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Summary
Summary
Meticulously researched and wonderfully suspenseful, Blood for Dignity is the tale of a fascinating and little-known piece of World War II American history, seen through the eyes of 5th Platoon, K Company, 394th Regiment, 99th Division&mdashthe first black unit integrated with a white infantry company since the Revolutionary War. David P. Colley paints an absorbing, combat-heavy portrait of these African American and white men fighting together for their country--an historical event whose resonance would be felt for generations, and whose lesson would be transposed onto American society, shattering myths and destroying assumptions that had haunted blacks for years. The integration of African American platoons with white combat units at the tail end of World War II almost didn't happen. With the pressing need for more troops and the vision of men such as Dwight Eisenhower, black soldiers who only wanted to fight for their country were finally given the opportunity in March of 1945. The performance of these soldiers laid to rest the accepted white attitude of a century and a half that African Americans were cowardly and inferior fighters. In fact, they proved to be just the opposite. From basic training in the deep south, to hard labor in Europe, these men traveled a long and difficult road before they could take up arms for their country. The 5th of K finally saw combat at the Remagen Bridgehead as they fought side-by-side with white soldiers, driving back a dangerous German army in 1945. Thanks to in-depth interviews with many of those who fought in and alongside the 5th of K, author David P. Colley mixes the horrors of war with the intensely personal in a way that brings us closer to the brave men of this Platoon--a group of soldiers whom readers will come to know and admire and not soon forget.
Author Notes
David P. Colley is an award-winning journalist, formerly with the Baltimore Evening Sun, who writes frequently on military subjects for numerous national publications. Colley served in the army, assigned to an ordnance unit attached to the Strategic Army Corps. He lives in Easton, Pennsylvania
Reviews (4)
Publisher's Weekly Review
This compact and clearly written book adds detail to the history of African-American soldiers in World War II. Its subject is the African-American platoons added to white rifle companies near the end of the war in Europe because of a desperate shortage of infantry replacements. The focus is the Fifth Platoon, K Company, 394th Infantry Regiment, 99th Infantry Division, in action in March and April of 1945, against a German army down but far from out. Ably commanded by white Lt. Richard Ralston, some of the platoon's men had mostly street smarts (such as Waymon Ransom) and others had college degrees (such as Bruce Wright). All felt they had something to prove and by and large come away satisfied. Colley (The Road to Victory: The Untold Story of Wold War II's Red Ball Express) presents the men directly, flaws and all. The black platoons have been frequently mentioned but not covered in such detail before, and the author has added capsule accounts of the African-American experience in the military before World War II and the assaults on their dignity in that war before they were allowed to shed blood. Based on comprehensive interviews and use of written sources, the book will be steadily engaging for anyone interested in WWII and integration history. (Feb.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Kirkus Review
Drawing on interviews with the survivors, journalist Colley paints a "Band of Others" picture of the first integrated unit to see combat in WWII. In 1941, he writes, blacks were simply not considered reliable combatants by the white military hierarchy. Generals may have believed that integration was coming, but none were about to undertake "a social experiment" in the middle of a war whose outcome was still in doubt. The result, stresses Colley (The Road to Victory, not reviewed), is that African-American units were segregated from induction on and given inferior training that all but guaranteed the conventional expectation. The brass planned to deploy most black soldiers behind the lines as cooks, MPs, or auto mechanics, but manpower demands by early 1945 dictated another tactic: African-American platoons would be mixed in at the front with infantry units struggling against a Wehrmacht now fighting on its home soil. The author introduces the all-volunteer 5th platoon of K Company, 394th Regiment, 99th Infantry Division as it reinforces white soldiers, "mostly Southern boys," pinned down on a hill at night a few miles east of the Rhine. The reader will doubtless guess there would be no book if the 5th had not acquitted itself with honor; one officer reported its ranks showed "courage to the point of foolishness." In a worthwhile digression, the author explains why nobody should have been surprised: although there hadn't been an integrated infantry since Washington's Continental Army marched away, segregated black troops were crucially effective in the Civil War and also as Buffalo Soldier cavalry units (as they were nicknamed by the Cheyenne and Comanche) in campaigns against Mexico and Spain. "They saved our ass," recalled one white infantryman in that action east of the Rhine. But it was decades before the 394th's black veterans would join their comrades at reunions back in the States. Revealing look at yet another facet of the army's racial politics.
Booklist Review
General Eisenhower ordered the integration of U.S. combat divisions in Germany in 1945, providing an opportunity for black soldiers to exhibit bravery and loyalty and solidify the basis for their demands of dignity. Colley interviewed several veterans of K Company, 394th Regiment, the first black soldiers to be integrated with white troops since the American Revolution. The veterans recount memories of an intense combat environment--fighting alongside their white countrymen on battlegrounds and, at the same time, fighting the bias and negative perceptions of those same countrymen toward black soldiers. Their war experience proves to be exemplary, dispelling more than a century of stereotypes of blacks as cowardly and disloyal. However, along with the glory of their combat experience, the veterans recalled racial prejudice and hatred, starting with basic training in the Deep South. But the frontline held the greatest appeal as an arena for proving their bravery, loyalty, and expectations to be treated as equals in all aspects of American life. --Vernon Ford
Library Journal Review
The U.S. Army is the largest and most integrated organization in America. This was not the case during World War II. Colley (The Road to Victory) provides a look into the army's first true experiment at integration, when, owing to manpower shortages, the army trained volunteer black soldiers and assigned them as a 5th Platoon to selected World War II infantry companies. Colley's book traces this experiment from beginning to end, using the words of the men of 5th Platoon, K Company, 394th Regiment, and their white counterparts. Colley does an excellent job of portraying the dual war these men were fighting, on the one hand against the Germans and the other against racism. Their courageous performance not only contributed to victory but would lead to the integration of combat units during the Korean War and full integration shortly after the war. To understand fully the integration of the army, see Charles Moskos's All That We Can Be: Black Leadership and Racial Integration the Army Way. This more focused account is recommended for larger libraries.-Lt. Col. (ret.) Charles M. Minyard, U.S. Army, Mt. Pleasant, MI (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Table of Contents
| Acknowledgments | p. IX |
| Introduction | p. XIII |
| 1. Healing Old Wounds | p. 1 |
| 2. I Thought I Was Going Blind | p. 5 |
| 3. We Started Something | p. 11 |
| 4. Blacks in World War II | p. 21 |
| 5. Training in the United States | p. 25 |
| 6. Show Me Your Tail | p. 33 |
| 7. France | p. 39 |
| 8. A Special Appeal from Ike | p. 43 |
| 9. You've Got Your Transfer | p. 53 |
| 10. Lt. Richard Ralston | p. 57 |
| 11. Men from the Killing Floor | p. 63 |
| 12. Compiegne, France | p. 71 |
| 13. On Their Way | p. 81 |
| 14. The Germans Are That Close! | p. 87 |
| 15. No Color Line--Just the Front Line | p. 93 |
| 16. 5th Platoon, E Company | p. 99 |
| 17. You, You, and You--on Patrol | p. 103 |
| 18. Waiting Out the Night | p. 107 |
| 19. Promise of Salvation | p. 113 |
| 20. Honningen | p. 119 |
| 21. Consolidating the Bridgehead | p. 127 |
| 22. Division Reserve | p. 133 |
| 23. Across the Wied and Breakout | p. 137 |
| 24. Giessen | p. 143 |
| 25. Mutual Support | p. 149 |
| 26. Into the Flak Hills | p. 153 |
| 27. Iserlohn--Strange Twists of War | p. 161 |
| 28. One Helluva Walk--with Patton | p. 167 |
| 29. The War is Over | p. 175 |
| 30. We Are Combat Veterans | p. 183 |
| 31. The Best Troops in the Eto | p. 189 |
| 32. Recognition--Finally | p. 195 |
| 33. World War II Changed America | p. 197 |
| 34. I'm Your Daughter | p. 203 |
| 35. Finally--Integration in the Military | p. 207 |
| Selected Bibliography | p. 213 |
| Index | p. 219 |
