Posted on Jul 19, 2020
Black troops were welcome in Britain, but Jim Crow wasn't: the race riot of one night in June...
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American History
Military History
WWII World War Two
England
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Ridiculous attitudes especially for those who might need each other's trust in combat.
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SSgt Richard Kensinger
This also Happened a lot during Vietnam tho units and squads were "integrated". Lack of cohesion in a squad can be fatal. And BTW I now have an article published on "Da Five Bloods". For a copy, contact me " [login to see] ". It is part of a series/project on combat trauma on ResearchGate.
Rich
Rich
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I often ask myself, what is it like to fight for a country that truncates your rights. One of the Division Commanders in Patton's Third Army gave the highest praise to the black tank battalion that fought almost every single major battle as they maneuvered to Germany. The respect the CG bestowed upon the battalion was based on the superb performance of the tank battalion. As I have said many times in my career, we all bleed red.
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MAJ Ken Landgren
Thanks for your thoughts. The military is often at the forefront of changing social norms, but that does not mean the delta was 100% perfect by any means. I watched a video of Dr. Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech which still rings true today as we still have room for improvement in how we treat our fellow men and women.
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Thank you for this great article! I posted it on Facebook. Here is what I put in my summary:
We have come a long way since 1944. No more segregation in the military and we all think of ourselves as green. The 2nd person to shake my hand after I became a second Lieutenant was my Black Military Police
Brigade Commander. In my current unit, I worked for a Black One Star general and Chief of Staff. In my last Brigade Position, I worked with a black Command Sergeant Major who I knew back when I was a 2nd lieutenant at Camp San Luis Obispo bsck in 1996.
In my experience in the California Army National Guard and the Army Reserve, we always treated each other politely and race was never a factor. I do not look at soldiers that way.
SGT (Join to see) Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen SSG Robert Mark Odom Wayne Soares A1C Chris Pointer MAJ Ken Landgren SSgt Richard Kensinger CSM Charles Hayden PO1 William "Chip" Nagel LTC Eugene Chu COL Mikel J. Burroughs MAJ (Join to see) COL (Join to see) COL (Join to see) CPT Jack Durish SGM Steve Wettstein LTC (Join to see)
We have come a long way since 1944. No more segregation in the military and we all think of ourselves as green. The 2nd person to shake my hand after I became a second Lieutenant was my Black Military Police
Brigade Commander. In my current unit, I worked for a Black One Star general and Chief of Staff. In my last Brigade Position, I worked with a black Command Sergeant Major who I knew back when I was a 2nd lieutenant at Camp San Luis Obispo bsck in 1996.
In my experience in the California Army National Guard and the Army Reserve, we always treated each other politely and race was never a factor. I do not look at soldiers that way.
SGT (Join to see) Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen SSG Robert Mark Odom Wayne Soares A1C Chris Pointer MAJ Ken Landgren SSgt Richard Kensinger CSM Charles Hayden PO1 William "Chip" Nagel LTC Eugene Chu COL Mikel J. Burroughs MAJ (Join to see) COL (Join to see) COL (Join to see) CPT Jack Durish SGM Steve Wettstein LTC (Join to see)
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