People, Locations, Episodes

The Golden Thirteen Begin Military Training

*This date in 1944 celebrates “The Golden Thirteen.” This was the first African American naval officer-training group in Ameria.

In January of that year, the naval officer corps was all white. There were some one hundred thousand African American enlisted men in the Navy, yet none were officers. In response to growing pressure from American civil rights organizations, the leaders of the Navy reluctantly tackled commissioning a few as officers. Sixteen Black enlisted men were summoned to Camp Robert Smalls, Great Lakes Naval Training Station in Illinois, they were:

Black history and The USS Mason, (WW II Warship) a story

*On this date we remember the USS Mason, a WWII warship manned by a predominantly Black crew that served as a role model for the integration of U.S. Navy ships.

Though launched November 17, 1943 at Boston Navy Yard’s Pier 6, the ship wasn’t commissioned until March 1944. The USS Mason (DE-529) was a Destroyer Escort. Length: 289’5″, Beam: 35’1″, Draft: 11’10″. Speed of 21 knots, with 6 officers, and 150 Black enlisted men. By the time the Mason was decommissioned; all the chief petty officers were Black. The ship escorted six convoys across the North Atlantic.

The VLA, ‘Very Low Altitude’ Barrage Balloon Battalion, a story

*On this date in 1944, The Normandy landing operations commenced. Termed D-Day, this was the Allied invasion of Normandy, France in Operation Overlord during World War II. This was the largest seaborne invasion in modern history and began the liberation of German-occupied northwestern Europe from Nazi control, and contributed to the Allied victory on the Western Front.

Jerry Rawlings, Soldier and Politician born.

*Jerry Rawlings was born on this date in 1947. He was a Black Ghanaian military officer, aviator, and politician. Jerry John Rawlings was born in Accra, Ghana, to Victoria Agbotui, an Anlo Ewe from Dzelukope, Keta, and James Ramsey John, a British chemist from Scotland. His father never lived with him and his mother and […]

Americas Armed Service Integrates Its Women’s Ranks

On this date in 1948, the Armed Services integrated its women’s defense organizations.

Ensign Edith De Voe was sworn into the Regular Navy Nurse Corps and in March, First Lieutenant Nancy C. Leftenant entered the Regular Army Nurse Corps, becoming the corps’ first Black members. Following World War II, racial and gender discrimination as well as segregation persisted in the military. Entry quotas and segregation in the Women’s Army Corps (WACs) deterred many from re-entry between 1946 and 1947. By June 1948, only four Black officers and 121 enlisted women remained in the WAC.

Lillian Fishburne, Navy Admiral born

*Lillian Fishburne was born on this date in 1949. She is an African American Rear Admiral (RADM) and Administrator.

Thomas Sankara, Soldier and Pan-Africanist born.

*Thomas Sankara was born on this date in 1949. He was a Black African military officer, Marxist revolutionary, and Pan-Africanist. Thomas Isidore Noël Sankara was born in Yako, French Upper Volta, Burkina Faso, the third of ten children to Joseph and Marguerite Sankara. His father, a gendarme, was Mossi–Fulani, while his mother, Marguerite Kinda, was of […]

The First Medal of Honor is Conferred For a Black Soldier in The Korean Conflict

On this date in 1951, Private First Class William Henry Thompson became the first Black to earn the Medal of Honor in the Korean conflict.

While manning his machine gun during a surprise attack on his platoon, Thompson of Company M, Twenty-fourth Infantry Regiment, was killed in action. This occurred at a critical juncture in the 8th Army’s attempt to stop the North Korean Army’s southward movement.

Pfc. Thompson’s effort near Hainan, Korea, resulted in his becoming the first Black man to receive the Medal of Honor since 1898.

Libya Gains Independence From Italy

*Libya gained its independence on this date in 1951. Under the 1947 peace treaty with the Allies, Italy relinquished all claims to Libya. The officially the State of Libya is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad to the south, […]

Algeria Gains Independence From France

On this date in 1954, Algeria gained independence from France.

For more than a century, the Algerian people fought a permanent armed, moral, and political struggle against the invader and all its forms of oppression. This began after the aggression of 1830 against the Algerian State and the occupation of the country by the French colonialist forces. In the conflict the National Liberation Front called for the mobilization of all the energies of the nation, the process of struggle for independence having reached its final realization stage.

Togo Gains Independence From France

*On this date in 1960, Togo gained independence from France. In Togo’s first presidential elections in 1961, Sylvanus Olympio became the first president of the Togolese Republic. The opposition boycotted the elections. On April 9, 1961, the Constitution of the Togolese Republic was adopted, according to which the supreme legislative body was the National Assembly of Togo. Historically, the Berlin Conference resulted […]

Michelle Howard, Military Admiral born

*Michelle Howard was born on this date in 1960. She is a Black Navy admiral.    Michelle Janine Howard was born in March Air Reserve Base, California, U.S., the daughter of former U.S. Air Force master sergeant Nick Howard and his British wife, Phillipa. She graduated from Gateway High School in Aurora, Colorado, in 1978. She then graduated from the U.S. […]

uMkhonto we Sizwe is formed

*uMkhonto we Sizwe was formed on this date in 1961. This Army was the paramilitary wing of the African National Congress (ANC). Nelson Mandela founded uMkhonto we Sizwe after the Sharpeville massacre. Its mission was to fight against the South African government. Its name is Xhosa, and its pronunciation is “Spear of the Nation,” abbreviated MK. After warning […]

Black History and the Vietnam War, a story

*On this date in 1967, Black history in the Vietnam War is briefly written about. The Vietnam War was the first American war in which Black and white troops were not formally segregated, though de facto segregation still occurred. American troops arrived in 1961.  Blacks were more likely to be drafted than whites. Though 11% […]

The Nigerian Civil War Begins

*The Nigerian Civil War, also known as the Biafran War, began on this date in 1967. It was a civil war fought between Nigeria and the Republic of Biafra. This secessionist state had declared its independence from Nigeria earlier in 1967. General Yakubu Gowon led Nigeria, while Lieutenant Colonel Chukwuemeka Ojukwu led Biafra. The conflict […]