AFRICAN AMERICANS IN WORLD WAR II RED BALL EXPRESS

l [Music] before VE day this building was a Nazi Arsenal in it were housed some of the most powerful weapons the Germans ever hurled against our troops this building was an arsenal of [Music] words div on conquer divide on conquer divide on conquer divide on conquer divide on conquer divide on conquer divide on conquer divide and conquer divide on conquer divide and conquer a powerful weapon gentlemen and I'm pleased to tell you that we are using it well in America for example we have a very fertile field a mongrel Nation there we are able to play on many strengths Protestant against Catholic Gentile against Jew Capital against labor white men against black consider this last group for example in the American Army one out of every 10 soldiers is a Negro we are working constantly through our agents in America to divide these black men from the whites here we are playing on frictions that already exist and it is not difficult to build these up to persuade the Negro to hate the white man and to convince the white man that the Negro is stupid and irresponsible unfit to handle the tools of modern war when the real test comes you will see the results by splitting off the negos people in effect have reduced the American Army by 10% 10% casualties without firing a shot a million enemy soldiers gentlemen that is a major engagement and if this Mongrel American Army dares to attack the sacred shores of the Fortress Europe you will see chaos in their ranks these are the sacred shores of the Fortress Europe and approaching those sacred Shores is the mongrel American army [Music] [Music] Protestant and Catholic Jew and Gentile rich man and poor man black man and white they all hit the same Beach under the same enemy [Music] fire when they were hit they felt the same same pain the same kinds of blood flowed from their wounds they established their Beach head and they held it the Americans had landed they were fighting a bloody path across the Hedge RS of Normandy when a counter attack came this attack came from the sky but it wasn't the German lift one for 3 days and nights the storm swept the English Channel it hit the beaches that were supplying our army and wrecked everything in its path two years of careful planning and hard labor two years of skill and swep Inland half a million fighting men were using up supplies and they couldn't wait for more this gun would need ammunition the tanks would need gas the men would need food but these supplies were marooned in ships offshore the Germans held the ports and they were encouraged they had said we couldn't Supply our army without a harbor now they were sure of it it was impossible to deliver the goods over the beaches well maybe it was impossible but we did it we did it with the strangest American Fleet that ever put to sea with these amphibious 2 and 1/2 ton trucks the men of the port battalions established a 24-hour a day ferry service they picked up the supplies from the ships offshore and delivered them where they were needed on the continent of Europe This Soldier did his job and so did this one they had a common goal and they delivered the [Music] goods ammunition for General haj's men gasoline for patent tanks food clothing Vehicles the products of the fifth War loan were being delivered on time yes it was a miracle but we needed more miracles bigger Miracles because now we had a million men on the Contin of Europe when this man ran out of ammunition would there be more when this Soldier picked up a field telephone could he get through to headquarters would there be gas enough to keep this tank rolling into the heart of Germany Miracles that's what we needed a bunch of miracles in a hurry broad smooth highways railroads like the Union Pacific or the Santa Fe airfields with concrete runways for the heavy transports we needed a harbor like New York or San Francisco we needed a telephone switchboard that could reach a million men and that's just what we got these are the kind of men who did the job the Germans said these men couldn't work with other Americans they told this man he couldn't count on the American at the other end of the wire they said he wouldn't be there they said he was shiftless lazy stupid irresponsible these engineers build a modern Airfield in record time this railroad would never match the Santa Fe but it would carry ammunition to blast the crazy notion of a master race these men knew the score they were busy hating Germans not each [Music] other Patton's men needed gasoline and that's what these soldiers gave them they laid a pipeline from the channel to the Ryme the port of sherberg was taken by American troops late in June a week later on July 4 the harbor was operating it was operating because these men had been working on aroundthe clock schedule for 7 Days the 4th of July back home that's a holiday you might be taking your girl to the beach or sitting at the band concert holding your wife's hand or taking the kids out for a picnic in the country but this wasn't that kind of a for this was for July 1944 and there was a job to be done of course there were fireworks here too but you didn't have time to stop and watch the display because these men knew how to work together a devastated Harbor city became a useful Port again the stock piles were building up but up forward the armies were on the move the first was smashing across Normandy 10 15 towns a day Patton made a wide end run and slashed to within 25 mil of Paris they were out running their supplies there was talk about running short of artillery ammunition and food and gasoline one thing saved the day a steering wheel and a pair of hands 9,000 steering wheels and 9,000 pairs of hands the red ball Highway a trucking job that carried the goods from the Ducks of sherberg to the armies at the front the schedule 24 hours a day the drivers a bunch of American soldiers men who drove from sunup through blackup men who were bombed and straight and sometimes killed by mines the Germans said these men were only good for pushing wheelbarrows or toing boxes well if this is toing boxes nice toen Soldier these are the men who couldn't work together who'd never get along they didn't agree with you Dr Geral General Eisenhower didn't agree with you either speaking for him is Major General es Hughes who expresses the appreciation and Commendation of the Supreme Allied Commander the success of our recent military operations he says depended on the red ball Highway for the delivery of vital supplies when those supplies were most desperately needed the red ball drivers delivered the goods congratulations for a tough job well done [Music] in the air over Germany another Nazi myth was being shattered you couldn't sell Prejudice to the 15th Air Force Mr Hitler on a bombing Mission over enemy territory a fighter escort as a mighty comforting sight you don't ask who the other Pilots are or where their grandfathers came from you know they're Americans and that's good enough this man thought it was plenty good enough as far as he was concerned this man could fly top cover for him any day he'd been out with a 332 figh at group before [Music] this is the man who couldn't Master the tools of modern war remember [Music] in the ground fighting two Americans were working together as a team on 21 September 1944 the hon first infantry launched an attack they were supported by the 769 field artillery on 25 December the 370th Infantry Tre attacked in the pole [Music] Valley they were supported by the 695 field artillery on 16 March 1945 the 409th Infantry cracked the famous sea freed Line running interference for them was the 761st tank Battalion this veteran tank outfit fought with a third seventh and nth armies Landing in Normandy they fought their way across France Luxembourg Belgium and into Germany in an official citation Major General Ms Eddie Army Core Commander said I consider the 761st tank Battalion to have entered combat with such conspicuous courage and success as to Warrant special Commendation to this Major General WS Paul division commander of the 26th infantry added your Battalion has supported this division with great bravery these men had to have a belief in each other and in their country that was stronger than anything the enemy could hurl at [Music] them this German gun fired Nazi propaganda as well as Nazi High explosiv [Music] [Music] these men needed each other what would this man do that's what this man wanted to [Music] know we know now what he did we know what they both did and we know that they did it together the price was not easy to pay but they paid [Music] it together they hammered out a monument to the idea of unity and they fashioned a tomb for the idea of a master [Music] race these are the Americans who did the job they didn't think that America was perfect they knew it wasn't they didn't believe that prejudice doesn't exist because it does but they all agreed with Sergeant Joe Lewis when he said there's nothing wrong with America that Hitler can fix and they proved on the battlefields of Europe that there's nothing wrong with America that Americans can't [Music] fix e