NEGROES UNDER FIRE

...A eouple of Negro doughboy* butchered a hog one day...

...but the faintest evidence of panic at first sight of the enemy, or delay and bungling in carrying out the plan of attack, or anything short of brilliant individual soldiering and aggressive guts, would have given the show away and got us badly hurt or beaten...

...The Negroes were not angels, and a normal amount of disciplinary action was required to maintain control and efficiency...

...Its discipline, individual and group courage,, and dependability in carrying out combat orders were superior...

...Without being discovered, it maneuvered into position to deliver maximum fire from a distance of a scant 20 yards, and struck so powerfully and suddenly that the Germans were shot-up and dispersed before they could pick up their weapons—2 machine guns, 4 machine pistol "burp guns," several rifles, and dozens of grenades...

...But I know, as does anyone wise to doughboy ways, of dozens of pigs and sows and chickens and rabbits who passed unwept, unhonored, and unsung, into the "supplemental" rations of white soldiers in Germany...

...In unpleasantly frequent instances after that baptismal triumph I saw the Negro doughboys of this platoon prove their stuff at the cost of lives and blood by advancing doggedly under fire, by aggressive non-commissioned officer leadership in house-to-house street fights, and night patrols in the forbidding wilderness of No-Man's-Land...

...In the prevailing atmosphere of ignorance and unsympathetic prejudice, there is an opportunity and tendency for officers to cover up their own failings by publicizing greivances which, had they occurred in an ordinary unit, would be considered serious reflections upon the ability and character of the leader himself...

...They all looked very silly when the facts came to light, but these stories, often based on civilian fear and Nazi bigotry, get around to paint a distorted and unfair picture...

...the German owner complained, the story spread, and the martyred pig became a cause celebre and convicting evidence of the Negroes' theiving nature...

...No discrimination was practiced or permitted, and the general attitude of white personnel approved this policy as "fair enough...

...That is, each platoon usually retained its unity at work and rest, for purposes of control and administration, but access to passes, and recreation and athletic programs after hostilities ceased was made available to all without partiality...

...Another time I ordered a manure pile in the back yard of our temporary billet burned for sanitary reasons...

...Most of the white men of the company soon became highly appreciative of the Negroes' help and warmly applauded their more colorful individuals and combat exploits...

...Despite the short (6-week) infantry training, the lack of experienced non-commissioned officer leaders, and the general "greenness" of this platoon, it quickly proved its mettle as a fighting force and won enthusiastic approval from commanders and other troops which observed its performance...

...pleasure is rare in combat, and the attractions of fresh food, German wine cellars, and souvenirs frequently lead tired or curious conquerors astray from, the path of duty...

...IN its very first enemy contact, this platoon, advancing at mid-day through heavy woods, discovered a German force "digging-in" upon a hill-top...

...The premise that no soldier will hold black skin against a man if he can shoot his rifle and does not run away proved to be substantially true...

...Several individuals won decorations for heroism and rapid advancement from private to high non-commisioned rank...

...While it permitted perfect social and military equality, and sufficiently intimate contact between the 2 groups to promote the natural growth of understanding and mutual respect, it avoided forcing social intercourse down the throats of those white personnel who by force of their sectional prejudices might have objected violently...

...No segregation was practiced, other than normal tactical segregation...

...the hausfrau rushed in tears to Military Government officials with a wild tale of pillage, rape, and arson, and suddenly German cops and American MPs swarmed down upon us with religious indignation, fired by the impact of the word "Negro" upon their prejudiced imaginations...

...my "mixed" company fought effectively, with its Negro platoon carrying its full share of the lead, and the close contacts between the 2 races developed no frictions to handicap effective operation...

...In operation, the "tactical segregation" resulting automatically from the assignment of the Negroes to a platoon of their own achieved a fortunate balance...

...THE Negro "Fifth" platoon was treated on a basis of absolute equality with the other platoons of the company in all respects...

...But neither were they worse, and their non-coms were equally efficient and cooperative in maintaining workable order...

...That judgment is based upon my experience with each of the other platoons of the company during 3 major campaigns in France and Germany...

...They behaved no better than white doughboys...

...ROBERT LEWIS DURING the Spring campaign of 1945, the one which destroyed the Nazi armies and conquered Germany, the U. S. First and Seventh Armies carried out a program, startling against the American Army's traditional background of strict racial segregation, of training Negro volunteers from service units for infantry, and assigning them by platoons to divisions in combat on the Western Front...

...A lucky break, we all agreed...

...Leaders of Negro units must be held to the same level of performance, sacrifice, and loyalty to their men the Army demands of other troop leaders...

...The aggressive fighting quality and combat technique of individual soldiers were superior...

...As a rifle platoon and company commander, I led and commanded one of these Negro platoons for nearly 2 months of battle...

...Equally illuminating and significant were the reactions and relations of the white doughboys in the company, who fought for the same towns, sweat out the same artillery and "screaming Mimi" barrages, ate in the same chow line, and sometimes gambled in the same clandestine crap games as their Negro companions...

...Yet rigid racial segregation in the U. S. Army has been a firmly established policy—segregation of Negroes into all-Negro units, and assignment of Negro troops, with a few exceptions, only to non-combatant service and "flunkey" missions...

...I would with equal readiness accept command for a combat assignment of a mixed unit as of an all-white unit with equal training, appreciating full well that a combat leader's life must depend many times in battle upon the loyalty, courage, and ability of the men behind him...

...FROM both a military and social standpoint, the program did work...

...During combat and after V-E Day, there was not a single incident of friction between members of the 2 groups...

...The high opinion of Negro troops in mixed combat units which I gained is not universally held...

...In addition to the social dangers and injustices in discrimination itself, this policy is susceptible, on a purely military basis, to severe criticism for the failure which it involves to exploit efficiently and fully our total manpower resource for a maximum war effort...

...Coordination of individuals and units within the platoon improved rapidly as the leaders—who entered battle as privates—gained experience in combat techniques and authority...

...The widespread presumption among many white officers and men of Negro soldiers' inferiority operates to create an unbalanced and often unfair impression of their character and discipline...

...It convinced me there is no valid military argument for racial segregation...