Buffalo Soldiers In World War Two

John R. Fox was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1915. He graduated from Wilberforce University before being commissioned a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army. On December 26, 1944, he sacrificed himself as a forward observer to help comrades and civilians escape German forces’ assault on Sommocolonia, Italy, in World War II. He was buried at Colebrook Cemetery in Whitman, Massachusetts. He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor on January 13, 1997.

Ruben Rivers was born in 1918 in Oklahoma. He was drafted into the Army in January 1942. He served with the 761st Tank Battalion, known as the Black Panthers. He was killed in action on November 19, 1944. He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor on January 13, 1997, for extraordinary heroism November 16-19, 1944.

Willy F. James, Jr., was born in 1920. He was drafted into the U.S. Army and initially served in a service unit. In 1945 he was transferred to the 413th Infantry Regiment and served as scout. He was killed in action on April 7, 1945, near Lippoldsberg, Germany. In September 1945 his widow received the Distinguished Service Cross that the Army posthumously awarded to James. Fifty-two years later, in 1997, James posthumously received the Medal of Honor.

George Watson was born in Mississippi in 1914. He later moved to Birmingham, Alabama and worked as a firefighter. He was drafted into the Army in September 1942. On March 8, 1943, the transport ship he was on sank and he rescued many soldiers. He died that day, and his body was not recovered. He was the first African American to be awarded the Distinguished Service Cross during World War II. He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor in January 1997.

Charles L. Thomas was born in 1920 in Birmingham, Alabama. His family relocated to Detroit, Michigan, where Thomas was drafted into the Army. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his bravery in World War II on December 14, 1944, near Climbach, France. He survived the war and died in Michigan in 1980. In January 1997, President Bill Clinton posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor to Thomas.

Vernon Baker was born in Wyoming in 1919. He enlisted in the U.S. Army before the attack on Pearl Harbor. During World War II, he was assigned to the all-Black 370th Infantry. He received the Medal of Honor in January 1997 for his brave actions on April 5, 1945, at Castle Aghinolfi in Italy. He died in 2010 and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

Edward Carter, Jr., grew up in Calcutta, India, Shanghai, China, and Los Angeles, California. He served in three different armies during his life. He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor in January 1997 for his heroic actions while serving in World War II. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Charity Adams Earley was the first African American woman to be an officer in the Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps (WAAC), later known as the Women’s Army Corps (WAC). She was the commanding officer of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion. It was the only unit of African American women to serve overseas during World War II. Adams was the highest-ranking African American woman in the army at the end of World War II. She died on January 13, 2002.

Waverly Bernard Woodson, Jr., was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1922. Woodson studied pre-med at Lincoln University before becoming a medic in the 320th Barrage Balloon Battalion. He landed on Omaha Beach in one of the first waves of soldiers on D-Day during World War II. He treated wounded and dying soldiers on the beach for more than 30 hours. He died in 2005 and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

Aaron R. Fisher was born in 1892 in Lyles, Indiana. He enlisted in the Army in 1911. He served with the Buffalo Soldiers of the Twenty-Fourth Infantry during the Punitive Expedition into Mexico. He was an officer in the all-Black 366th Infantry in World War I. He received the Distinguished Service Cross and France’s Croix de Guerre for his actions in France. He was an ROTC instructor at Wilberforce University from 1936 to 1947. He died on November 22, 1985, in Xenia, Ohio.

Benjamin O. Davis, Jr., was born in Washington, D.C. in 1912. He graduated from West Point in 1936. He was the fourth African American to graduate from West Point. During World War II, he led the renowned Tuskegee Airmen. He attained the rank of four-star general in 1998. He died in 2002 and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Elmer P. Gibson was a high-ranking African American Army Chaplain who served in World War II and the Korean War. He was an advocate for desegregating the military, and practiced desegregation as a chaplain, by holding integrated church services in the Aleutian Islands and other places. Later in life he served as an advisor to President Harry S. Truman and was a college president.

Isabella Peterson Evans was born in 1919 in Clemson, North Carolina. She and her siblings were orphaned when she was 12 years old. They moved to Washington, D.C. to live with her aunt and uncle. She enlisted in the WAAC in December of 1942. She served overseas in England and France with the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion. She was honorably discharged in November of 1945.

Millie Dunn Veasey was born in Raleigh, North Carolina, in 1918. During World War II she served with the all-female, all-Black 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion. They were known as the Six Triple Eight. After the war she was active in the civil rights movement during sit-ins in Raleigh and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s March on Washington. She died in March 2018 at the age of 100.

Burnardine Fraser Flanagan was born in Key West, Florida, in 1921. She grew up and graduated from high school in New London, Connecticut. She enlisted in the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps, later changed to the Women’s Army Corps, on April 6, 1943. She was a member of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion and served in England and France during World War II. She died on August 6, 2017, at the age of 95. She is buried in Houston National Cemetery in Texas.

Romay Johnson Davis was born in 1919 in King George County, Virginia. She graduated from Dunbar High School in Washington, D.C., and later worked for the U.S. Mint. She served in World War II with the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion. She was awarded a Congressional Gold Medal for her service in the summer of 2022.

John J. Mills was born in Columbus, Ohio. He served in the all-Black 969th Field Artillery Battalion. He participated in the Normandy campaign, the Battle of Brest, the Rhineland campaign, and the Battle of the Bulge. He died on January 14, 1945. He was buried at the Luxembourg American Cemetery in Plot E, Row 8, Grave 20.

Seven decades before the superhero Black Panther made his big screen debut, the original Black Panthers of the 761st Tank Battalion were roaring through Europe, battling Axis forces through Germany under the command of General George S. Patton.

The 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion was the first and only mostly all-Black (they had members of Caribbean and Mexican decent) female unit to be deployed overseas during WWII. Their nickname was “Six-Triple Eight” and their motto was “No Mail, Low Morale.” The unit sorted and routed mail for millions of American service members and civilians in Europe. On February 28, 2022, the 6888th were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal.

During World War II, women served closer to the frontlines than ever before. African American nurses were prominent figures that helped treat Black soldiers and Prisoners of War. They faced racial discrimination at home and abroad but persevered to give their all. Black nurses in the Army Nurse Corps were spread out around the globe, including England, Liberia, Guam, and Australia. The lives they positively impacted are innumerable.

On July 26, 1948, President Harry Truman signed Executive Order 9981, which mandated the integration of the U.S. armed services and led to the dissolution of the Buffalo Soldiers and other segregated units.

General Patton described it as “the greatest battle implement ever devised.” American infantrymen carried it at Normandy, Okinawa, and Inchon; from Europe to the Pacific; and from World War II through the Korean War. For over twenty years, from 1936 to 1957, it was the dependable friend of millions of United States soldiers, Marines, and sailors. Officially called the M1 rifle, this weapon that helped win the Second World War was often simply referred to as “The Garand".

Some African American Olympians went on to serve in the Army. Ralph Metcalf and John Woodruff competed and won medals as members of the U.S. Olympic Team. They then enlisted in the Army during World War II and were assigned to Buffalo Soldier regiments.