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“Bug-Out Boogie” – the Swan Song of Segregation in the United States

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“Bug-Out Boogie” – the Swan Song of Segregation in the United States “BUG-OUT BOOGIE” – THE SWAN SONG OF SEGREGATION IN THE UNITED STATES ARMY: DESEGREGATION DURING THE KOREAN WAR AND DISSOLUTION OF THE ALL-BLACK 24th INFANTRY REGIMENT BY C2014 Ben Thomas Post II Submitted to the graduate degree program in History and the Graduate Faculty of the University of Kansas in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. ___________________________________ Dr. Theodore Wilson, Chairperson ___________________________________ Dr. Adrian Lewis, Committee Member _____________________________ Dr. Jeffrey Moran, Committee Member _____________________________ Dr. Roger Spiller, Committee Member _____________________________ Dr. Barbara Thompson, Committee Member Date defended: August 15, 2014 The Dissertation Committee for Ben Thomas Post II certifies that this is the approved version of the following dissertation: “BUG-OUT BOOGIE” – THE SWAN SONG OF SEGREGATION IN THE UNITED STATES ARMY: DESEGREGATION DURING THE KOREAN WAR AND DISSOLUTION OF THE ALL-BLACK 24th INFANTRY REGIMENT ___________________________________ Dr. Theodore Wilson, Chairperson Date approved: August 15, 2014 ii Abstract In tracing the origins of the movement to desegregate the U.S. Army, most scholars pointed to President Truman’s Executive Order 9981 signed on July 26, 1948. Other scholars highlighted the work done by the “President’s Committee on Equality and Opportunity in the Armed Services,” also known as the Fahy Committee, which was formed as a result of Order 9981. However, when the United States was compelled to take military action following the surprise attack by North Korean forces on June 25, 1950, the U.S. Army units sent into action in Korea were mostly composed of segregated units such as the all-black 24th Infantry Regiment. The 24th Infantry Regiment and other segregated units continued to be maintained by the U.S. Army despite the efforts of the president, prominent civilians, military leaders, and the Fahy Committee, to desegregate the armed forces. A reason espoused by scholars for why the U.S. Army was ultimately integrated was due to manpower shortages created by combat in Korea and the removal of quota restrictions on the enlistment of African American soldiers during the war. All three theories have their strengths and cannot be discounted entirely. This study argues that the racial animosity by a large segment of senior military officers, such as Lieutenant General Edward Almond, and their attempts to portray African American soldiers and African American units as incompetent actually backfired and instead of providing the justification for continued segregation, actually gave men like General Ridgway the excuse to force the integration of the Army in Korea. The 24th Infantry Regiment in particular was singled out, often without cause, for incompetence. Using interviews from the Army Center of Military History study Black Soldier White Army, this study will show that the men of the Fighting 24th iii actually showed incredible courage and determination against both the enemy forces they faced and a military leadership that demoralized and belittled them as soldiers. iv Table of Contents Abstract…………………………………………………………………………………………...iii Table of Contents………………………………………………………………………………….v 1. Introduction………………………………………………………………………………..1 1.1 Desegregation and African Americans in the Military: A Historiography………..…..6 1.2 Race and the Military: The Vietnam Era Historiography…………………………....13 1.3 Post-Vietnam to Current Historiography…………………………………………….24 2. Chapter I – Riots, Wars, and Committees: The Road to Integration……………………37 2.1 World War I…………………………………………………………………………45 2.2 The Interwar Years………………………………………………………………………….60 2.3 World War II………………………………………………………………………...63 2.4 The Gillem Board……………………………………………………………………77 2.5 President Truman’s Order 9981……………………………………………………...84 2.6 The Fahy Committee and Military Backlash………………………………………...89 3. Chapter II – White Officers, Black Officers and Black Soldiers: Examples of Leadership in the 24th Infantry Regiment…………………………………………………………...100 3.1 From Civil War to Race War……………………………………………………….101 3.2 Assignment of White Officers to Black Units – Southern Men Preferred…………107 3.3 Assignment of White Officer to Black Units – Punishment?....................................109 3.4 Dealing with Ambitious White Officers……………………………………………113 3.5 White Officers: Fear of Failure…………………………………………………..…115 3.6 High Turn-Over of Officers in Black Units……………………………………...…117 v 3.7 Common Complaints among White Officers in Black Units………………………120 3.8 Black Soldiers Disregard Equipment…………………………………………….…120 3.9 White Officers More Vulnerable to Injury or Death……………………………….121 3.10 Black Soldiers Prone to “Straggling”…………………………………………..127 3.11 “Bug Out” and “Bug-Out Boogie”…………………………………………..…131 3.12 Black Soldiers’ Response to Inadequate White Leadership……………………133 3.13 Civil Disobedience by Black Soldiers……………………………………….…133 3.14 Power of Group…………………………………………………………………135 3.15 Use of Chain-of-Command…………………………………………………..…136 3.16 Self-Wounding………………………………………………………………….137 3.17 “Fragging”………………………………………………………………………138 3.18 Assignment of Black Officers and Soldiers………………………………….…139 3.19 Leadership Tenets and the 24th Infantry Regiment…………………………..…142 3.20 Issuing Orders to Black Units………………………………………………..…144 3.21 Sense of Belonging…………………………………………………………..…146 3.22 Officers Accepting Responsibility/Setting the Standard……………………….151 3.23 Racism Destroys Ability to Lead……………………………………………….156 3.24 Officer Utilization of NCOs…………………………………………………….158 4. Chapter III – Trials, Drugs, Venereal Disease, and Medals: The Fight for Equal Treatment in Korea…………………………………………………………………..…161 4.1 From Praise to Courts-Martial……………………………………………………...163 4.2 Discipline Problems in the 24th Infantry Regiment – Drugs and Venereal Disease..171 4.3 Medals and Race……………………………………………………………………177 vi 4.4 Bureaucracy and Medals……………………………………………………………182 4.5 Distinguished Service Crosses in the 24th Infantry Regiment……………………...188 4.6 Congressional Medal of Honor and the 24th Infantry Regiment……………………191 4.7 The History and Process of Awarding the Congressional Medal of Honor………..194 4.8 The Case for Private First Class Edward Sanders………………………………….198 4.9 The Case for Captain Charles Bussey……………………………………………....199 5. Chapter IV – The Officers: the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly……………………….....209 5.1 Colonel Halloran……………………………………………………………………211 5.2 Colonel Corley……………………………………………………………………...213 5.3 Lieutenant Colonel Melvin Blair…………………………………………………...219 5.4 Major Richard “Black Daddy” Williams…………………………………………...221 5.5 Lieutenant General Edward (Ned) Almond………………………………………...224 5.6 Almond’s Early Military Career……………………………………………………225 5.7 Almond the Division Commander………………………………………………….229 5.8 Almond and MacArthur: The Interwar Years 1945-1950………………………….236 5.9 The Korean War…………………………………………………………………….241 5.10 Racism Clouding Judgment of Enemy Forces………………………………….252 5.11 General Almond and his Leadership in Korea………………………………….256 5.12 Almond’s Letter Campaign – 1950s…………………………………………....261 5.13 Almond’s Letter Campaign – 1960s……………………………………………265 6. Chapter V – War Leads to Integration………………………………………………….274 6.1 Straggling – Integration a Response………………………………………………..275 6.2 The Need for Replacements – a Call for Integration……………………………….279 vii 6.3 Combat Breaks Down Racial Barriers…………………………………………...…284 6.4 Full Integration Still Faced Resistance…………………………………………..…290 6.5 Racial Undertones in Some Motives for Integrations……………………………....293 6.6 Army “Studies” Desegregation…………………………………………………..…295 6.7 Fate of the 24th Infantry Regiment……………………………………………….....300 6.8 The Ridgway Factor……………………………………………………………..….302 6.9 The 24th Infantry Regiment Deactivated……………………………………………308 7. Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………...314 8. Bibliography……………………………………………………………………………322 viii INTRODUCTION On Armistice Day, November, 11, 1950, Master Sergeant Waymond R. Ransom, an African American member of the Regimental Intelligence and Reconnaissance Platoon, attached to the Headquarters Company, 24th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division, stood by the side of a road near Yenchon, Korea talking with one of his squad leaders. Moments earlier, a mine had detonated in the road, killing one American and injuring several others. As the injured were being led to an aid station, a number of Korean civilians armed with Russian weapons and wearing arm bands that bore the inscription, “Seoul Police Reserve Battalion” marched down the same road. During the confusion following the land mine’s explosion, Sergeant Ransom’s squad leader yelled: “Hey, them people was leaving town as we were coming yesterday. Those six girls right there were leaving town as we were coming into town yesterday.” As Sergeant Ransom was to relate thirty-eight years later, right after the “Seoul Police Reserve Battalion” marched out of sight a big burst of fire erupted from down the same road. Meanwhile, a lieutenant in charge of one of the rifle companies in the vicinity was talking with Sergeant Ransom’s lieutenant. Sergeant Ransom recalled that the two lieutenants were the “only two white folks in the area.” The rifle company lieutenant advised Ransom’s lieutenant; “Give me one of your jeeps. Then you all dash down there with a lot of firing.” Sergeant Ransom’s lieutenant gave the order to the men standing nearby, including Sergeant Ransom, and then jumped into the jeep and sped off. What Sergeant Ransom’s lieutenant did not know
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