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Overview
"From Harlem to the Rhine to Paris - spanning military valor and musical splendor - the story of the fighting 369th, the modern U.S. Army's first all-black regiment, along with its military forbears and descendants." "Their distinguished World War I record featured the longest frontline service of any American regiment, and they were the first Allied unit to reach the Rhine River, with not one soldier captured or a foot of ground lost to the enemy." "Their distinguished private, Henry Johnson, was awarded France's prestigious Croix de Guerre, for single-handedly knocking out a platoon of twenty-eight German troops - yet Johnson is today still denied America's Medal of Honor. Racism at home kept the 369th from fighting under American command, but the French government eagerly embraced them and honored their battlefield exploits, while the French people fell in love with the regimental band's hot jazz." "Harris follows the formation of the resilient 15th Regiment of Colored Infantry - later renamed the 369th - which, lacking a proper armory, drilled in the crowded streets of Harlem and in a local dance hall. The unit was ready to fight by 1917, but forbidden from serving by General John J. Pershing. A rousing story of arms and a band - led by jazz pioneer Lieutenant James Reese Europe - that toured Europe's hospitals, villages, and cities, this book provides a portrait of the soldiers whose return to U.S. soil, complete with a spectacular parade up Fifth Avenue, helped fuel the Harlem Renaissance." Spotlighting a regiment whose influence extended far beyond the trenches of the Great War, Bill Harris also surveys the history of black participation in all of America's wars - from slaves and freedmen serving as British and Colonial recruits in the Revolutionary War to high tech warriors in the Gulf War.Editorials
Kirkus Reviews
In a chastening reminder of racism's toll and reach, a former New York Times reporter vividly documents the long, hard fight of African-Americans to be accepted as equals in the armed services. Focusing on the story of New York's 369th Colored Infantry Regiment-"The Hellfighters of Harlem"-Harris describes the regiment's daunting struggle to fight alongside their fellow citizens. As he describes their experience, he evokes Harlem of the WWI era, recalling musicians like James Reese Europe, who served in France as a bandleader while also fighting in battle. Though the men of Harlem were eager to enlist in 1917, they were dogged by endemic racism, which led the War Office to consider African-Americans unsuitable officer material and General Pershing to deny them the right to fight alongside white Americans. Instead, they were attached to a French regiment, where they served with distinction: more than 170 men were awarded the Croix de Guerre and one soldier the Medal of Honor. Though demobilized in 1919, the regiment today is part of the Army National Guard and continues to serve-most recently at the World Trade Center. Harris includes as well a brief history of African-American service in homeland wars: George Washington denied enlistment to them, while the British promised liberty to slaves who joined them. After the Civil War, black regiments west of the Mississippi guarded the frontier; known as the Buffalo Soldiers, they, rather than the heroic whites of Western movies, were the cavalry that saved townspeople from Apaches. Harris details the changes in the military since President Truman officially ended discrimination in 1948: Today, over 10 percent of officers are African-American,and almost 21 percent of the women in the officer corps are black. Somber, instructive story of unsung patriots' war against prejudice. (b&w photos, maps, not seen)Book Details
Published
October 1, 2002
Publisher
New York : Carroll & Graf Pub., 2002.
Pages
244
Format
Hardcover
ISBN
9780786710508