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African Americans in the Military: A Legacy of Exceptional Service (763 hits)

African Americans in the Military: A Legacy of Exceptional Service

Thank You For Your Service...


Posted By: Dea. Ron Gray Sr.
Sunday, November 12th 2017 at 6:41PM
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Thank You for your Service...


Monday, November 13th 2017 at 7:55PM
Dea. Ron Gray Sr.
/*

Amen!

Absolutely... Many, Many Thanks For All That You Do and Have Done!

Peace, Love, Truth, Justice, and Peace,

'G'
http://www.BoulwareEnterprises.com
"Twitter"
https://twitter.com/AuthorBoulwareG
https://twitter.com/hashtag/BoulwareBooks?...

*/

Tuesday, November 14th 2017 at 11:50AM
Gregory V. Boulware, Esq.
Amen Brother Doctor Gregory Boulware, Esq.


Tuesday, November 14th 2017 at 2:51PM
Dea. Ron Gray Sr.

Is that photo the Kitty Hawk Crew?


Wednesday, November 15th 2017 at 8:17AM
robert powell
Robert, Are you referring to the crew of The USS Kitty Hawk CV-63?


Wednesday, November 15th 2017 at 7:05PM
Dea. Ron Gray Sr.

Was there more COURAGE shown by African American Navy men and women than from The USS Kitty Hawk

on the United States Navy aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk on the night of October 11–12, 1972?

Was this incident the Justified ending to the Vietnam Conflict that has allowed, 5 Time draft dodger

trump$ette to stand in Ho Chi Minh City under the Flag of Vietnam 11/2017?


Wednesday, November 15th 2017 at 7:46PM
robert powell
As I look back to that date in time October 11 1972, I was on the USS Midway CVA Carrier - 41 who was one of the Aircraft carriers participating in Operations Linebacker off the shores of Vietnam, when The word went out to the ships, that The USS Kitty Hawk involved in a Race Riot.

Shortly there after, I received orders to report state side for the rest of my obligated service of duty.

To answer your question of: "Is that photo the Kitty Hawk Crew?" No, This photo has with in it an Army Sargent 1 class, which has a strong possibility that this photo, features Army personnel and not NAVY.

WOW!!!

Wednesday, November 15th 2017 at 8:38PM
Dea. Ron Gray Sr.
It was not a good time for the carrier Kitty Hawk as it steamed across the South China Sea toward Vietnam in October 1972. The ship already had been deployed for eight months, and was on track to spend a record number of days at sea with a grueling pace of flight operations to support U.S. troops in Vietnam.

Racial tensions were high, in part stemming from the civil rights movement at home. There were nearly 4,500 sailors aboard — and only 302 were black. Inside the Navy, race relations were uniquely troubled as black sailors were typically assigned to the ship's most miserable jobs.

The Kitty Hawk was a powder keg awaiting a fuse to be lit. And that came on Oct. 11, when racial unrest triggered the worst shipboard riot in U.S. Navy history.

According to historians, it started in the galley, when a black sailor wanted two sandwiches but was told by a white mess cook that he was only allowed one. The black sailor reached across the food line and grabbed an extra sandwich, a shouting match ensued.

The ship erupted into chaos. Mere hours later angry black sailors roamed the ship's passageways, beating white sailors with makeshift weapons such as broom handles, wrenches and pieces of pipe. By the next day, 50 sailors, nearly all white, were injured, some severe enough to be evacuated from the ship to onshore hospitals. The fallout would see a number of black sailors being disciplined for their role in the incident.

Almost 45 years later, the violent and disturbing incident has been largely forgotten. But at the time, the riots spurred violence on other Navy ships, notably the carrier Constellation and the fleet oiler Hassayampa, among others. The unrest in the Navy caught the attention of Congress, and by the end of 1972 it held hearings looking into the incidents.

Roots of Unrest

According to Dr. John Sherwood, author of "Black Sailor, White Navy" and historian at the Navy History and Heritage Command, in the early 1970s racial tensions were somewhat new in the Navy. In a January interview with Navy Times, Sherwood said that "the first misconception is that the Navy suffered a lot of racial unrest in the '60s … Racial unrest in the Navy really started in the early '70s."

Sherwood cites that in the early days of the Vietnam War, the percentages of blacks in the Navy was very low, with only 0.2 percent as officers and 5 percent in the enlisted forces. Sherwood notes that these numbers were so low due to the draft. "We had a draft up until the early '70s. When you have a draft the Navy becomes very, very desirable for all races."

This meant as more eligible men tried to avoid the draft, there was increasingly more and more competition among those trying to get in. Sherwood posits that with a flood of potential recruits, the Navy could afford to be picky, it "meant that Navy recruiters at the time could easily hit 102 percent of their quota, enlisting only those candidates who scored the highest on the Armed Forces Qualification Test."


According to Sherwood, the Qualifications Test created a system that "allowed the Navy to focus on what was called qualitative recruitment, meaning it recruited the highest quality sailors it could recruit, and by the way those sailors just happen to be white." Blacks, who largely did not have the same access to education "as many in the white populous," often posted lower scores than their white peers.

https://www.navytimes.com/military-honor/b...

Thursday, November 16th 2017 at 4:01AM
Steve Williams
Thanks for your input Steve. Now, you can begin to see under these conditions a Freedom was tested, as Black Americans served this country with honor.


Thursday, November 16th 2017 at 10:09AM
Dea. Ron Gray Sr.
From Bunker Hill and the fort's of South Carolina, to the mountains of Afghanistan, Black Americans have served with honor throughout history. It was the Black soldiers who help bring peace to the plains and defeat fascism in Europe. That Black soldier also charged up San Juan Hill, shot down Japanese zero's at Pearl Harbor and aimed for new heights at Tuskegee.

By the end of the 20th century, Black American has risen to command the mightiest military force in the WORLD. With that said, The Black American had also had to fight for their right to defend their country and to receive fair and equal treatment in the military as well.

This is something that I personally witness for myself, which makes this subject, this history which is so important in my life, that is because I lived this history. If I was to go through this history again, I would serve my country again.




Thursday, November 16th 2017 at 10:34AM
Dea. Ron Gray Sr.
March to equality: A. Philip Randolph and the desegregation of the military
https://www.militarytimes.com/military-hon...
Thursday, November 16th 2017 at 3:12PM
Steve Williams
That is right Steve...


Thursday, November 16th 2017 at 7:10PM
Dea. Ron Gray Sr.
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