VA and US History

Minorities in the War Prisoners of War

Lecture Notes: Unit 7 Lesson 6 Standard VUS.11c,d

Bell Ringer

 Imagine you are the pilot of the Enola Gay. You are flying over the Pacific Ocean on your way to Japan. Knowing that you are about to drop an atomic bomb on innocent civilians, would you carry through your orders? Why or why not, explain your answer in a paragraph.

Key Points

 Minority involvement in WWII  African Americans  Asian Americans  Native Americans  Hispanic Americans  Treatment of Civilians and Prisoners of War (POWs)  Then vs. Now

Minority participation

 African Americans generally served in segregated military units and were assigned to non combat roles.

 Many demanded the right to serve in combat rather than support roles.

The 92d Infantry Division

 A unit of the United States Army in World War I and World War II.

 Nicknamed the "Buffalo Soldier Division“.

 This segregated unit was the only African American infantry division to see combat in Europe during WWII.

All-Minority military units

   In 1941, Congress forced the Air Corps to form an all black combat unit. In response they set up a system to accept only those with a level of flight experience or higher education that they expected to be hard to fill.

This policy backfired, and soon the Air Corps was receiving applications from men who clearly met the grade.

Tuskegee Airmen’s Results

    The Tuskegee Airmen quickly racked up an impressive combat record, often entering combat against greater numbers of superior planes, and coming out victorious. The Allies called the Airmen "Redtails" or "Redtail Angels" because of the distinctive crimson paint jobs on their aircraft' vertical stabilizers. Although bomber groups would request Redtail escort when possible, most bomber crewmen never knew at the time that the Redtails were black. The Redtails were the only fighter group who never lost a bomber to enemy fighters.

   On July 6, 1944, one of the 761st's few black officers, Lieutenant Jackie Robinson , was riding a civilian bus from Camp Hood to the nearby town of Belton. He refused to move to the back of the bus when told to do so by the driver. The lieutenant's Court-martial trial opened on August 2 and lasted for 17 days, during which time the 761st departed Camp Hood. Robinson was charged with violating the 63rd and 64th Articles of War. The first charge specified, "Lieutenant Robinson behaved with disrespect toward Captain Gerald M. Bear, Corps Military Police, by contemptuously bowing to him and giving several sloppy salutes while repeating, O'kay Sir, O'kay Sir, in an insolent, impertinent and rude manner.“ Robinson was eventually acquitted , and he was not charged for his actions on the bus. Three years later, Robinson was riding buses in the major leagues after breaking baseball's color barrier.

Nisei regiments (Asian American)

 The

442nd Regimental Combat Team

of the United States Army, was a unit composed of Japanese Americans that fought in Europe during the Second World War.  The families of many of its soldiers were subject to internment.  The 442nd was designed as a self-sufficient fighting formation (segregated), and fought with distinction in Italy, south France and Germany, becoming one of the most highly decorated units in the history of the U.S. Army

Code Talkers

 Navajo answered the military requirement for an undecipherable code as it was an unwritten language of extreme complexity.  Native American languages were chosen for several reasons. Most importantly, speakers of these languages were only found inside the United States - the languages were virtually unknown elsewhere.

ALPHABET NAVAJO WORD LITERAL TRANSLATION                          A A A B B B C C C D D D E E E F F F G G G H H H I etc.

WOL-LA-CHEE BE-LA-SANA TSE-NILL NA-HASH-CHID SHUSH TOISH-JEH MOASI TLA-GIN BA-GOSHI BE CHINDI LHA-CHA-EH AH-JAH DZEH AH-NAH CHUO TSA-E-DONIN-EE MA-E AH-TAD KLIZZIE JEHA TSE-GAH CHA LIN TKIN ANT APPLE AXE BADGER BEAR BARREL CAT COAL COW DEER DEVIL DOG EAR ELK EYE FIR FLY FOX GIRL GOAT GUM HAIR HAT HORSE ICE

The Japanese never cracked the spoken code, and high military officers have stated that the United States would never have won the Battle of Iwo Jima without the secrecy afforded by the code talkers.

Hitler did know about the successful use of codetalkers during World War I, and sent a team of some thirty anthropologists to learn Native American languages before the outbreak of World War II. However it proved too difficult to learn all the many languages and dialects that existed.

Additional contributions of minorities

 Mexican Americans also fought, but in units not segregated like African or Asian Americans.

 Minority units suffered high casualties and won numerous unit citations and individual medals for bravery in action.

An End to Segregation in the Military

 On July 26, 1948, US President Harry S. Truman issued

Executive Order 9981

establishing equality of treatment and opportunity in the Armed Services for people of all races.

 The operative statement is:  It is hereby declared to be the policy of the President that there shall be equality of treatment and opportunity for all persons in the armed services without regard to race, color, religion or national origin. This policy shall be put into effect as rapidly as possible, having due regard to the time required to effectuate any necessary changes without impairing efficiency or morale.

 The last of the all black units in the United States military was abolished six years later in September 1954.

The Geneva Conventions

 The

Geneva Conventions

consist of four treaties formulated in Geneva, Switzerland that set the standards for international law for humanitarian concerns.  Actually a series of conventions that began in 1907 where the rights of prisoners of war and civilians are regularly discussed.

 Nearly all 200 countries of the world are "signatory" nations, in that they have ratified these conventions.

Geneva Code for POWs

 The laws apply regardless of whether the warring party in question is recognized as an independent state.  Require that prisoners of war and wounded combatants be protected from murder  Discrimination based on race, religion, sex, and similar criteria  Mutilation, cruel treatment and torture; humiliating and degrading treatment; and sentencing or execution without a fair trial.

Geneva Code for Civilians

 Forbids torture, mutilation, rape, slavery and arbitrary killing    Forbids Genocide Forbids crimes against humanity – which include deprivation of humanitarian aid Defines “War crimes” –apartheid, biological experiments, hostage taking, attacks on cultural objects, and depriving people of the right to a fair trial.

European Theater

 The treatment of prisoners mostly followed the ideas of the Geneva Convention

Treatment of prisoners in the Pacific Theater

 Often reflected the savagery of the fighting there.

 Japanese soldiers often committed suicide rather than surrender.

 In the Bataan Death March, American POWs suffered brutal treatment by Japanese after surrender of the Philippines.

American POW Comes Home…

Japanese POW Comes Home…

 Approximately 70,000 Filipino and US soldiers, commanded by Major General Edward P. King, Jr. formally surrendered to the Japanese, under General Masaharu Homma, on April 9, 1942, which forced Japan to accept emaciated captives outnumbering them.  Due to a shortage of trucks, captives were forced to march for 6 days , about 100 kilometers north to Camp O'Donnell, a prison camp.

 Prisoners of war were beaten randomly and denied food and water behind were bayonetted. executed shot, beheaded or for several days. Those who fell through various means:

The Bataan Death March

Quote of the Day

 US President George W Bush has decided that the Geneva Convention on the conduct of war will apply to captured Taleban soldiers in Afghanistan but not to al-Qaeda fighters .  White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said, however, that neither Taleban soldiers nor al-Qaida fighters detained in Afghanistan at the US base in Guantamano Bay in Cuba would qualify as prisoners-of war - because they had not carried arms openly or been part of a recognizable military hierarchy.  Al-Qaeda is not a nation rules , does not have uniformed troops operating under the laws and customs of war, has not signed the Geneva Convention and can hardly be seen as foreign power following treaty  Despite the administration's decision on designation, Mr Fleischer said, there will be no difference in how the two groups of prisoners are treated. "It will not change their material life on a day to day basis. They will continue to be treated well, because that's what the United States does ," Mr Fleischer said.

Activity

 Tuskegee Airmen