By Mark Pearson
One hundred years ago our country’s military was involved in what is now called WW I. Back then it was called The Great War, as WW II hadn’t been fought yet. A portion of our population was involved in two separate battles, one was against the Germans under the Kiser and the other was fighting against racial bigotry that was being practiced here in this country and by our own military overseas.
One of the units involved was the 369th infantry regiment known as the Harlem Hellfighters. They were an all black unit commanded by white officers that was part of the 93rd infantry division, one of two all black units that were sent to Europe. When they were attached to other US army units they were relegated to doing all the menial manual labor jobs normally associated with the military such as maintaining roads, doing cooking, cleaning and laundry. Fortunately, the 93rd was loaned by General Pershing to the French who were more than glad to have them fight with them.
As a result, they amassed an illustrious combat record fighting in several important battles. The 369th spent 191 days on the front lines making them the longest serving regiment in the US during that war. Here is a major part of our history that has been treated as if it never happened. I personally have read many accounts of WW I written by many famous authors who don’t mention these facts or give a short account in a sentence or less in passing.
In my opinion this is a type of revisionist history that in other settings we would find unacceptable. What is worse is after reading an account of the US Army Air Forces in Europe written in the 1960’s before the civil rights movements, I found no mention of the Tuskegee air men also known as the Red Tails who flew escort for our bomber forces who were bombing enemy targets all over Europe. At first they were given hand-me-down fighter aircraft but finally they were given the P51 Mustang considered the best fighter produced during WW II. They were called Red Tails because they painted the tail surfaces of their fighters a bright red. They proved themselves to be so good that the bomber crews quickly learned when the Red Tails were watching over them they were being protected by the best fighter unit available.
Reading the book published in the 60’s was bad enough but when I read a book written in the last couple of years that claimed to be the most comprehensive account of the European bombing campaign during WW II and yet I found within those pages and photographs that there was absolutely no mention of the Red Tails.
I for one am appalled at the way history is taught in our public schools but when a major part of black history is ignored and treated as if it never happened that really gets under my skin. It is no wonder that many in the black community don’t feel any attachment to our country’s development when historians who should know better participate in revisionist history by omitting certain elements pertaining to it.