This week our nation observed Memorial Day, a time to remember those who lost their lives in our country’s wars. I recently came across the story of Private Booker T. Spicely who died during World War II in July 1944. The Army listed his death as DNB (Died, Non-Battle). That was because he died in North Carolina after being shot by a white bus driver for challenging racial segregation on the bus. His story is a vivid example of the discrimination and violence faced by Black people in the military in their own country during and immediately after World War II. The first video posted below tells the story of Private Spicely’s tragic death and ends with listing the names of at least 50 other Black men in the military who died for challenging Jim Crow laws from 1941-46. Although these men were listed as DNB, they lost their lives in the fight for freedom as did those who died in battle overseas. Yet their battle was against the forces of racial injustice and oppression in our nation.
Althoug he did not lose his life, Sergeant Isaac Woodard also suffered the result of racial violence directed at Black men in the military. He earned a battle star for his service in the Pacific and came returned to the US at the end of the war. After being honorably discharched, he was on a bus heading home to his family in South Carolina while still wearing his uniform. The white bus driver argued with Woodard after he requested to get off the bus at a rest stop. The bus driver called the local police who removed Isaac Woodard from the bus and brutally beat him including gouging his eyes with a billy club. This left him totally blind. Through the efforts of the NAACP, President Truman heard about this racially motivated beating and initiated a federal investigation. Charges were filed against the police chief, but he was quickly acquitted by an all white jury. Although Isaac Woodard did not receive justice from the court, his story contributed to President Truman’s decision to support the Civil Rights Act of 1948 and issue Executive Order No. 9981 banning discrimination in the US Armed Forces. The efforts of Black World War II veterans played a major part in setting the stage for the modern Civil Rights Movment of the 1950’s and 60’s. The second video posted below tells the story of the beating and blinding of Isaac Woodard. In honoring the lives of those who were wounded or died in our nation’s wars, it is equally important to honor the lives of those who were wounded or died in the struggle for racial justice in our nation.