months later
after pressure on the War Depart
ment had forced an investigation
of his case.
Two former AAF lieutenants,
Roger Terry and Marsden Thomp-
son, told the commission of the
months they spent being shifted
from post to post before finally
receiving any flying training at
Tuskegee. After finally getting
training they were sent to an all
Negro medium bomber outfit based
at Selfridge Field, Michigan. At
this base they were refused admit
ance to the officers club and after !
protesting, the entire group was
shifted to Goldman Field, Kentucky.
From Goldman, the outfit was again
shifted to Freeman Field, Indiana,
where they were again refused ad-
mittance to the club.
Terry and Thompson described
to the commission how the 61 of
ficer were all arrested for entering
the club and the subsequent drop
ping of charges against all but
three of the officers who were
court -martialed. Two of the men
were acquitted and one found
guilty.
Sole bright spot in the vets
testimony came from Paul Jacobs,
representative of the Oil Workers
Union who told of successful eff
forts to break Jim Crow at an
AAF installation in Indiana. Ac-
cording TO Jacobs, who edited
nriZe- winning neWSnaDer il was