Black Military Heroes Abound as America Celebrates Memorial Day

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With the approach of Memorial Day in these troubled times, millions of us revere the awesome, often unknown and unheralded contributions of Black soldiers, sailors and airmen. Black people certainly remember—as do many, many whites.

Some of their triumphs and defeats were presented in Hollywood’s vintage World War II and Vietnam movies. Included were Home of the Brave (1949), Red Ball Express (1952), Men in War(1957), All the Young Men (1960), The Boys in Company C (1978) Apocalypse Now (1979), A Soldier’s Story (1984), Platoon (1986), Cadence (1990) and The Tuskegee Airmen (1993).

Many Blacks also served our country with honor in the Civil War, World War I, Korea, Operation Desert Storm and Afghanistan. Their names include Gen. Colin Powell; Gen. Lloyd Austin; Lt. Gen. Benjamin O. Davis—first Black graduate (1936) of West Point; former New York City Mayor David Dinkins; politicos Charles Rangle, Percy Sutton and Roscoe Brown; former Detroit Mayor Coleman Young; Gen. Daniel (Chappie) James, and Lt. Gen. Calvin Waller, deputy commander-in-chief of Central Command in Saudi Arabia during Desert Storm.

In charge of all U.S. ground troops in the area, Waller gained prominence in December 1990 by observing that American infantry would not be ready for combat against Iraq until mid-February. Although causing consternation, Waller was heeded and the successful ground war did not begin until Feb. 23, 1991.

From the Beginning

Beginning with Crispus Attucks—the Black sailor and first American killed in the Revolutionary War on March 5, 1770—more than two-million Blacks also have fought for our country. There were the famed “Buffalo Soldiers” in the Old West; with the Union in the Civil War; in the Spanish-American War; the Persian Gulf War, and Afghanistan. Until 1948, most did so in segregated units.

At this writing, more than 60 Black men have been awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor,the nation’s highest military decoration. This includes 16 in the Civil War, in which the all-Black (except officers) 54th Massachusetts Infantry’s tragic exploits were displayed in 1989’s award-winning Glory, featuring Denzel Washington’s Oscar-winning performance. The outfit was decimated in its attack on the Confederate bastion of Fort Wagner, in South Carolina. 

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Other famous all-Black units with fine fighting records include the 369th Regiment in World War I—known as the “Hell Fighters from Harlem”—and the legendary Tuskegee Airmen in Europe in World War II. The 369th fought 191 days in French trenches in 1918, longer than any American unit. France awarded them its highest honor, the Croix de Guerre, and 171 individual medals. 

The Tuskegee Airmen were known as the “Black Eagles” and “Red Tails” for the blood-red tail sections of their P-39, P-40 and P-51 fighter planes. They flew 1,580 missions over North Africa and Western Europe protecting American bombers from the German Luftwaffe. The unit’s exploits were the subject of a well-received, 1995 Hollywood film.

One of the oldest and most poignant reminders of Black military heroism is a Revolutionary War monument outside the First Presbyterian Church in Yorktown Heights, NY, honoring 20 Black soldiers of the First Rhode Island Regiment. Killed in the battle of Pines Bridge on May 13, 1781, the men are buried in a common grave behind nearby Davenport House.  

At Pearl Harbor

Perhaps the best known Black American military man killed in World War II is Doree Miller, who distinguished himself on Dec. 7, 1941, during the Japanese sneak attack on Pearl Harbor.

A mess attendant aboard the blazing U.S.S. West Virginia, Miller somehow carried his wounded white commander to safety. Then ignoring the onslaught of attacking dive bombers and torpedo planes, he made his way topside to the burning deck, manned an anti-aircraft battery and shot down four Japanese planes.

Ironically, Miller’s heroism, chronicled in the 1970 Hollywood blockbuster Tora! Tora! Tora,violated Navy orders of the era which prohibited Blacks from firing weapons on shipboard. However, in recognition of his bravery, he was personally awarded the Navy Cross, its highest honor, by Adm. Chester W. Nimitz.

Sadly, Miller did not survive the war. He was killed on Nov. 24, 1943, when his escort carrier, Liscome Bay, was sunk by Japanese torpedoes off the Gilbert Islands. Still a steward, he was waiting on white officers when he died. In Miller’s honor, a destroyer was commissioned the U.S.S. Doree Miller in June 1972, and a new Navy housing area at Pearl Harbor also bears his name. Fitting reminders of this Black sailor’s heroic deed.

Finally, during one of my six visits to Hawaii, my wife and I asked two spiffy young Black male and female sailors, if they are familiar with Doree Miller. Happily, they were, shaking my hand on the launch to the Pearl Harbor Memorial. And this made our day complete.