I went to see the much ballyhooed RED TAILS - the George Lucas film about the Tuskeegee Airmen. It's a good enough action flick. There were no moments of intense meaning. There was only the opportunity to see a clutch of young, seemingly courageous, beautiful-looking men. It was very like I'd imagined it was for young men like my father who served in WWII. My father, James S. Clarke, was not an airman. He was in the army -- in a transport corp. He served in France and England and was a part of the Normandy invasion -- one of the thousands of ground troops who sucked up their guts and landed off those transport boats onto the beach -- yes, Black soldiers were there, too. My father remained a competant, confident driver well into his nineties because of skills forged by driving through the French countryside under the circumstances of WWII. One of the charms of Lucas' movie about the airmen is that it is some measure a small movie. Despite the publicity promotion it isn't a biggie. It is a competant movie about a group of men
who went through a particular experience together. This movie purposely - I think -- limits itself to a core story, tells it briskly without much ruffling of feathers -- of any kind. The film could not tell all of the stories of African Americans in WWII. My father who was in the European theater, my uncle who was in the Pacific theater, my cousin's step-father who was in the Italian battles, my aunt who guarded German prisoners stateside. And also all of their friends and further relatives who donated blood and medical supplies specifically for "colored" troops and who wrote letters and sent packages and waited by the radio and read the telegrams. When my father died in 2009, I was pleased that it was Barack Obama who offered the gratitude of a grateful nation to my father for his military service. My father voted for him and I thought it quite fitting.
Next movie: African American Women in WWII.
A Veteran of World War II
Luise Higgins Jeter
March 8, 1918 - January 14, 2007
poses with her niece, Breena Clarke at the Women In Service To America Memorial near Arlington Cemetary
Her war anecdotes were about the facility she was assigned to that housed German POWs stateside. She said they were treated with an excess of respect -- officers allowed to keep their uniforms. She related a story of riding in a deep south town in uniform on a bus. She said the other "colored" riders were nervous for her. She said she sat up front until she got off at the military base. She was a courageous young woman. There were a couple of funny tales about drilling and falling into a ditch and how she and her fellow Black women had dealt with petty racism.
Gladys Henderson
Auntie remembered this woman and got a little tearful looking at her filled up with feeling that, at last, there was some recognition of the role she and others had played.
a hopeful, courageous face in all of its hues
Pvt. Luise Jeter was given veteran's honors at her memorial service in 2007. After her military service, she worked for the Veteran's Administration in Washington, D.C. and in Detroit, Michigan.
Auntie was proud of her service and proud of Col. Oveta Culp Hobby. She spoke of how proud the women were to wear the cap that was designed by Col. Hobby and named for her. She was very happy the day we visited the memorial
.
Cheryl, Barbara, Auntie and Breena visited the National World War II Memorial on the Mall in Washington, D.C. Auntie was excited about it.
There are so many beautiful intangibles about this portrait. She inscribed it: To Harry - my darling Husband -- Luise
Happy Memorial Day, Private Luise H. Jeter!
