Trailblazing paratrooper broke color barrier in secret - WWII 555 Triple Nickle

[RamboLiberal]

When Walter Morris first joined the Army just before World War II, he wasn't a "black" or "Negro" or "African-American" soldier -- he was "colored." And he was treated like all the other "colored" men who wanted to fight for their country.

"We were servants, we were not soldiers," Morris said. "Most of us had an inferiority complex and it was a result of what they had assigned us to do."

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But by the time he left the Army, Morris would become the first "colored" man ever to earn the U.S. Army Airborne Parachutist Badge. It's all because he wanted to overcome that "inferiority complex."

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While Morris was trying to build his men's self-esteem, the War Department was quietly considering creating an all-black paratrooper unit. Morris soon found himself with a new job as the top noncommissioned officer for the new unit dedicated to training America's first "colored" parachutists, the 555th Parachute Infantry Company, or the Triple Nickle. They decided to spell it differently from "nickel" to make sure people knew they were unique. The unit had plenty of doubters.

"They didn't think colored soldiers had the intestinal fortitude to jump out of a plane in flight," Morris remembered.

But the men proved the doubters wrong. Twenty soldiers started the training and on February 18, 1944, 17 soldiers graduated and earned the Parachutist Badge. As the unit's first sergeant, Morris was the first man of the 555th to be pinned with the coveted "wings."

http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/03/25/black.paratrooper/index.html?hpt=C1

[DKRC]

1. K&R

Thanks for posting this.

:thumbsup:

[mimitabby]

2. great story! thanks for posting

[Dogtown]

3. Fine soldier!

Thanks for the post.