Endnotes for Chapter XVIII

1 "U.S. Negro Troops Begin Front-Line Action in Pacific," Washington Post, March 17, 1944. See also Frank L. Kluckholn, "U.S. Negro Troops Crack Bougainville Foe; Some from Harlem in Spirited Action," New York Times, March 17,1944.

2 AAR 24th Inf, Apr 42-Jun 43; 23 Feb-30 Jun 43; 1 Oct 43.

3 Historical Record and Hist 24th Inf,1 Oct 43. 

4 Movement Order 12, Hq, For Area APO l09 (Guadalcanal), 18 Jan 44; Hist, 24th Inf Regt, 31 Mar 44.

5 Company B lost Pfc. Leonard Brooks to an enemy grenade, and Pvt. Annias Jolly to enemy rifle fire. These two were probably the first Negro infantrymen to be killed by enemy grenade and rifle fire in World War II.

6 Historical Record and Hist 24th Inf,1 Jan-31 Mar 44; Msg, CG USAF in New Caledonia to WD, 3 Apr 44, CM-IN 1811 (3 Apr 44): 37th Div G-3 Opus Narrative.

7 Rad, Marshall to Harmon, Eyes Only, 18 Mar 44. CM-OUT 7514 (18 Mar 44) .

8 Msg, Marshall to Harmon (OPD to CG USAFISPA) 22 Mar 44, CM-OUT 12845, OPD 322.7 (23 Mar 44) . This query went out to obtain information to be used in answering questions from the public, especially those from the NAACP.

9 Msg, Harmon to Marshall, Eyes Only, 29 Mar 44. CM-IN 16381.

10 In addition to the 25th Infantry, the combat team consisted of the 593d Field Artillery Battalion; Company A, 38th Engineer Combat Battalions Company A, 318th Medical Battalion; 1st Platoon, Company D, 318th Medical Battalion; 93d Reconnaissance Troop; a detachment from the 93d Signal Company; and a detachment from the 793d Ordnance (LM) Company. A full listing of the composition, commanders, movements, and operations of the 93d Division is recorded in Office of the Chief of Military History, Order of Battle of the United States Army Ground Forces in World War II: Pacific Theater of Operations 0959) . pp. 613-27.

11 Ltr, Hq US.AFISPA to CG Forward Area, CG 93d Div, 21 Mar 44, AG 370; Movement Order 60, Hq Forward Area APO l09, 22 Mar 44.

12 Lt Gen M. F. Harmon, The Army in the South Pacific, OPD 314.7 PTO, Case 14; Opus Rpts, 37th Inf Div; John Miller, jr., CARTWHEEL: Reduction of Rabaul, UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II (Washington, l959), ch. XVII.

13 Opns Memo 57, Hq XIV Corps, 27 Mar 44; Opus Memo 9, Hq Americal Div, APO 716, 30 Mar 44: Hist, 25th Inf RCT.

14 Ltr, CG USAFISPA to CG XIV Corps, 23 Mar 44. and Ltr, Harmon to Marshall, 30 Mar 44, copies in Orders, 93d Inf Div.

15 Opus Memo 9, Hq Americal Div, 30 Mar 44.

16 GO 453, Hq USAFISPA, 30 Mar 44, sub: Reorganized and Redesignated 2d Bn, 54th Coast Artillery.

17 Harmon, The Army in the South Pacific, OPD 3147 PTO, Case 74.

18 Hist Rpts, 49th Coast Artillery Bn (155-mm­Gun), 15 Feb 41-Jun 44; G-3 Sec XIV Corps, Rpt of Opus on Bougainville; CG XIV Corps, Rpt of Lessons Learned in the Bougainville Operation.

19 Rpt, CG XIV Corps to CG USAFISPA, 10 May 44.

20 Ibid.

21 Ibid.

22 For an account of the Americal Division on Bougainville, see Capt. Francis D. Cronin, Under the Southern Cross (Washington: Combat Forces Press, 1951) .

23 CG XIV Corps, Rpt of Lessons Learned in the Bougainville Operation, p. 92.

24 Hist 24th Inf, 9 Apr-90 Jun 44.

25 Cronin, Under the Southern Cross.

26 Rpt on the 1st Bn 24th Inf and 25th RCT, 10 May 44.

27 Hist 24th Inf, 1  Jan-30 Jun 44. The regiment as a whole already had a larger number of dead (15) from raids, accidents, and diseases.

28 GO 20, 4 Aug 44.

29 Ltr, Hq Americal Div Arty to Offs and EM 593d FA Bn, 4 Apr 44, 93d Div Files.

30 Ltr, Capt Curran, CO Co K, to CG USAFISPA, 9 May 44, sub: Posthumous Award of Bronze Star, 93d Div Files.

31 Investigation of Co K, 25th Inf Patrol of 6 Apr 44, conducted by Lt Col Frank Lucas, IG Americal Div, APO 716, 14 Apr-2 May, pursuant to authority contained in 2d Ind, Interoffice Routing Slip, 14 Apr 44, attached to Memo, Hq 164th Inf for CofS Americal Div, APO 716, with allied papers, including Rpts to CO 3d Bn, 25th Inf, 93d Div; CO ist Bn, 164th Inf, Americal Div; CO Co K, 25th Inf; SSgt Ralph E. Brodin, Hq ist Bn, 164th Inf, Americal Div. All in 93d Div Files 338

32 GO 131,31 Oct 44

33 Hq Americal Div, Opn Memo 15, 8 Apr 44.

34 Ltr, Div Psychiatrist (Capt George W. W. Little) to Div Surgeon, 8 May 44, sub: Psychiatrical Rpt on Front Line Conditions of the 25th CT. This report was characterized by the division commander as "a fairly accurate picture of the unique situation which exists in a colored unit whose commissioned personnel is composed of both white and colored officers"; it was, he continued, a "routine" report "used to a degree in determining the `pulse' of this Division." Captain Little, a Negro officer, had been with the 93d Division since 21 January 1944. His previous reports had considered morale in the division low because of complex racial tensions. ist Wrapper Ind, CG 93d Div to CG USAFISPA, 17 May 44, 99d Div Files 3191.

35 These and other rumors persisted. After the war, General Marshall described the 93d as a division whose men on Bougainville "wouldn't fightcouldn't get them out of the caves to fight." (Interv with Gen Marshall by Dr. Sidney T. Mathews, Dr. Howard M. Smyth, Maj Roy Lamson, and Maj Jams D. T. Hamilton, 25 Jul 49, OCMH files.)

36 The report did not add that there was no password for the night in question; the dispersed unit had dug in too late at night to receive one. Its men had therefore been instructed to use knives against any intruder instead of firing so as not to reveal their positions to the enemy.

37 Ltr, Gen Griswold to CG USAFISPA, 10 May 44, Combat Rpt, ist Bn 24th Inf and 25th RCT, OPD 322.97.

38 Ltr, Col Yon to Bn, Co, and Detachment CO's, to be read to assembled officers by Bn CO's and Separate CO CO's, 7 Jun 44. 93d Div Files.

39 Griswold Rpt, 10 May 44, OPD 32297.

40 FO 1, Hq XIV Corps, 29 Jun 44.

41 For this Webb was awarded the Silver Star. Hq USAFISPA, GO 1097, 29 Jul 44.

42 The leader of this group and six enlisted men were awarded Bronze Stars for this action; three of the enlisted men were among those wounded.

43 Hist Rpts, 49th CA Bn (155-mm. Gun), 15 Feb 41-Jun 44 and 15 Feb 41-27 Aug 45; G-3 Sec XIV Corps, Rpt of Opus on Bougainville; G-3 Opns Rpt, 37th Inf Div, Arty Sec.

44 1st Ind, Hq XIV Corps to CG Provisional Brigade 93d Div, on Rpt of Investigation, 15 May 44. 3d Div Files 333.

45 3d Ind, Hq 25th Inf (Col Yon) to CG 93d Div, 27 Jun 44, on Lit, Hq Americal Div to CG XIV Corps, 10 May 44. 93d Div Files. See also the CG XIV Corps, Rpt of Lessons Learned in the Bougainville Operation, p. 30.

46 Brief (Col Pasco) for General Marshall, and attached Memo, ASW for Colonel Stimson, 1 Jun 44 WDCSA 370.2 (27 May 44).

47 Memo, OSW (initialed H.L.S.) for J. J. McC., sent to Col Pasco, Gen Marshall, noted DCofS, 5 Jun 44, to Mr. McCloy, and returned to OPD for necessary action or file, WDCSA 370.2 (27 May 44) . The brief, in light of Stimson's comment, contained one major error: it said that the 24th's battalions had Negro junior officers.

48 99th Fighter Squadron War Diary, Jun 44

49 The squadron's full record for the period 15-28 January inclusive was: 246 aircraft airborne, 231 effective sorties, 15 noneffective (143 sorties over Anzio beachhead, 77 invasion convoy patrols) ; 71/2 tons of bombs dropped, 12 aircraft destroyed, 2 probables, 4 damaged; one U.S. aircraft lost, two missing. In February the squadron flew another 55 missions over the Anzio-Nettuno area.

50 Msg 317, Arnold to Eaker, 4 Feb 44, OPD Log File.

51 Editorial, "The 99th's First Battle," Atlanta Journal, January 31, 1944. See also, Phillips J. Peck, "The Negro in the AAF," Flying, XXVI (June, 1945) , 24-25, 121-28.

52 Lit, Gen Faker, Comdr MAAF, to Maj Gen Barney M. Giles, CofAS Hq AAF, 6 Mar 44, copy in Hist Mediterranean Allied Air Force, Dec 49-1 Sep 44, AF Archives.

53 Hist Mediterranean Allied Air Force, copy of Query 3, Tel Conv, 14 Mar 44, Gen Faker in Italy with Gens Craig, Giles, Hansell, et al, in Washington.

54 Ltr, Actg CofAS (Gen Craig) to Gen Eaker, MAAF, 22 Mar 44; Ltr, CofAS (Gen Giles) to Gen Eaker, 25 Mar 44, copies in Hist Mediterranean Allied Air Force.

55 Re-equipment of Long-Range Fighter Units, Incl to Ltr, Faker to Gen Arnold, 1 Jun 44, in Hist Mediterranean Allied Air Force.

56 Hist, War Diary, 99th Fighter Sq, Apr-Jun 44.

57 The junior of the four squadrons, the 302d, was inactivated and its personnel absorbed in the other three on q March 1945, both to eliminate the extra squadron so that the 932d might be organized as a standard three-squadron group and to solve a threatening replacement shortage.

58 Hist 332d Fighter Group, Jul 44 Installment, AF Archives.

59 Ibid., Dec 44 Installment.

60 Hist 306th Fighter Wing, Mar 45, AF Archives; XV AF GO 8674, 9 Aug 45; WD GO 84, 5 Oct 45.

61 Question period following Address, Lt. Gen. Ira C. Eaker, Air Power in Modern War, 20 March 1946, Industrial Mobilization Course, The Army Industrial College, Washington.

62 Ltr, Hq Eighth Army to CinC GHQ SWPA, 9 Dec 44, AG 370.2 (Opns).

63 Ltr, Hq Eighth Army to CG 93d Div, 17 Nov 44. AG 353 (93d Div) (FA); Ltr, Hq Advance USAFFE to CG Eighth Army, 14 Nov, A-FEX 370.2.

64 Ltr, Hq Eighth Army to CG 93d Div, 1 Dec 44, AG 322 (FB); rst Ind, GHQ SWPA to CG Eighth Army, 16 Dec 44, to Ltr, Hq Eighth Army to CinC GHQ SWPA, 9 Dec 44, AG 370.2 (Opns) ; Ltr, Hq Eighth Army to CG 93d Div, 8 Mar 45, AG 370 (D).

65 Ltr, Hq Eighth Army to CG 93d Div, 1 Dec 44, AG 322 (FB).

66 FO 7, Hq Eighth Army Area Comd, 20 Mar 45.

67 Hist, Hq and Hq CO 93d Inf Div, 10 Jun 44­23 Sep 45.

68 The 2d Battalion, 368th, remained at Biakuntil 1 October 1945, charged with labor, training, and security missions.

69 Hist 25th Inf Regt, Jan 44-3 Feb 46.

70 FO 5, Hq g3d Inf Div, 8 Apr 45; FO 7, Hq 93d Inf Div, 1, May 45; PO 8, Hq 93d Inf Div, 18 May 45.

71 93d Div G-2 Rpt 39, 28 May 45, 93d Div Files.

72 93d Div G-2 Rpt, Weekly Summary 29, 26 May 45 covering period 19-26 May 45 93d Div Files.

73 Div G2 Rpts, 93d Div Files.

74 The 93d Cavalry Reconnaissance Troop's men in this party received the following awards: Sgt. Alfonzia Dillon, Silver Star; Technical Sgt. Albert Morrison, Pfc. Robert A. Evans, Pfc. Elmer Sloan, Bronze Stars.

75 93d Div G-2 Periodic Rpt 39, 4 Aug 45, 93d Div Hq Files; 93d Div Sum of Opns on Morotai, 93d Div Files; Hist 93d Cav Recon Troop, 23 Jan 44-14 Aug 45.

76 Ltr, GHQ Coordinator Morotai to CG 93d Div, 9 Jul 45. 93d Div Files.

77 C0 USS Charette (DD581) to CinC U.S. Fleet, y Aug 41,; Ltr, Comdr Seventh Fleet to CG 93d Div, 24 Oct 45; both in 93d Div Files.

78 Ltr, Hq 93d Div Area Comd, to CG AFWESPAC, 9 Dec 45, 93d Div Files.

79 FO 4, AFWESPAC, 1 NOV 45.

80 Preface, Daily Diary Hq CO 93d Inf Div, 93d Div Files.

81 Lit, Capt John H. S. ---- to Mrs. John H. S. ---, 10 Apr 45. 93d Div JAG Files, Off Punishment, 93d Div Files. As implied by the file location, the officer was reprimanded for writing this derogatory opinion in a selfcensored letter to his wife.

82 White, as war correspondent for the New York Post, spent considerable time in Europe, North Africa, and the Pacific during the war. See Walter White, A Rising Wind (Garden City: Doubleday, Doran, 1945), and A Man Called White (New York: Viking, 1948), Chapters XXI-XXV.

83 Memo, Walter White (Hollandia) for the President, 12 Feb 45, ASW's copy in WDCSA 291.2 Negroes.

84 Rad, MacArthur to Marshall, 5 Mar 45, UAD 62716.

85 White's dispatch to the New York Post describ­ing the interview, carried widely in Negro papers during the week of 26 March, reported similarly, quoting General MacArthur as saying "Any man who says that another man's fighting ability can be measured by color is wrong. I learned that in serving as a junior officer with the famous 25th Regiment. One of the greatest armies I have ever commanded was a Filipino one."

86 Memo, Walter White (Hollandia) for the President, 8 Mar ˘5, and Incl, Ltr, Walter White to MacArthur, 8 Mar 45, both Incl to Memo, Ex0 to ASW for Brig Gen Henry I. Hodes, OPD, OPD Cld Trps-Corr.

87 Memo, White for President,12 Feb 45, copy in WDCSA 291.2 Negroes.

88 Memo, Chief Current Gp OPD for Gen Hull, 2 Mar 45, OPD 322.87 (2 Mar 45) .

89 Memo, OPD for CG's AGF, ASF, AAF, 2 Mar 45, OPD 322.87 (6 Mar 45).

90 SS Lew Wallace, Office of the Transport Comdr, to CG 93d Inf Div, 3 Nov 44. See also Memo, USS LST 589 to Lt Col M. L. Joyce, 12 Apr 45 ("The cooperation demonstrated was, by far, greater than that of any party previously transported on this vessel"); Ltr, USS LST 806 (Albert H. Burns) to CG 93d Div, 20 Oct 45. All in 93d Div Files.

91 See numerous letters and endorsements, dated November 1944-October 1945, in 93d Division Files.

92 Ltr, Hq Base F USASOS (Lt Col Wilfred E. Lessard, Jr., Base Area Comdr) to CO 25th Inf Regt, 14 Apr 45. 93d Div Files.

93 Ltr, Hq USASOS to CG 93d Div, 6 Jan 45. GSCG 330.13; Ltr, Detachment 7th Base Post Office (Lt Fred W. Gish) to Hq 93d Inf Div, 13 Jan 45, 93d Div Files.

94 1st Ind, Hq Intermediate Sec USASOS to CG Eighth Army, 8 Jan 45, to Ltr, Hq Base F to CG Eighth Army, 1 Jan 45, IFCO 201.22.

95 Ibid.

96 Ltr, Hq I Corps to CG 93d Inf Div,11 Jan 45. 93d Div Files.

97 Ltr, Hq CWSTC Base B to CG 93d Inf Div, 23 Feb 45, NBCW 220.632.

98 Ltr, GHQ Coordinator Morotai to Brig Gen Clovis E. Byers, CofS Eighth Army, 9 Jul 45. 93d Div Files.

99 Hq X Corps to CO 368th RCT, 20 Aug 45, 93d Div Files.

100 Memo, TIG for DCofS, 14 May 45, WDSIG 330-13-24th Inf Regt.

101 Ibid. The 24th killed or captured 722 of the enemy at a loss of less than a dozen of its own men killed and about twenty wounded.

102 Memo, TIG for DCofS, 14 May 45, WDSIG 33013-24th Inf Regt.

103 Ibid.; Memo, Deputy Chief Pacific Theater Sec OPD for Gen Hull, 16 May, OPD 330.13 (14 May
45)

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