Ethnic/racial identity

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Rosenbaum, James Prewar to Military Training
James Stewart Rosenbaum was born in Chicago, Illinois in August 1925. His father was an insurance and hat salesman. He...
Pringle, James Prewar to Montford Point Marine
James Pringle was born in Sumter, South Carolina in November 1925. Life growing up was rough. He worked in grocery...
Schmetzer, Charles Prewar to Navy Training
Charles "Chuck" Schmetzer was born in August 1926 in Louisville, Kentucky. His father owned a sheet metal business and...
Mitchell, George Prewar to US Marine Corps
George Mitchell was born in Albany, Georgia in 1924. His father owned a barbershop with his brothers and two other men...
Guidry, Lewis Prewar Years
Lewis Guidry was born in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana in January 1919. The Great Depression affected his life in many ways...
Hebert, Willie Roy Prewar, Marine, and Postwar Lives
Willie Roy Hebert qualified as expert on the M1 [Annotator's Note: .30 caliber M1 semi-automatic rifle, also known as...
DeMott, Joseph Prison Camps on Java
There were only a couple of hundred other American prisoners with Joseph DeMott on the island of Java, mostly off the...
Bussel, Norman Prison Rules, Jews, and Gentiles
Norman Bussel had to bail out of his Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress over Berlin, Germany. He and 65 other prisoners...
Stovroff, Irwin Prisoner of War
Irwin Stovroff experienced interrogation by the Germans after his capture. The enemy thought the American airman knew...
Freedman, Henry "Hank" Prisoner of War
Henry Freedman and his fellow POWs [Annotator's Note: prisoners of war] were loaded in "40 and 8" boxcars and were in a...
Hirschmann, Peter Prisoner of War and Liberation
Peter Hirschmann [Annotator's Note: a member of Company F, 2nd battalion, 310th Infantry Regiment, 78th Infantry...
Savage, Frank Promotion
Troops were leaving Mortai [Annotator's Note: Maluku Islands, Dutch East Indies now Indonesia] to invade the...
Braitman, Simon Put in the Ghetto
Simon Braitman was nine years old when the Germans attacked Poland in September 1939. About a month and a half later,...
Foy, John Quartermasters, Master Sergeants and the SS
John Foy wanted to mention something about the quartermasters. They were mostly black units, relegated to unloading...
Keller, Luba Questioning God
When Luba Keller was walking from her concentration camp to work in the munitions factory she would talk to God and ask...
Parham, Henry Race Relations and Returning Home
When Henry Parham's unit [Annotator's Note: 320th Antiaircraft Barrage Balloon Battalion, Very Low Altitude (Colored)]...
Tarrant, Eugene Race Relations at Home and in the Navy
[Annotator's Note: Eugene Tarrant served in the Navy as a captain’s mess attendant aboard the USS San Francisco (CA38...
McKinnon, Lee Race Relations in the Navy
Lee O. McKinnon stayed in the Navy until 1947. The Navy made good progress. When he first enlisted, there was no Navy...
Quigley, Tom Race Riot and Scotland Arrival
Tom Quigley remembers how every Friday the officers would go to Baton Rouge for the weekend. Quigley struggled finding...
Espree, Elmo Racial Confrontation
During another incident experienced by Elmo Espree in a Bombay restaurant, a British, an American and a South African...
Winnier, Lawrence Racial Discrimination
Lawrence Winnier cannot really blame the people because it [Annotator's Note: racial discrimination in the service] was...
Smith, Rothacker Racial Identity
Rothacker Smith had no idea that war was in his future on the morning of 7 December 1941. Smith was working in a corn...
Arrow, Kenneth Racial Segregation and Wartime Production
Dr. Kenneth Arrow witnessed racial discrimination in the South during his service in the United States Army Air Forces...
Smith, Rothacker Racial Tension
Rothacker Smith underwent weeks of training amid a racially tense situation at Camp Stewart, Georgia. Smith was one of...
Whitworth, Vaughan Racism
[Annotator's Note: The interviewer asks Vaughn Whitworth if he experienced racism from other Marines while serving in...
Bucksell, Norris Racism Abroad and At Home
In basic training, Norris Bucksell had a new lieutenant who would not give him a paycheck because his mustache needed...
Kelley, Archie Racism at the Naval Academy
Archie Kelley arrived at Annapolis [Annotator's Note: United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland] and had to...
Brown, Roscoe Racism in the South and Overseas Deployment
Dr. Roscoe Brown feels that Washington D.C. was an ambivalent city when it came to race. When they got to Virginia they...
Jackson, Earnest Racism in Town
Ernest Jackson could go off base on furlough. Some bases, like some of the little towns including Havelock and Cherry...
Jefferson, Alexander Racism, Red Cross Parcels, and Smoking
Alexander Jefferson went into Stalag Luft III [Annotator's Note: then in Sagan, Germany; now Żagań, Poland] with about...
Bussel, Norman Radio School and Racism
Norman Bussel was drafted and sent to Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia on a train that was really old. He arrived at two or...
Eleser, Carey Radio Schools and Assignment to the Armed Guard
Carey Eleser enlisted in the Navy and went by train to San Diego, California for basic training. He arrived around ten...
Buell, Harold "Hal" Rating Carriers and Pilots
Harold Buell was on the Yorktown [Annotator's Note: USS Yorktown (CV-5)] only a brief time before being reassigned. He...
Langsam, Dora Ravensbruck Concentration Camp and Folke Bernadotte
Dora Langsam arrived at the camp [Annotator's Note: Ravensbrück concentration camp; the largest concentration camp for...
Klepper, Manfred Reaching America and Citizenship
Manfred Klepper and his parents were on the water for no more than three hours before his mother and father became...
Hymel, Rita Reaction to Pearl Harbor
Rita Hymel was asked to be a teacher because she lived the closest to the schoolhouse in Killona [Annotator's Note:...

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