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During the Second World War not one African American was awarded the Medal of Honor, the result of an unofficial Army policy that saw those who very obviously deserved the award put forward for the Distinquished Service Cross instead. In the years that followed a series of campaigners attempted to undo that misjustice, until eventually seven men were awarded the honour – six having their DSCs upgraded to the Medal of Honor, and one getting it without a DSC, after it was proved that his officer wanted him put forward for the Medal of Honor at the time.
The book is split into seven sections, one for each of these men. They all follow the same pattern, giving us an account of their childhood and upbringing, their training and their military careers, leading to a detailed account of the events that resulted in them being awarded the medal. Six of these came in combat, the seventh due to bravery after their ship was sunk.
It was clearly unfortunate that most of the large US Army training bases were located in the racist South, where the black recruits were exposed to some of the worst attitudes in the US, along with some truly appalling examples of leadership on the part of white racists. Some white officers fought back, and if they were senior enough were able to have some impact, but the experience came as a deep shock to many of the men, especially those who had grown up in the north. Even after these units were fully trained the racism didn’t stop – Black manned tank destroyer units were given outdated equipment, a well training infantry division was split up and used on garrison duties in Italy and only the increasing shortage of front line troops in late 1944/ early 1945 forced the army to commit some of these units to combat. Patton emerges well from this period, insisted that he had no interest in the colour of his reinforcements, only their existence.
It is worth noting that things improved somewhat fairly soon after the end of the war, with both Black Medal of Honor winners of the Korean War getting their awards during the war, and the same happening in Vietnam.
Each of these stories is a compelling tale. All of them include depressing accounts of racism, from inside and outside the military, but also show how these seven men were able to overcome those barriers, and performed outstanding acts of bravery.
Part One – Charles L. Thomas
1 – Graduation day
2 – Last Stop USA
3 – A Hell of Fire
Part Two – Vernon J. Baker
4 – The Boy from Cheyenne
5 – The Italian Front
6 – Storming the Castle
Part Three – Willy James Jr
7 – A Fifth Platoon
8 – Crossing the Rhine
9 – Into the Lion’s Mouth
Part Four – Edward Allen Carter Jr
10 – Baptism by Fire
11 – A Mercenary Man
12 – March to the Rhine
Part Five – George Watson
13 – Picnic at a Hanging
14 – Off to War
15 – Operation Lilliput
Part Six – Ruben Rivers
16 – Black Gold
17 – A New Esprit de Corps
18 – Patton’s Panthers
Part Seven – John Fox
19 – Transfer Student
20 – Shipping Out
21 – Give ‘em Hell
Epilogue: The Rest of the Story
Afterword: The Long Road to Recognition
Author: Robert Child
Edition: Hardcover
Pages: 288
Publisher: Osprey
Year: 2022