My Uncles in World War II

This is a historical and brief documentary of the contribution of African American in war.

UNCLE EDWARD AND UNCLE SHERRY
AS A WORLD WAR 2 SOLDIER AND SAILOR

During my years of extensive slave research, I learned that some families can lose their family connection by the spelling of the surnames or not having the original name at all. In this short write-up, I'll explain how my cousins, Louis Sherry GAILES and his wife Helen Louise WASHINGTON-GAILES, both deceased, were actually from the same ancestor. Louis was born about 1927 in Opelousas, Louisiana to Odell Edward GAILES and Ethel GUIDRY. Helen was born about 1937 in Washington, Louisiana to Aaron WASHINGTON, Sr. and Letha NESBIT. Louis is the great-grandson of Washington GALES, a former quadroon slave of Joseph GRADENIGO, a free man of color, who purchased himself out of bondage. While Washington was enslaved, he had two known children, one named Emile, Helen's grandpa, who he had with a Negro slave named Arthemise, and another named James William GALES who he had with a slave named Louisa. Emile took on his father's forename as a surname. Also, he used his father's former owner's surname as shown in his second marriage: GRADENI, Emile Washington (Washington & Artemise THOMAS) m. 5 Feb. 1883 Irene THOMAS, wid. of Gustin LEDE (Wash. Ch.: v. 1, p. 83)WASHINGTON, Emile m. 29 Jan. 1883 Irene THOMAS, wid. of Justin LEDE (Opel. Ct. Hse.: Mar. #12683).





My uncle: Edward Odell Gailes Jr.
Technician fifth grade
The T/5 insignia of a letter "T" below two chevrons. Name Edward O Gailes
Gender Male
Birth Date 8 Jan 1922
Death Date 28 Apr 1986
SSN 439164367
Enlistment Branch ARMY
Enlistment Date 21 May 1941
Discharge Date 3 Mar 1947
Page number 1
Country United States


Service branch United States Army
Abbreviation T/5 or Tec 5
Rank group Enlisted
Pay grade 5th Grade
Formation 26 January 1942
Abolished 1 August 1948
Next higher rank Technician fourth grade
Next lower rank Private first class
Equivalent ranks Corporal






My Uncle 'Sherry" Louis Gailes



Service On board vessel during World War 2


Louis Sherry Gailes
in the U.S., World War II Navy Muster Rolls, 1938-1949
Name Louis Sherry Gailes
Record Type Enlistment
Enlistment Date 1 Jun 1946
Description Receiving Station, New Orleans, La. 30 Apr 1931 to 1 Nov 1946 Part14, 2 Apr 1946 /1 Jul 1946
Detail Source
Name Louis Sherry Gailes
Record Type Military

This is not the same Comfort Class Medical Ship Uncle Sherry was on, but it is the same ship number!
Military Date 1 Apr 1946
Ship, Station or Activity Comfort
Ship Number or Designation T-Ah 20
Series MLR Number A1 135 Service Number: 276 03 13
Receiving Station: San Francisco, Ca. 1/1/1939 to 1/1/1949 Part 48, 2 Mar-1 May 1946

I would like to give an anaysis on the emphasis of African Americans in earlier conficts in American history. One big issue was racial
profiling on African American troops during the period between the Spanish American War and the World Wars.

In Jim Crow Texas, black Regular Army units returning victoriously from Cuba and the Philippines collided head-on with local segregation and bigotry. As the soldiers' expectations of dignity and respect met with racial restrictions and indignities from civilian communities, a series of violent episodes erupted.

Although confrontations also occurred elsewhere, the most notorious were in Texas, beginning with an 1899 clash between white lawmen in Texarkana and black soldiers riding a troop train west after returning from Cuba. The first truly violent episode came in 1906, when troops were accused of attacking Brownsville after civilian provocations. In 1917 a full-scale battle in Houston resulted in fifteen dead and twenty-one injured. Between 1899 and 1917, a series of other face-offs—some involving the complex relationships of blacks with local Hispanic populations—occurred when black soldiers stood up for their rights or their lives in San Antonio, Laredo, El Paso, Rio Grande City, Del Rio, and Waco.

This little-known story, never before told in full, illuminates the collision of racial discrimination with racial pride and reveals once again the petty biases, institutionalized racism, and mutual suspicions that have divided American society. But it is also a story of lofty aspirations too long delayed, of the transformation of a downtrodden race into a self-confident people, and of the noble attempt, however dangerous its means, to realize full citizenship.

Clearly written and impressively researched, Black Soldiers in Jim Crow Texas traces the relationship of the four? black military regiments—the 24th and 25th Infantries and the 9th and 10th Cavalries—with white civilian communities in the period between the Spanish-American War and World War I. Drawn from previously unexploited sources, it fills a void in the increasing body of research on the black military and illuminates the magnitude of racial intolerance in early twentieth-century America. No other work has explored these issues in such depth and with such skill.

Chapter 2
Where it all begun.

African-American Soldiers had served in the Revolutionary War all though they were initially barred. The need for troops led to
them being used in integrated units. Many enslaved and free blacks were recruited to fight against the British. Many Black
Soldiers were scattered throughout the Continental Army in integrated infantry regiments.
Although the Southern states were reluctant to allow the recruitment of enslaved African-Americans for the army, they had no
issue using free and enslaved Blacks in the navy.

Black Soldiers also fought with the British; enslaved blacks choose whatever side that would help them gain their freedom.
African Americans also served as gunners, sailors on privateers and in the Continental Navy during the Revolution. Blacks did a lot of different roles in the military. From simple jobs to James Lafayette, gained renown serving as spies or orderlies for well-known military leaders. By 1775 more than a half-million African Americans, most of them enslaved, were living in the 13 colonies. Early in the 18th century New England ministers and conscientious Quakers, such as George Keith and John Woolman, questioned slavery. They were ignored. By the 1760s as more colonists began to speak out against British tyranny, more Americans pointed out the contradiction between advocating liberty and owning slaves. In 1774 Abigail Adams wrote, “it always appeared a most iniquitous scheme to me to fight ourselves for what we are daily robbing and plundering from those who have as good a right to freedom as we have.”

Talk of liberty gave thousands of slaves high expectations, and many were ready to fight for a democratic revolution that might offer them freedom. In 1775 at least 10 to 15 Black soldiers, including some slaves, fought against the British at the battles of Lexington and Bunker Hill. Two of these men, Salem Poor and Peter Salem, earned special distinction for their bravery. By 1776, however, it had become clear that the revolutionary rhetoric of the founding fathers did not include enslaved Blacks. The Declaration of Independence promised liberty for all men but did not end slavery; and even though they were great fighters, the Continental Congress did not allow black soldiers to join the army.

With no guarantee of freedom, many free and enslaved African Americans in New England were willing to fight against the British. As soon states found it increasingly difficult to fill their enlistment quotas, they began to turn to this untapped pool of manpower. Eventually every state above the Potomac River recruited slaves for military service, usually in exchange for their freedom. By the end of the war from 5,000 to 8,000 Blacks had served the American cause by fighting, in support roles, or in the navy. By 1777 some states created laws that encouraged white owners to give slaves for the army in return for their enlistment bounty, or allowing masters to use slaves as substitutes when they or their sons were drafted. In the South the idea of arming slaves for military service met with such opposition that only free blacks were normally allowed to enlist in the army.

Crispus Attacks was a whaler, sailor, and stevedore of African and Native descent who was regarded as the first person killed in
the American Revolution. Historians disagree on whether Attucks was a free man or an escaped slave, but most agree that he was of Wampanoag and African descent. Two major sources of eyewitness testimony about the Boston Massacre published in 1770 did not refer to him as black or as a Negro; it appears he was instead viewed by Bostonians as being of mixed ethnicity. According to a contemporaneous account in the Pennsylvania Gazette, he was a mulatto man, named Crispus Attucks, who was born in Framingham, but lately belonged to New Providence, and was here in order to go for North Carolina.

Peter Salem was an African-American from Massachusetts who served as a U.S. soldier in the American Revolutionary War. Born into slavery in Framingham, he was freed by a later master, Major Lawson Buckminster, to serve in the local militia.

Salem fought with his company in the Battle of Bunker Hill. According to Samuel Swett, who chronicled the battle, Salem had mortally wounded Royal Marines officer John Pitcairn who died from a musket shot.This has been disputed. About a dozen other free African Americans took part in the battle, including Phillip Abbot of Andover Mass Barzillai Lew, Salem Poor, Titus Coburn, Alexander Ames, Cato Howe, and Seymour Burr.

Salem Poor (c. 1747–1802) was an enslaved African-American man who purchased his freedom in 1769, became a soldier in 1775. He was involved in the American Revolutionary War, particularly in the Battle of Bunker Hill. Poor enlisted in the militia when he was
28 years old. He served under Captain Benjamin Ames in Colonel James Frye's regiment. Salem Poor was one of three dozen
African-Americans who fought on Bunker Hill.
The Continental Army, established by way of, having a Main Army, January 1776; and by having a "eighty-eight battalion" resolve.

The goal was to have 36 regiments, most standardized by a single battalion of 768 men strong, and formed into eight companies,
with a rank and file strength of 640.
[excerpt from US Navy Continental Navy history: Third Congress: December 1, 1793.]

An act to provide a Naval Armament by the President of the United states, George Washington. "Be it therefore enacted by the
Senate that the President of the United states be authorized to provide or otherwise, equip and employ four ships to carry
forty-four guns each, and two ships to carry thirty-six guns each".

The War of 1812:

As was the case of the Revolutionary War, the status of Black Americans and Sailors during the War of 1812 was unclear, and
their service not well documented. Nevertheless, they served. When the opportunity was presented, some enslaved people fled
to the British hoping to secure their freedom. Others, both enslaved and free, including some 1,000 Black Sailors were captured
by British forces and held as prisoner combatants. Black Sailors served extensively in the inexperienced US navy, which had only
18 sailable ships in 1812. At the battle of Lake Erie, about 25 percent of sailors were Black.
One of these men was Silas (or Cyrus) Tiffany, a veteran of the American Revolution. He was an elderly man by 1812 but served with American naval commander Oliver Hazard Perry. During the Battle of Lake Erie in September 1813, Tiffany shielded Perry from fire when they evacuated the damaged flagship to move to the USS Niagara. Once aboard the Niagara, Perry assigned Tiffany to guard the doors to belowdecks and help rally the troops. Perry defeated the larger British naval force, the first time in history that an entire British naval squadron surrendered.


The Army and most states did not accept Black soldiers, though some northern states recruited them. In Michigan Territory, three Black men, at least one of whom was enslaved⁠—Peter Denison, Ezra Burgess, and Ensign Bossett—were commissioned as officers and given authority to recruit both free Blacks and those escaping enslavement into militia units.

African American soldiers' service in the War of 1812 occurred from 1812 to 1815, with notable service in the U.S. Navy and the Louisiana militia, alongside British efforts to recruit formerly enslaved people. Key events included the Battle of Baltimore (1814), where Frederick Hall died defending Fort McHenry, and the Battle of New Orleans (1815), where Black men fought for the U.S. Army under Andrew Jackson.
Notable persons, who even I was unaware of were the following:
Major Joseph Savary was the first black 2nd Major in U.S. Army history. He was appointed by General Jackson to the defense of New Orleans on December 23, 1814 (Lawrence E. Walker Foundation Collection). Frederick Hall, who used the alias William Williams was a runaway African American slave who enlisted as a private in the U.S. Army during the War of 1812 and died from a mortal wound while defending Fort McHenry from the British naval bombardment in 1814 (U.S. National Park Services).


The Spanish American War:

African Americans fought bravely in the Spanish-American War as part of the four regular "Buffalo Soldier" regiments (Ninth and Tenth Cavalry, Twenty-fourth and Twenty-fifth Infantry) and newly formed volunteer units, seeing action in Cuba at battles like San Juan Hill. Their participation was significant, with nearly 3,000 regulars and thousands of volunteers in the conflict, and five soldiers earned the Medal of Honor. Despite their heroic efforts and contributions to the war, they returned to a segregated America where their role was often overlooked, though they hoped their service would improve their equality.

The Maine:

The sinking of the battleship USS Maine in Havana Harbor, Cuba, on February 15, 1898, sparked the Spanish-American War. The explosion killed 268 men and sent shockwaves throughout the US as many Americans believed the Spanish orchestrated the incident. As Cuba fought for independence from Spain, this event proved to be a turning point in the escalating conflict between the United States and Spain. On April 25, 1898, Congress declared war against Spain.

Of the over 17,000 men sent to Cuba to serve in the war, African Americans made up nearly 3,000 of the Regular Army soldiers. In order to prepare and train for the invasion of Cuba, all four regiments of Buffalo Soldiers (Ninth and Tenth Cavalry and Twenty-fourth and Twenty Fifth Infantry) trained in the South for the first time since their formation. Stationed in Tampa and Lakeland, Florida, these soldiers faced the harsh realities of segregation and the Jim Crow laws of the region.
One such incident was occurred on June 6, 1898, mere days before the troops ventured overseas, a riot ensued in Tampa between white and black soldiers over the treatment of a two-year old black child. White soldiers from an Ohio regiment decided to hold a contest: whoever shot the little boy and put a bullet through his baggy shirt without harming him would win. Thankfully, the boy was not harmed, but when news of the event reached the black soldiers, violence broke out. At least twenty-seven black soldiers and three white volunteers received serious injuries and could not be deployed.

Prior to their arrival in Cuba, the first major battle of the war had already occurred in the Pacific. On May 1, 1898, George Dewey and the US Asiatic Squadron defeated the Spanish fleet at Manila Bay in the Philippines. A month later, US troops including Buffalo Soldiers landed in Cuba. In July 1898, the US defeated the Spanish at the Battle of San Juan Heights (Kettle Hill and San Juan Hill), the most significant US land victory and the final major battle of the war. Troops of the Twenty-fourth Infantry and the Ninth and Tenth Cavalry fought their way up San Juan Heights alongside white regulars and the Roughriders⎯the First U.S. Volunteer Cavalry. Stories about their bravery and endurance during the fight made headlines. Future President Teddy Roosevelt, the leader of the Roughriders, praised the Buffalo Soldiers for their service and even stated during his vice-presidency campaign in 1900 that black soldiers saved his life in Cuba.


Chapter 3:

The American Civil War:

Decades of controversy over slavery came to a head when Abraham Lincoln, who opposed slavery's expansion, won the 1860 presidential election. Seven Southern slave states responded to Lincoln's victory by seceding from the United States and forming the Confederacy. The Confederacy seized US forts and other federal assets within its borders. The war began on April 12, 1861, when the Confederacy bombarded Fort Sumter in South Carolina. A wave of enthusiasm for war swept over the North and South, as military recruitment soared. Four more Southern states seceded after the war began and, led by its president, Jefferson Davis, the Confederacy asserted control over a third of the US population in eleven states. Four years of intense combat, mostly in the South, ensued.
Following the issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation, an organization of African-American troops was commenced in the Mississippi River Valley under the personal supervision of the adjutant-general of the army, Lorenzo Thomas. His first regiment was mustered into service on May 1, 1863, as the 1st Arkansas Volunteers of African Descent, The 2nd Arkansas was one of four regiments of African Americans that was raised in Helena, Phillips County, an important Union held fortified city and naval port on the Mississippi River. Many more Black Regiments were created, and will contribute to the cause of fighting for their freedom throughout
the duration of the Civil War.

On April 7, Miller attended a speech by Adjutant General of the Army Lorenzo Thomas, who was promoting the raising of black regiments for service in the Union army (under white officers). Reaction to Thomas's address was so favorable that three companies of a hundred soldiers each were recruited immediately, forming the nucleus of the 1st Arkansas Volunteer Infantry Regiment (African Descent).

Encouraged by the response to General Thomas's appeal, army officials made plans to create a second black Arkansas unit. Throughout the remainder of the spring, the first companies of the 2nd Arkansas Volunteer Infantry Regiment (African Descent) were formed. Minos Miller volunteered to serve as an officer in this new regiment. On June 12, he wrote to his mother:
"Our regiment is about 300 strong. We are drilling every day. The negros learn fast and will fight well. We have tried ours twice and know they will stand fire".
The regiment was organized at large in Arkansas on September 4, 1863, as the 2nd Regiment Arkansas Volunteer Infantry (African Descent) and assigned to the VII Corps (Union Army). The regiment was raised under the command of Lieutenant Colonel George W. De Costa and Major George W. Burchard and was composed primarily of freed slaves in the Arkansas River Valley. On March 11, 1864, the designation of Regiment changed to 54th U. S. Colored Troops.

United States Colored Troops (USCT) were Union Army regiments during the American Civil War that primarily comprised African Americans, with soldiers from other ethnic groups also serving in USCT units. Established in response to a demand for more units from Union Army commanders, USCT regiments, which numbered 175 in total by the end of the war in 1865, constituted about one-tenth of the manpower of the army, according to historian Kelly Mezurek, author of For Their Own Cause: The 27th United States Colored Troops (The Kent State University Press, 2016). "They served in infantry, artillery, and cavalry." Approximately 20 percent of USCT soldiers were killed in action or died of disease and other causes, a rate about 35 percent higher than that of white Union troops. Numerous USCT soldiers fought with distinction, with 16 receiving the Medal of Honor. The USCT regiments were precursors to the Buffalo Soldier units which fought in the American Indian Wars.

54th Massachusetts (Colored) Volunteer Infantry Regiment:
In the summer of 1863, the regiment, which had not been officially mustered into federal service, as it had not yet gained the required number of troops, was located at Helena, Arkansas, organizing and drilling. The regiment was present for the Confederate attack upon Helena on July 4, 1863, occupying the far left of the union line. The unit remained at Helena from its official formation until May, 1864.

The Regiment participated in the following actions:

Fort Gibson September 16, 1864.
Cabin Creek September 19, 1864.
Cow Creek, Kansas, November 14 and 28, 1864.

The 54th Massachusetts was mustered out of Federal Service by companies between August 8 and December 31, 1866

Not to be confused with the aforementioned , 54th Massachusetts (Colored) Volunteer Infantry Regiment.

The 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment that saw extensive service in the Union Army during the American Civil War. The unit was the second African-American regiment, following the 1st Kansas Colored Volunteer Infantry Regiment, organized in the Northern states during the Civil War. Authorized by the Emancipation Proclamation, the regiment consisted of African-American enlisted men commanded by white officers. The 54th Massachusetts was a major force in the pioneering of African American civil war regiments, with 150 all-black regiments being raised after the raising of the 54th Massachusetts. The unit was the focus of the famous 1989 epic war drama 'Glory', featuring Denzel Washington, and Morgan
Freeman depicting the valor and heroism of colored troops during the Civil War.

World War 1:
Overview: Despite their service, African-Americans faced severe segregation, discrimination, and even violence within the American
military, and at home.

Over 350,000 African-Americans served in World War 1 in segregated units, primarily in labor and stevedore battalions, but a
few combat units like the acclaimed 369th Infantry Regiment (Harlem Hellfighters) fought bravely for the French Army and earned
recognition, through the war offered little immediate progress in civil rights at home.
On April 6, 1917, the same day that the United States declared war on Germany, the 15th New York Regiment was federalized and
became part of the US Army. In May 1918 it was redesignated the 369th Infantry Regiment. They joined the 93rd Division and were
"loaned" to the French.

Combat Units:
Two all-Black combat divisions, the 92nd, and the 93rd were created for the war. And the 369th Infantry Regiment, a part of the
93rd Division, served with the French Army, becoming the only American unit to fight under a foreign command.
They received the French Croix de Guerre medal for their heroism and were the first American unit to reach the Rhine River.

Despite the African-American Soldiers proving they can fight as soldiers, and the heroism they displayed while fighting along the
Rhine with the French, they still had to endure the fact that they were still considered as "second-class" citizens in America.
Their hope for a "civil rights revolution" was to be ignored; and they { African-Americans} continued to face oppression, Jim Crow
Laws, and racial brutality upon their return home.

World War 2:
Overview: During World War 2, over a million African-Americans served in the military, experiencing intense patriotism alongside
severe racial segregation and discrimination within the military and at home.

They fought in every theater of war, in roles from combat to support and labor, yet faced limited opportunities for promotion and
were often assigned to menial tasks. They served in every branch of the military: the Army: the Navy: Marine Corps:, and the
newly formed Army Air Forces. They fought in the Pacific, Mediterranean, and European war zones, including the Battle of the Bulge and the D-Day invasion. These African American service men and women constituted the largest number enlisted in the Army and Navy, and the first to serve in the Marine Corp after 1798.

However, as members of the United States military, this Greatest African American Generation encountered unequal treatment and limited opportunities for promotion and transfer due to the practice of racial segregation adhered to by the U.S. military, as well as the nation. Despite the 1940 United States Selective Service and Training Act outlawing racial discrimination, African Americans were only accepted if there were openings in units and training facilities specifically designated for their “racial” category. Since most U.S. bases did not have such additional areas that included housing, only half of the nation’s African American volunteers and draftees were actually inducted into the U.S. military during World War II. Those who were inducted usually served in large units whose members represented a wide range of skills and levels of formal education. All of them conducted their work assignments separate from white soldiers, received medical treatment from separate blood banks, hospitals, and medical staff, and socialized only in segregated settings. If they left their stateside bases, they often experienced hostility from local white civilian communities.

Moreover, the authority of African American officers was restricted to African American units only and, if there were white officers in these units, the African American officers were not allowed to have higher positions. In addition, pernicious beliefs of “race” often stalled the use of African American troops in combat units and excluded them from receiving recognition for their World War II service. It was not until 1993 that the first Medal of Honor was awarded to an African American World War II veteran. African-American women
also contributed to the war.

About 4,000 African American women joined the Army’s Women’s Army Corps. While they often experienced racially-integrated instructional facilities, they were usually assigned to menial labor positions. However, one of these African American units served overseas as a postal battalion. They also served in limited numbers as nurses in the Army Nurse Corps and a few in the Navy’s WAVES.

Service and Segregation:

Serving in Segregated Units: Despite the "Double V" campaign for victory over fascism and racism, the U.S. military remained segregated, with African Americans often serving in separate, support-oriented units and facing harsh discrimination in training and facilities.
Distinguished Military Units: African American soldiers fought with distinction, including the all-black 332nd Fighter Group (the Tuskegee Airmen) and the 761st Tank Battalion ("Black Panthers").

African American Nurses: African American nurses served globally in the Army Nurse Corps, treating soldiers and POWs.

"Dorie" Miller's Heroism: Doris "Dorie" Miller, a crewman aboard the USS West Virginia, became the first African American to receive the Navy Cross for his actions during the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Home Front Contributions:

War Industries: Millions of African Americans moved to Northern cities as part of the Second Great Migration, taking jobs in war industries and facing discrimination in wages and roles.

Support for the War: African Americans also contributed by selling war bonds, conserving resources, and performing civil defense duties.

Impact and Legacy:

Paving the Way for the Civil Rights Movement: The shared experiences of African Americans in service and the fight for equality laid crucial groundwork for the post-war Civil Rights Movement.

Presidential Desegregation: Following the war, President Truman ordered the full desegregation of the U.S. military in 1948, a step that spurred further civil rights progress.

Returning to Prejudice: Many returning African American veterans faced continued prejudice and Jim Crow laws, reinforcing the need for continued efforts for equality.


Korean Conflict:
Overview: An estimated 600,000 African Americans served in the military during the Korean War. Despite President Truman's 1948 executive order to desegregate the armed forces, the Army was still largely segregated when the war began in 1950.

The Korean War was the first large-scale conflict where African Americans fought alongside White Soldiers. Many African-American
Soldiers fought alongside White Soldiers in integrated units, and stayed in the same living quarters.
Over 5,000 Black Soldiers were killed in action during the war; some even chose to remain behind in China after the war to escape
racism at home. Some 21 American (POW) prisoners of war, including Clarence Adams, chose to defect to China.

Pioneering Figures:

Captain Daniel "Chappie" James Jr. commanded integrated fighter squadrons, while Frederick Branch became the Black officer in the
United States Marines. Also, of note Ensign Brown Jesse L. Brown became the first Black aviator in the United States Navy.
He was on an important bombing mission where he was shot down, becoming the first Black pilot in the war to be killed.