Celebrating Black History Month: Margaret Bailey, first African American Nurse Corps colonel

 

Margaret Bailey, born December 25, 1915 in Selma, Alabama, graduated from nursing school in 1938 and worked at Mercy Hospital in st. Petersburg, Florida, the only primary care facility for the black community. A year later, resigned her position and went to work at Seaview Hospital on Staten Island, New York, which specialized in tuberculosis treatment and was also non-segregated.

She joined the US Army Nurse Corps in June 1944 and was assigned to the "all-Negro unit" in the corps. She completed basic training at Fort Huachuca in Arizona and was commissioned second lieutenant. She was assigned to Florence, Arizona to care for German POWs.

After WWII, Bailey served in domestic and international facilities, such as France, Germany, and Japan.  she faced racism, but she advanced through the ranks.  She was promoted to captain in 1950 after completing a six-month psychiatric nursing course at Brooke Army Medical Center.

In July 1964, she was promoted to lieutenant colonel, becoming the first black nurse to achieve the rank. She was transferred to the 130th General Hospital in Chinon, France.  In 1966, she became the first chief nurse of the unit and the first black nurse to lead a non-segregated unit.

Bailey received the Army Commendation Medal in February 1969 and in January 1970, she became the first African American person to achieve the rank of colonel, the highest military rank possible within the United States Army Nurse Corps.

She retired from the Army in 1971 or 1972, and worked as a Consultant to the Surgeon General with a special responsibility to promote increased participation of minorities in the Army Nurse Corps. Throughout her lifetime, she was awarded the World War II Victory Medal, the American Campaign Medal, National Defense Medal, the Army Commendation Medal, and the Legion of Merit, the second hightest non-combat military award.

Bailey passed away in August 2014 in Washington DC, at the age of 98. 

Speech by Col. Margaret Bailey

Celebrating Black History Month: Olivia Hooker, first African American woman in the US Coast Guard

Olivia Hooker, born February 12, 1915 in Muskogee, Oklahoma, was the first black woman to enter the US Coast Guard.  Olivia was living with her parents and siblings during the Tulsa Race Riots in 1921.  Her family fled to Topeka, Kansas and then Columbus, Ohio. 

While she was at Ohio State University, she advocated for African American women to be admitted to the US Navy. She applied to the Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES), but was rejected becauses she was black. She disputed the rejection and was accepted, but she had already decided to join the US Coast Guard.

Hooker reported in February 1945 and sent to basic training in Brooklyn, New York. She became a Coast Guard Women's Reserve (SPARS), being one of only five black women to enlist in the SPARS program.  After basic training, she was assignedd to the Separation Center  in Boston and earned the rank of Yeoman Third Class in the Coast Guard Women's Reserve.  In June 1946, the SPARS program was disbanded and Hooker earned the rank of Petty Officer 3rd Class.

After WWII, she obtained her PhD in clinical psychology and helped form the American Psychological Associatoin's Division 33: IDD/ASD to hep increase quality of life for individuals with IDD/ASD.

She passed away of natural causes in November 2018 at the age of 103.

Interview with Olivia Hooker

Celebrating Black History Month: Charles B. Hall, first African American to receive Distinguished Flying Cross

 

Charles "Buster" Hall, born August 25, 1920 in Brazil, Indiana, was the first African American combat pilot to be awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. He enlisted in the US Army Air Corps as an aviation cadet in 1941, and assigned to attend Advanced Flight Cadet Training at the Tuskegee Army Airfield in 1942. 

He graduated July 3, 1942, earning his wings and being commisssioned as a 2nd Lieutenant.  Hall was assigned to the 332nd Fighter Group's 99th Fighter Squadron.

During WWII, he flew 198 missions over North Africa, Italy, the Meditarranean, and Europe. On July 2, 1943, while on a riad on Castelvetrano Airfield in Sicily, Itlay, Hall shot down a German plane, making him the first African American combat fighter to shoot down an enemy aircraft.

For this action, he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, making him the first black man to receive an award. He shot down two more enemy planes in January 1944 over Anzio, Italy. 

After the war, like many other African American WWII veteran pilots, he could not find a job with commercial airlines or commercial transport companies.  He moved to Oklahoma, where he became an insurance agent and in 1949, worked at Tinker Air Force Base until 1967, when he took a position at the Federal Aviation Administration in Oklahoma City.

He died on November 22, 1971

Interview with Charles Hall's son

Celebrating Black History Month: Buffalo Soldiers, first all-black Army regiment

 The Buffalo Soldiers were the first all-black Army regiment established by US Congress in 1866.  During the Civil War, the government formed regiments known as the United States Colored Troops, but they were disbanded in 1865.  The Buffalo Soldiers first participated in wars against the Native Americans, escorting US mail, and bulding roads in the southwestern area and Great Plains regions.  

They participated in two of the largest range wars, battles in the American Old West fought between large cattle rangers against smaller ranchers and farmers who competed for land, water, and livestock. 

Buffalo Soldiers participated in WWI and WWII, but in 1948, President Truman desegrated the US army.  The Buffalo Soldiers were disbanded on December 12, 1951. 

Over its history, more than two dozen soldiers received the Medal of Honor for their service.

Buffalo Soldiers brief history

Celebrating Black History Month: Harriet Pickens and Frances Wills, first African American women commissioned in the US Navy

 

Harriet Ida Pickens, born March 17, 1909 in Talladega, Alabama, and Frances Wills, born July 12, 1910 in Philadelphia, Pennyslvania, were the first two African American female officers to be commissioned by the US Navy.

The WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service) was established in 1942 during WWII, and many African American women wanted to enlist.  Then-Secretary of the US Navy Frank Knox refused their admission, following his death in April 1944, President Franklin Roosevelt authorized their inclusion in the WAVES.  Pickens and Wills were the first African American women chosen as recruits. They were enlisted on November 13, 1944.

Pickens passed away in 1969 in New York City after a stroke.  Wills died in January 1998 in New York City. 

Harriet Pickens and Frances Wills

Celebrating Black History Month: Benjamin O. Davis, Jr., first African American brigadier general in US Air Force

 

Benjamin O. Davis, Jr., born December 18, 1912 in Washington, DC, was the first African American brigadier general in the US Air Force.  His father was Benjamin O. Davism, Sr., the first African American brigadier general in the US Army.  

He entered the US Military Academy at West Point, graduating in 1936, become the first black man to do so since 1889.The US Army assigned him to the all-black 24th Infantry Regiment at Fort Benning, Georgia. He then taught military tactics at the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama.  In 1941, he entered aviation cadet training and graduated in 1942, becoming one of four first African American combat pilots in the US military.  

In September 1943, Davis was assigned to command the 332nd Fighter Group, and went overseas.  During WWII, the airmen he commanded flew more than 15,000 sorties, shot down 112 enemy planes, and damaged or destroyed 273 planes on the ground, losing only 66 of their own planes and 25 bombers.  Davis received a Silver Star for a strafing run into Austria and the Distinguished Flying Cross for a bomber-escort mission to Munich June 9, 1944. At the end of the war he had been promoted to colonel. 

When President Truman ordered the racial integration of the armed forces, Col. Davis helped draft the Air Force plan for implementing this order. He returned to combat when he assumed command of the 51st Figher-Interceptor Wing in Korea in 1953. 

He was promoted to major general in 1959 and brigadier general in 1960. He retired from the Air Force in 1970. 

President Clinton promoted Davis to four-star general in 1998.  

He passed away in July 2002.

Benjamin Davis Jr. interview

Celebrating Black History Month: Benjamin O. Davis, Sr., first African American to promoted to brigadier general

Benjamin O. Davis, Sr., born July 1, 1877 in Washington, DC, became the first African American to be promoted to brigadier general in the US Army.  He graduated from Howard University in 1898, and joined the 8th volunteer Infantry for the Spanish-American War, receiving a commission as a first lieutenant.

He joined the regular army as a private and then became a on-commissioned officer.  In 1901, he was appointed second lieutenant of Cavalry.  He served in the Philippine-American War and Wrold War I.  Despite racism and being passed over for promotions, he was promoted to Colonel in 1930.

Davis's accomplishments led him to be promoted to brigadier general and commanded the 4th Cavalry Brigade, 2nd Cavalry Division.  He retired in 1948 and passed away in November 1970.

Celebrating Asian American, Native Hawai'ian, Pacific Islander Heritage Month: Francis Takemoto, first Native Hawai'ian brigadier general in US Army

Francis Takemoto, born November 28, 1912 in Honolulu, Hawai'i, graduated from University of Hawai'i with a degree in chemistry in 1935. He participated in the ROTC program and was commissioned as a second lieutenant of infantry in the Army Reserve. 

In March 1943, he reported for active duty and sent to train with the 442nd Infantry in Mississippi.  In March 1944, he was transferred to the 100th Infantry Battalion, 133rd Infantry Regiment, 34th Infantry Division in Italy.  He earned a Bronze Star Medal and a Purple Heart, after receiving a shrapnel wound to the side of his head, for his WWII service.

Takemoto was released from active duty in January 1946, and promoted to captain in the Army Reserve in September 1946. He was promoted to colonel in July 1960.  President Lyndon Johnson nominated him to be Brigadier general in the Army and Takemoto was confirmed by the US Senate in February 1964. 

He retired in May 1968. He passed away in May 2002 in Honolulu. 

Celebrating Black History Month: Phyllis Mae Dailey, first African American woman commissioned Navy officer

Phyllis Mae Dailey, born March 12, 1919 in New York City, became the first African American woman to serve in the United States Navy and a commissioned Navy officer.  She graduated from the Lincoln School for Nurses in Manhattan, and studied public health at Teachers College, Columbia University.  

When the US entered WWII, she kept applying to the Army Nurse Corps, and the Navy Nurse Corps.  The Navy desegrated its Nurse Corps in January 1945.  On March 8, 1945 Dailey was sworn into the Navy Nurse Corps, becoming the first African American woman to become a commissioned Navy officer.  

She served the Navy after the war until she was discharged May 9, 1951, having earned the rank of lieutenant (junior grade).  She worked as a clinical nursing instructor for the New York City Board of Education.  She died in October 1976 after a short illness.

Celebrating Black History Month: Vice Adm. Samuel Gravely, first black officer to command a US Navy ship

Samuel Gravely, born June 4, 1922 in Richmond, Virginia, joined the Naval Reserve in 1942.  He graduated from UCLA, and completed Midshipmen's School at Columbia University and was commissioned as ensign in December 1944. 

He was the only black officer aboard the USS PC-1264, a submarine chaser, during WWII.  After the war, he was released from active duty, but remained in the Naval Reserve.  He was recalled to active duty in 1949, as a recruiter in Washington, DC through the Korean War. In 1955, he transferred to the Reserve to the regular Navy and specialized in naval communications.

He was the first African American officer to command the USS Theodore E. Chandler, from February to October 1961.   He commanded the destroyer USS Taussig, from January 1962 to June 1963 during the Vietnam War.   He was the first African American to lead a ship into combat.  In 1967 he was the first African American to be promoted to captain, and then 1971 the first to reach the rank of rear admiral.

He commanded the Third Fleet in Hawaii and then transferred to Virginia to direct the Defense Communications Agency until he retired in 1980.

He received the Legion of Merit, Bronze Star Medal, Meritorious Service, Navy Commendation Medal, WWII Victory Medal, the Korean Service Medal, and the United Nations Korea Medal.

He passed away in October 2004 after a stroke. 

Celebrating National Hispanic Heritage Month: Joe Gandara, recipient of Medal of Honor

Joe Gandara, born April 25, 1924 in Santa Monica, California to Mexican immigrants, was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously in 2014.  He joined the army in February 1943.  In June 1944, Private Gandara and his detachment came under fire in Amfreville, France, from a German force, and were pinned down for four hours.  Private Gandara volunteered to advance solo toward the enemy's position.  He fired his machine gun from the hip and destroyed three hostile machine guns before he was killed.  

He was awarded the Medal of Honor by President Barack Obama in a March 18, 2014 ceremony as part of a review through the Defense Authorization Act which called for a review of Jewish American and Hispanic American veterans from WWII, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War to ensure no prejudice was shown to those deserving the Medal of Honor.

Comedian Dan Rowan born 1922

Dan Rowan, born July 22, 1922 in Beggs, Oklahoma, is best known for his comedy show with partner Dick Martin, Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In.  He graduated from Pueblo, Colorado after being orphaned and then taken in by a foster family.  

In 1940, he hitchhiked to Los Angeles and got a job in the mailroom at Paramount Pictures.  During WWII, Rowan served as a fighter pilot in the 8th Fighter Squadron, 49th Fighter Group of the US Army Air Forces.  He shot down two Japanese aircraft before being shot down himself and being seriously wounded.  He received the Distinguished Flying Cross with Oak Leaf Cluster, the Air Medal, and the Purple Heart.

After the war, he returned to California and teamed up with Dick Martin and created a successful nightclub act.  They took their act to television and Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In debuted in 1967.  The show lasted until 1973.  He won a Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Variety or Musical Series in 1969 with Martin, Paul Keyes, and Carolyn Raskin.

He passed away in 1987 from lymphoma.

Celebrating Pride Month: Frank Kameny, grandfather of the Queer Liberation Movement

Frank Kameny, born May 21, 1925 in New York City, was an early gay advocate and one of the most significant figures in the history of the American gay rights movement. He enlisted in the US Army in May 1943 and, after finishing basic training, sent to University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to study mechanical engineering. Kameny was withdrawn from the program to prepare for an invasion of France.  He was sent to the frontlines where he served as an infantry private.

After the war, he enrolled at Harvard University and graduated with a Master's degree in 1949 and a doctorate in 1956 in astronomy.  In August 1956, he was "detained" in San Francisco after being accused of "lewd and indecent acts".

A year later, Kameny was hired by the US Army Map Service, but when they heard of his arrest in San Francisco he was fired. He appealed his firing through the courts and even the US Supreme Court, but never won a case.  He devoted himself to activism.

Kameny's pushback against the government's policy on gay employees was the first of its kind, arguing that discrimination on the basis of sexuality is no different from discrimination based on race or religion.  

In 1961, he co-founded the Washington DC branch of the Mattachine Society. He campaigned to overturn DC sodomy laws in 1963, and was finally successful in 1993. He also worked to remove the classification of homosexuality as a mental disorder from the American Psychiatric Association.

He represented and defended government employees who had their security revoked or suspended due to allegations of "perversion" or immoral acts". 

Kameny ran for US Congress in 1971 in DC's first election for a non-voting Congressional delegate, the first gay to run for Congress, but lost unfortunately.  After his defeat, he created the Gay and Lesbian Alliance of Washington, DC, which still lobbies the government and pushes for equal rights.

Kameny passed away in October 2011.

Celebrating Asian American, Native Hawai'ian, Pacific Islander Heritage Month: Brian Tochi, Star Trek actor

Brian Tochi, born in Los Angeles to Japanese parents who survived the WWII internment camps, has appeared on Star Trek (original series) as a child, and Star Trek: The Next Generation as an adult, the only actor to do so.

He played Ray in the episode And the Children Shall Lead in 1968.  He then appeared in the TNG episode Night Terrors as Ensign Kenny Lin. 

Tochi is best known for his appearances in three popular film franchises of all time: Revenge of the Nerds (as Takashi), Police Academy (as Nogata), and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, starring as Leonardo. He also appeared for the entire run of Space Academy, with fellow And the Children Shall Lead actress Pamelyn Ferdin.  Wow!

Celebrating Asian American, Native Hawai'ian, Pacific Islanders Heritage Month: Gordon Pai‘ea Chung-Hoon, first Asian American rear admiral in US Navy

Gordon Pai'ea Chung-Hoon, born July 25, 1910 in Hawai'ian territory to a Chinese father and Hawai'ian mother, attended the US Naval Academy in May 1934, becoming the first Asian American graduate from the academy. He played football for the Navy as halfback and punter, helping break an 11-year losing streak against Army in 1934. 

After graduation, he was assigned to the USS Indianapolis as ensign.  In January 1937, he served on the USS Montgomery, and then lieutenant (junior grade) on the USS Dent in January 1939.

He served on the USS Arizona as a lieutenant and was in Hawai'i on the day of the attack on Pearl Harbor.  He was in Honolulu when the attack occurred.  He then worked as a naval liaison officer with coastal artillery, and also served on the cruiser USS Honolulu.

In May 1944, Chung-Hoon commanded the destroyer USS Sigsbee. On April 14, 1945, the Sigsbee assisted in an aircraft carrier strike force off Kyushu, when a kamikaze crashed into her.  The  explosion killed 23 men, knocked out the port engine and steering control and severely damaging her starboard engine.

Admiral Halsey told Chung-Hoon to scuttle the ship, but Chung-Hoon refused, saying "No, I have kids on here that can't swim and I'm not putting them in the water.  I'll take her back."

He managed to keep the ship a float while continuing to fire on enemy aircraft, and made it safely back to port. He received the Navy Cross and the Silver Star for conspicuous gallantry and extraordinary heroism.

Chung-Hoon commanded the USS John W. Thomason during the Korean War and was promoted to captain July 1, 1953. He retired in 1959 and was promoted to rear admiral, making him the first Asian American flag officer of the US Navy.

He passed away on July 24, 1979, the day before his 69th birthday.

Celebrating Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month: Susan Ahn Cuddy, first Asian American woman in the US Navy

Susan Ahn Cuddy, born January 16, 1915 in Los Angeles, California, was the first Asian American woman to join the US Navy.  Her parents immigrated from Korea to the US in 1902.  

She was accepted into the Women Accepted for Voluntary Emergency Service on her second attempt and sent to the US Naval Reserve Midshipmen's School at Smith College in Massachusetts.  An astonishing feat considering anti-Asian sentiment and sexism ran high. in the country.

She joined the Navy in 1942 and became an instructor on flight simulators, and later she became the first female aerial gunnery officer, instructing male recruits in air combat tactics, during WWII.  

Ahn Cuddy was promoted to lieutenant and went to work for the US Navy Intelligence, the Library of Congress, and the National Security Agency. 

After her retirement, she spoke at Navy functions and Korean American community events, and was a breast cancer survivor. 

She died in June 2015 at the age of 100. 

The Andrew Sisters record "Beer Barrel Polka" 1939

Beer Barrel Polka was composed by a Czech musician Jaromir Vejvoda in 1927, and lyrics were added in 1934 by another Czech musician Vasek Zeman.  It became a popular drinking song during WWII.  One of the more memorable recordings was made by the Andrews Sisters who recorded it May 3, 1939.  

Their version reached #4 on the US song charts in 1939. 

Celebrating Black History Month: Perry Henry Young Jr, first African American commercial aviator

Perry Henry Young, Jr., born March 12, 1919 in Orangeburg, South Carolina, became the first African American to fly for a commercial airline in the US.  His family moved to Ohio and began attending Oberlin College. He earned his private pilot's license at 20 and dropped out of college to pursue a career in aviation.

Unfortunately, Young could not find work as a commercial pilot due to racial discrimination. When the US entered WWII, he got a job as one of 40 African American flight instructors for the 99th Pursuit Squadron, and trained over 150 Tuskegee Airmen during his tenure. 

After the war, he still could not find employment as a pilot.  In 1946, he tried to establish a small airline in Haiti, but it closed.  He remained in Haiti, flying for the Societe Haitienne-Americaine de Development Agricole and in 1953 began working for the Puerto Rico Water Resources Authority as an executive pilot. 

He worked on Baffin Island, Canada as an aviation mechanic, and then moved to the Virgin Islands to pilot for KLM, flying passengers to the Dutch islands. 

A helicopter airline, New York Airways, had previously rejected Young because he did not meet their minimum helicopter flight time, but decided to 'break the color line'. They contacted him in the Virgin Islands and hired him on December 17, 1956.  He took his first official flight as a copilot on February 5, 1957.  

He continued to fly for NYA until they went out of business in 1979.  He flew sightseeing helicopter tours in New York until he retired.

He passed away in Middletown, New York on November 8, 1998.

First issue of "Captain America" published 1940

The first issue of Captain America was published on December 20, 1940, although the cover had a date of March 1941. The issue focuses on the creating of Captain America by injecting a super-serum into the scrawny form of Steve Rogers, who, as a result, becomes the super-hero Captain America.  The issue ends with the scientist who created the super-serum is killed by a Nazi sympathizer.  The assassin is electrocuted in his attempts to escape an attack from Captain America. 

The cover art shows Captain America hitting Adolph Hitler.  After publication, members of an American Nazi organization sent threatening letters and phone calls to Timely, the publishers of Captain America. New York City police were assigned to ensure the employees of Timely.  

Glenn Miller disappears 1944

One of the biggest mysteries of the twentieth century is what happened to Glenn Miller. He was on an unscheduled flight from London to Paris on December 15, 1944, after his reservation the previous day was cancelled.  He stood by for an earlier flight on December 13, but it was cancelled as well.  

He was frustrated and worried that he would miss his engagements in Paris, so he managed to get on a Norseman airplane, with Lieutenant Colonel Normal Baesell of the Eighth Air Force Service Command  piloted by Flight Officer John Stuart Morgan.  His orders did not allow him to board a 'casual' flight, and he did not report this change in schedule to his superiors, so no one knew where he was that day.

Shortly after takeoff, while they were over the English Channel, the plane and its occupants disappeared and were never seen again.  The next morning the Germans launched a new attack that became the Battle of the Bulge, so nobody realized Glenn Miller was missing until three days later.

The Eighth Air Force Board of Inquiry determined that the cause of the plane's disappearance was due to a combination of human error, mechanical failure, and weather.  The weather that day made the pilot fly lower than normal because of the cloud cover, and the prevailing theory is icing brought the plane down.  Of course, nothing has been proven and won't be unless the wreckage is ever found.