St. Paul recorder. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1934-2000, 1953-11-13
Army Ending
Jim Grow Is
Writer'S Claim

oy 0tf8o -
In October CRISIS
(Confinued from Nov. Q edition)
This n the final instailment Of
aFoxhoIcs Arc Not scgregatedv
By George @. Reinhardt, which we
have reprinted In three parts from
CRISIS Magazine for October. IT'S
value h its cogent account Of the
Ncxro-Amcrican soldiers advance
to Indignation In tho q. 3. Army.
RcinbArdt's article traces the his
tory Of tho U. y. American Negro
soldier from the Revolutionary
War 10 the Korean apeace action"
Early In 1915 q number Of Me-
gro anti-a,rcraft units were has
THY converted TO engineer battal-
ions, some OF them labeled COM
bat, after little more training
than the injection Of some well
schooIed noncommissied officers.
They were received dubiousiy by
engineer combat groups who were
seeing Negro comrades at the
front door for the first time. yet
their record In general was satis-
factory m units and excellent as
soldiers. Often the NCOs mad 10
partially carry the white Of
ficors who knew less engineering
than the sergeants.
During ths invasion OF Germany
one such battalion ran headlong
into a group Of So troops. 1000
strong. holcd up In n forest. The
group commander decided that
morale considerations demanded
the new battalion have It's chance.
Rather than replace them by a
white battalion for the fight in
prospect, he gave his orders TO
the coiored battalion. and then
personally joined their columns. !
never saw more professional
job" he reported later. when
those boys started after thcm, the
Krants lost interest fast. They
looked more like volkstrum than
sS. thanks TO our troops and
was I ashamed OF my lack Of con-
fidencc."
The Rough Rider who shared
his canteen with a coiored trooper
at San Juan Hin was the cxcep-
ton for his day. In the last war,
fighting man was accepted re-
gardless OF race or creed. One Bit
ter night In the Ardennes a Negro
dispatch rider crouched miserably
outside an improvised warming
hut at combat headquarters.
Two white sergeants discovered
him; "come In. soldier, hot cof-
fee" They linked arms anA
brought him TO the physical and
comradely warmth inside. Maybe
that contributed IN some slight
measure 10 his battaiion's battle
success In Germany n few weeks
later.
Unqucstionabiy the Army was
learning, The Negro soldier was
rcadying himself for the final
achievement In Korea where
only the uniform and the ability
OF the man wearing II had any
significance.
Negro performance In World
War III was an improvement over
the iei7-iS results II was q
greater tribute 10 the deepening
sense OF true democracy in the ma
ton and the armed forces, Negro
officers were stili relatively rare
compared TO the number OF theii
race In uniform. but their records
were better, az was their treat
ment by their white colleagues
Negro soldiers. as always In IN,
past, won individual awards 10
heroism but this time Negro non
combatant units were also slngle'
out for meritorious service a
wards.
Most wholesome was the infre
qucncy OF racial troubles In civil
ian communities around Arm
camps where Negroes were train
ed; or In areas where large mum
bers OF Negro troops returne
from overseas. The Negro was bs
ginning TO be accepted just as h
was fitting himself for equalit
in the American scene.
II World War I had its dis
creditable jokes about Negr
soldiers. the later struggle a
bounded In tales, more factual. Q
fine discipline. and unit esprit
One Negro truck company wro,
thoughtful. dignified letter {
protest through official militar
channels --for the treatment
received from the military polio
when falsely accused OF harbol
ing a rapist. The Army command
err, General Simpson. 9th U,
Army, personally answered N
letter. acknowledging the justic
Of the complaint and reoognizin
the companys excellent recon-