The African American Military Experience

02/06/2025

https://www.facebook.com/vrsradio/videos/640577531867473/?mibextid=rS40aB7S9Ucbxw6v

01/27/2025

January 26, 1926, Dr. Samuel Eugene Kelly was born in Greenwich, Connecticut to James Handy Kelly and Essie Matilda Allen-Kelly.

In 1943, Kelly dropped out of high school. While on a date to see the play “Othello” starring Paul Robeson, he had the opportunity to meet him. Inspired by his words of service to others, he joined the US Army in 1944. In August 1945, he was commissioned a second lieutenant after completing Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, now known as Fort Moore, in Georgia. He served the next five years in Japan and in 1948, earned his high school diploma while in the Army. In 1950, his unit was deployed to Korea during the Korean War.

In 1951, after some time on the frontlines, he became the first African American officer to command an integrated combat unit. In 1952, he returned to the United States and served with the 188th Airborne Regimental Combat Team at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, where he commanded 50,000 soldiers and crafted their operations during the war.

In 1959, he received a degree in history from West Virginia State University in Institute, West Virginia. One year later, he received his master’s in history from Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia. He also became a member of the Zeta Upsilon chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Incorporated. In 1966, he retired at the rank of lieutenant colonel.

In 1971, he received his doctorate from the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington. He became an educator at numerous colleges and universities in Washington. In 1991, he was a teacher-administrator at Portland OIC/Rosemary Anderson Middle and High School in Portland, Oregon, where he helped troubled students finish school. He also led fundraisers to expand the school’s programs and eventually retired as President of the school in 2004.

On July 6, 2009, Dr. Samuel Eugene Kelly died in Redmon, Washington at the age of 83. He was cremated.

Photo: Dr. Samuel E. Kelly circa 1975. Public Domain

01/27/2025

United States Air Force National Museum of the U.S. Air Force US Air Force Academy Preparatory School (Official)

https://www.facebook.com/100064838702758/posts/1032503815587566/?mibextid=rS40aB7S9Ucbxw6v

in 1944 Captain Clarence C. Jamison, while leading a formation of sixteen fighters of the 99th Fighter Squadron, spotted 15 FW-190s dive-bombing shipping off St. Peter’s Beach near Anzio. During the ensuing engagement, 10 members of the 99th FS shot down a total of 10 enemy airplanes! They included:

⭐️ 2d Lt Clarence W. Allen (.5 credit)
⭐️ 1st Lt Willie Ashley Jr. (1 credit)
⭐️ 2d Lt. Charles P. Bailey (1 credit)
⭐️ 1 Lt. Howard Baugh (1.5 credits)
⭐️ Capt Lemuel R. Custis (1 credit)
⭐️ 1st Lt. Robert W. Deiz (1 credit)
⭐️ 2d Lt. Wilson V. Eagleson (1 credit)
⭐️ 1st Lt. Leon C. Roberts (1 credit)
⭐️ 2d Lt. Lewis C. Smith (1 credit)
⭐️ 1st Lt Edward L. Toppins (1 credit)

Lieutenant Samuel F. Bruce was killed in aerial combat with enemy FW-190s. He bailed out but his chute did not fill. Lt. Lane (first name not given) was also shot down, but after he bailed out of his P-40, he was picked up by friendly Fifth Army troops on the ground. 99th FS commander Major George S. Roberts’s airplane was hit by flak, which disabled three of his six machine guns. Still, he managed to silence an enemy machine gun nest on the way back to base.

01/27/2025

This just in…

A basic training course that included a video about the famed World War II Black aviators was shut down last week in response to President Trump's DEI ban.

01/26/2025

https://apnews.com/article/air-force-dei-tuskegee-women-wwii-pilots-ecdeac68dc7696535d093c7690ab73bc

The U.S. Air Force has removed training courses for service members that included historical videos of its storied Black Tuskegee Airmen and Women Airforce Service Pilots, or WASPs — female World War II pilots.

01/21/2025

Charles Deslondes (c. 1789 – January 11, 1811) was an African American revolutionary who was one of the leaders in the 1811 German Coast uprising, a slave revolt that began on January 8, 1811, in the Territory of Orleans. He led more than 500 rebels against the plantations along the Mississippi River toward New Orleans.

Charles Deslondes (c. 1789 – January 11, 1811) was an African American revolutionary who was one of the leaders in the 1811 German Coast uprising, a slave revolt that began on January 8, 1811, in the Territory of Orleans. He led more than 500 rebels against the plantations along the Mississippi ...

01/21/2025

The 1811 German Coast uprising was a slave rebellion which occurred in the Territory of Orleans from January 8–10, 1811. It occurred on the east bank of the Mississippi River in the modern-day Louisiana parishes of St. John the Baptist, St. Charles and Jefferson.[1] The rebellion was the largest of its kind in the history of the United States,

The 1811 German Coast uprising was a slave rebellion which occurred in the Territory of Orleans from January 8–10, 1811. It occurred on the east bank of the Mississippi River in the modern-day Louisiana parishes of St. John the Baptist, St. Charles and Jefferson.[1] The rebellion was the largest o...

01/21/2025

“Even when people tell you no to your face, but your work shows where you should be, I think if you continue to work hard and go after what it is you want, you will achieve your dream. To be around people who look like me and instill a self-confidence in who I am, and walk into the world knowing where I come from and where my people come from, and where we can go, is invaluable,”- Captain Remoshay Nelson.

Born in Douglassville, Georgia, Remoshay Nelson was inspired by her stepfather to join the military. Her interest in the military developed from her stepfather’s stories of his time in the Navy. Nelson knew she wanted to attend a Historically Black University with a Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) program. Nelson chose Howard University in Washington, D.C. She graduated with a degree in speech communications.

Throughout her career, Nelson has led public affairs teams in Botswana and various European locations. She served as the Eighth Fighter Wing’s Chief of Public Affairs while stationed at Kunsan Air Force Base in Korea. Nelson joined the Thunderbirds in 2020. She utilizes her degree by acting as the Thunderbird’s Public Affairs officer. Nelson assists the other pilots in telling their stories at community outreach events and with the media. During the COVID-19 Pandemic, she helped develop the idea of flying over hospitals as a thank-you to healthcare workers. The flyovers also gave hope to the public while giving them something to look forward to.

Although Nelson is the first African American woman to join the Thunderbirds, she hopes she isn’t the last.

Photo: Captain Remoshay Nelson in front of her F-16 Fighting Falcon with her Thunderbird Number. Courtesy of the Air Force.

01/21/2025

January 18, 1928, Medal of Honor recipient William Othello Wilson died in Hagerstown, Maryland, at the age of 58. He was buried at the Rose Hill Cemetery in Hagerstown.

Wilson was born on September 16, 1869, in Hagerstown. On August 21, 1889, at the age of 19, he enlisted in the Army in Saint Paul, Minnesota. He was assigned to I Troop of the all-Black Ninth Cavalry. Before joining the Army, he was a skilled upholsterer, which helped him quickly get promoted to the rank of corporal.

On November 19, 1890, the Ninth Cavalry was relocated from Nebraska to Wyoming due to the rise of the Ghost Dance. The Ghost Dance blended traditional indigenous rituals with the expectation of a messiah who would come and restore the Sioux and other traditional lands and power back to American Indians. However, Indian Agents and white settlers in the area were panicked by this due to a belief that this would bring renewed conflicts.

On December 30, 1890, the Ninth Cavalry’s supply train was returning to the Pine Ridge Agency in South Dakota and were attacked by 50 Sioux warriors. Captain John S. Loud oversaw the supply train and circled his wagons for protection and wrote a note to Major Guy Henry for help.

Corporal William Wilson volunteered to carry the message to the Pine Ridge Agency. Ten Sioux warriors saw Wilson leaving and pursued him. He escaped the Sioux and alerted the troops at the agency to rescue the stranded soldiers. On September 17, 1891, Corporal Wilson earned the Medal of Honor for his actions.

On December 17, 1891, a more detailed citation was published in General Order 100. It praised Wilson “For gallantry in carrying a message for assistance through country occupied by the enemy. When the wagon train under es**rt of Captain Loud was attacked by hostile Sioux Indians, near the Pine Ridge Agency, South Dakota.”

To learn more, see: https://www.nps.gov/people/william-o-wilson.htm.

Photo: Corporal William O. Wilson, Public Domain

01/21/2025

Today, January 20, 2025, is Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day!

The Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day is a federal holiday designated on the third Monday in January. It is a day in which Americans across the country are encouraged to give back to their communities. There are many ways in which we give back, but the root of it stems from an ideal of service to others. This ideal of service to others is shared by many of the Buffalo Soldiers who returned to their communities after World War II. One of these soldiers was Amzie Moore.

Moore was born on September 23, 1911, on the Wilkin Plantation in Grenada County, Mississippi. In 1935, he left Stone Street High School in Greenwood, Mississippi, to work as a custodian at the post office. He became a member of the Black and Tan Party, which was a biracial organization that supported political involvement, such as voting in the election. In 1940, he joined the Freedom Movement that drafted demands for civil rights for the African Americans in the state.

In 1942, Moore was drafted to the Army during World War II. He served in the Pacific Theater as part of an all-Black regiments who constructed the Ledo Road, which became the main route for Allied military supplies to enter India and China. His experiences in China, Burma, and India influenced him to pursue greater social change at home.

In 1946, Moore was honorably discharged from the Army and moved to Cleveland, Mississippi. He became President of the local NAACP branch and held voter registration drives. In 1960, he invited the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee to focus their voter registration efforts on the state. Moore’s efforts and dedication of service to his community echo the ideals of service today represents.

What does service mean to you?

To learn more civil right leaders in Mississippi, check out https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/memy-when-everyday-folks-become-heroes.htm.



Photo: Amzie Moore, courtesy of the Wisconsin Historical Society