What Japanese Soldiers Wrote About Black American Troops — They Never Expected This

Comments · 474

• SH

  @SherryAyers-z2x · 2 weeks ago

  My father was a WWII purple 💜 recipient.  He was from the Smoky Mts of TN, with tears he 😮told me tales of black fellow soldiers.  I'll just say he was proud to have served with them, he told me never judge a person from their skin color. My big strong daddy with tears running down his face telling me this has stayed in my heart and soul deeply for 55 yrs.  They are heroes black white red, all heroes!!!

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• AK

  @akibalan2861 · 6 days ago (edited)

  My father told me he was under seige by the Japanese on an island in the Philippines. &nbsp;He said when he stood guard he let some of them pass by and did not kill them. I asked him why he let them pass. He said because when the Japanese were on guard they let him pass by without killing him.<br>The troops were segregated so that the black troops could be sacrificed for the white troops victory. &nbsp;My father was a Sea B<br>He took the island and built the runways along with white troops. This was the only type of integrated unit. He said after the fight he was made to stand in the back of the line when it was time to eat. I am sure that the Japanese saw how they were being treated.

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• PH

  @PhillupMassgraves · 11 days ago

  Proud of those men. They knew they had to change the future for their children and grandchildren. Nothing was going to be handed to them. Their courage, integrity, and character is awe inspiring. <br>Salute to those brave warriors!

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• W.

  @w.e.b.8719 · 9 days ago

  Pete Hegseth desperately wants to eliminate this history. My hope is that the National Archives keep Kegger Pete from these most valuable records.

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• AB

  @abetteryounow6484 · 6 days ago

  Still were allowed to be discriminated against by white Americans and the US government! Did so much and rewarded very little! &nbsp;Even today, immigrants thought the black Americans would be deported!

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• LA

  @laneilhinton8471 · 2 weeks ago

  Foundational black Americans were always told to be your best. You had to be more than your best and to live without fear because God had our back.

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• JU

  @judithjackson4140 · 4 days ago

  What people don&apos;t understand about us,is that WE are Taught,is that:We have to be TWICE AS GOOD IN ORDER TO COMPETE,WE UNDERSTAND THAT THE PLAYING FIELD HAS NEVER BEEN LEVEL FOR US AND WE ACT ACCORDINGLY!!!

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• WI

  @willcrute7477 · 2 weeks ago

  Racism is a powerful drug the US military knew black men would fight from the history of the country

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• NI

  @nightshiftgarage8824 · 4 days ago

  I served in the US Army and in 1991 was in the Gulf War. Brothers in our company and the units we fought with stayed tight. We watched out for all soldiers no matter the color of their skin. I can&apos;t say that for all of them but we knew we had each others backs. We proved a lot to some of those people over there.

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• TH

  @TheShermB · 2 weeks ago

  It is time that black soldiers get their stories told. Their contributions are what helped build this racist country and I call it racist because they have tried to hide everything about them throughout history. I am a veteran, a white veteran and they have fought and died just as much as white soldiers!

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• TO

  @toyarivera1585 · 3 days ago

  This is America:<br><br>American military authorities were apparently concerned that the French were treating Black Americans too equally.<br><br>On August 7, 1918, the French Military Mission attached to the American Army circulated a confidential document titled Secret Information Concerning Black American Troops. <br><br>It instructed French personnel not to become too socially familiar with Black American officers and warned against praising Black troops too enthusiastically in front of white Americans. One instruction essentially said French officers should recognize Black soldiers’ qualities and service, but only in moderate terms. <br><br>The document also told French personnel to discourage social intimacy between French white women and Black American soldiers. <br><br>Here’s the crucial historical wrinkle: when W.E.B. Du Bois later published the document in The Crisis, he stated that although it had been issued through the French Military Mission, it represented American rather than French attitudes. According to that contemporary account, when the French government learned it had been distributed, French officials ordered copies withdrawn. <br><br>So there really was a clash between the racial system Black soldiers knew in America and what many experienced in France.<br><br>And the irony is hard to miss: some Black American soldiers were being decorated and praised by the French for fighting Germany while serving in an American military that remained segregated. The National Archives confirms that the U.S. Army was segregated and that the 369th was assigned to the French Army in April 1918.

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• ET

  @EtiusenAkpan-k4i · 2 weeks ago

  The injustices done to the blacks suffered in this is enormous! I know a time of restitution from God will come!

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