Giving Honor

Volume 1, No. 13

If you were raised in the Black church in America as soon as you heard -”giving honor".” Your mind automatically finished —”to God who is the head of my life.” With the upcoming Memorial Day, I am giving honor to the black men and women who gave their lives for a country that did not always love them back. The more I think about that statement, I realize that when they fought it was always more than love of country. It ranged from gaining physical freedom to financial freedom through education with the GI Bill.

Below are a few stories about the sacrifices black women made in every major U.S. war. Usually for Memorial Day you share the story of those who died in battle and honor their sacrifice. Unfortunately, most of those stories cannot be told because no one made the time to document them.

HIDDEN HERSTORIES:

Lucy Terry (1733–1821)

Terry was a poet and storyteller who documented the accounts of Black women in the American Revolutionary War who disguised themselves as men and fought side by side with them against the British, taking care of wounds, working alongside the men in building forts for safety from both the Indians and the British, and played a major role as spies.

Susie Baker King Taylor (1848 –1912)

King Taylor travelled and served with the 33rd ​United States Colored Infantry​ Regiment, as a nurse and laundress. in her off hours she taught the soldiers reading and writing. Later she served as a nurse at a hospital for African American soldiers in Beaumont, South Carolina and for four years and three months, she served the Union military without pay. In 1902, Susie wrote a book about her experiences, Reminiscences of My Life in Camp with the 33d United States Colored Troops, Late 1st S.C. Volunteers. She became the first and only African American woman to publish an account of her experiences in the Civil War.

Namahyoke Sockum Curtis (1861–1935)

Black American women served as nurses, bravely volunteering despite the risks under the leadership of ​Namahyoke Sockum Curtis​ who was African and Native American. During this war, over 75 percent of all deaths were caused by typhoid and yellow fever. Tragically, many Black female nurses were falsely told they were immune to these diseases due to their darker, thicker skin. This misinformation led to numerous casualties.

The nurses operated in treacherous conditions in military field hospitals, sometimes just out of range of gunfire. Despite the challenges, the Army highly valued the 32 Black contract nurses, prompting many congressmen to attempt, though unsuccessfully, to establish a permanent corps of Army nurses.

Black Nurses (1914-1918)

In 1917, a co-founder of the Red Cross encouraged Black nurses to enroll in the organization, but they were not accepted until just two months before the war ended in November 1918. African-American women contributed by making bandages, taking over jobs vacated by men who became soldiers, working in hospitals and troop centers, and serving in other relief organizations.

Many served in Hostess Houses operated by the Young Women's Christian Association, where they wrote letters home for illiterate soldiers and read incoming mail to them. Among the 3,480 "Y" women volunteers who supported soldiers and sailors overseas, four were Black women. The "Y" played a crucial role in providing recreation by staffing canteens, nursing, sewing, baking, and organizing amusement and educational activities for the soldiers.

Lieutenant Colonel Charity Adams Earley (1918-2002)

Lt. Col. Earley was the first African-American woman to be an officer in the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps and was the commanding officer of the first battalion of African-American women to serve overseas during World War II. She led the 3d Company, 3d Training Regiment, made up of two white and one Black platoon. In December 1944, Earley deployed to Europe leading the first Black WAC unit to serve overseas. For her work in Europe with the 6668th, Earley received a promotion to lieutenant colonel, the highest possible rank for a Soldier in the WAC.

Captain Eleanor Yorke (1919–1969)

In 1952, Nurse Captain Eleanor Yorke was the sole female passenger among 4,200 men on military transport from the Far East to San Francisco. Captain Yorke had spent over two years in Japan and an additional eight months in Korea treating the war wounded. During the 13-day trip home, her fellow passengers treated her like a queen.

Captain Yorke was not only the only woman on board but also one of approximately 600 women—only a few of whom were African American—stationed in Korea throughout the three years of the Korean War. As the Korean War began, the impacts of decades of protest and activism had made minimal progress against racial segregation. The inequities of the “separate-but-equal” doctrine from the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson Supreme Court decision still influenced public policy, race relations, and white attitudes across much of America.

Brigadier General Hazel W. Johnson-Brown (1927–2011)

Hazel Winifred Johnson-Brown trained at the Harlem Hospital School of Nursing and enlisted in the US Army in 1955 She served in the 8169th Hospital in Camp Zama, Japan. After completing her PhD, Johnson served as the 16th Chief of the Army Nurse Corps with promotion to Brigadier General. She became the first African American woman and First Chief with an Earned Doctorate in the department of defense with these distinctions.

Johnson-Brown enjoyed a distinguished second career in academia. She served as professor of nursing at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., and finally at George Mason University in Virginia.

Lieutenant Phoebe Jeter (1964 – )

African-American women served with distinction during Operation Desert Storm as officers, noncommissioned officers, and enlisted soldiers. Of the 35,000 females who went to Desert Storm, an estimated 40% of them were African-Americans.

Lt. Jeter was noted for being the only woman and first male or female air defense artillery officer to lead a platoon that destroyed a SCUD missile fired against U.S. military forces during Operation Desert Storm. Lt. Jeter headed an all-male platoon, ordered 13 Patriots (anti-missile missiles) fired, destroying at least two Scuds (Iraqi surface-to-surface missiles).

Vice Admiral Michelle Howard (1960 – )

Adm. Michelle Howard achieved many historical firsts in her naval career. She was the first African-American woman to command a United States Navy ship (USS Rushmore), the first to achieve two- and three-star rank, the first admiral selected from the United States Naval Academy class of 1982, the first female graduate of the United States Naval Academy selected for flag rank, and the first female four-star admiral to command operational forces.

Adm. Howard commanded the Expeditionary Strike Group Two which guarded the Persian Gulf as part of the U.S. war on terrorism and performed anti-piracy operations in the Indian Ocean. Sailors under her command rescued Richard Phillips, the captain of the container ship MV Maersk Alabama, who was held hostage by Somali pirates.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK:

“Create space for creativity--you never know what could result.”

— Vice Admiral Michelle Howard

MENTAL/SOCIAL CHALLENGE:

Find someone in your family who served in the Armed Forces and document their story.

Some of the greatest lives ever lived are not known because no one documented the story. The definition of "great" is not a matter of size but of substance.

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Until next time.....remember your voice and stories matters!