8.+The+Tuskegee+Airmen+and+other+successes+by+US+minorities

Name: Robert Howard Birth date: February, 21 1926 Interests: Reading, writing, playing cards and sports Date of Incident: 1940s  My name is Robert Howard and I was one of the Tuskegee Airmen in World War II. I grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and as a kid I always dreamed of being a pilot for the U.S. Air Force, but it was always just one of those crazy dreams, When I was growing up, the U.S. Air Force didn’t permit African Americans to enlist, so it seemed impossible that I would ever fly for them (“Tuskegee” 1). But in 1939, the U.S. government passed legislation that Africans Americans must be admitted to the Civil Aeronautics Authority training facilities (“Tuskegee” 1). Five years later, when I turned 18, I enlisted and got accepted. I went through the training, and before long I became one of 926 African American pilots trained during World War II (“Tuskegee” 1). I was lucky though and actually got to go into combat, many other pilots never got to go into combat, because there were only limited spots available since black pilots were only permitted to work with other black units (“Tuskegee” 1). This meant that many qualified black pilots ended up being stewardesses and cooks, and doing other work that was ridiculous for the levels of training they had (“Tuskegee” 1). Despite our trouble to prove ourselves to the nation, we were very successful in the war. My unit, the 92nd Infantry Division, or the Buffaloes, received many awards for courage at war including, 162 bronze stars, 65 silver stars and 7 legion of Merit Awards (Danzer et al. 573). Another successful unit was the 99th Pursuit Squadron (Danzer et al. 573). They had their first victory in Sicily, and continued on to successfully attack Germany many more times in Italy (Danzer et al. 573). At the end of the war, we Tuskegee Airmen came out with “…two Distinguished Unit Citations (the military’s highest commendation) for [our] outstanding aerial combat against the German Luftwaffe” (Danzer et al. 573).  We African Americans weren’t the only successful minority groups in the war though; both Chicanos and Japanese Americans did as well (Danzer et al. 573). The Mexican Americans often had segregated units just like the African Americans, and also like the African Americans were very helpful and successful in the war (Danzer et al. 573). One unit was the all Chicano, Company E that was part of the 141st Regiment and the 39th Division (Danzer et al. 573; Olvera 1). They were a unit of all Chicanos who sacrificed their lives, in order to go across the Rapido River in Italy (Olvera 1). Their mission was to find out where the Germans were located, and where a good crossing point on the river was, so that the Allied forces could get information on the Germans (Olvera 1). All of them knew that doing this was basically committing suicide, but they did it anyway, and they sacrificed their lives for the U.S., and over 1,700 soldiers, many of them Mexican Americans (Olvera 1). Overall, 17 Mexican Americans were awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor and Company E became the most decorated unit in World War II (Danzer et al. 573).  Last but not least, the Japanese Americans were a very helpful minority group in World War II (Danzer et al. 573). 1,300 Nisei, who were American Citizens whose parents were from Japan, became part of the 100th Battalion (Danzer et al. 573). The 100th Battalion took part in many brutal battles, causing them to be referred to as the Purple Heart Battalion (Danzer et al. 573). Eventually the Purple Heart Battalion joined another Nisei unit, the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, and together they became “…the most decorated unit in U.S. History” (Danzer et al. 573).  Even though, we minority groups suffered much discrimination, we didn’t let it bother us and we fought and sacrificed our lives for our country. I hope that in the years to come the units won’t be segregated by race, and all of the work done by the minority groups in World War II will come out of the shadows for everyone to see. Works Cited Danzer, Gerald A, et al. __The Americans__. Evanston: McDougal Littell,2003. "Inouye, Daniel." United States Senate. __ American History Online __. Facts On File, Inc. Hunterdon Central Regional High School 21 October 2008.  Olvera, Joe. “The Boys of Company E.” __Newspaper Tree__. 5 October 2007. 21 October 2008 . “Tuskegee Airmen.” __American History__. 2008. ABC-CLIO. Hunterdon Central Regional High School. 21 October 2008.