Chapter 19 Fighting Two Wars
Emma suddenly awoke and called out “ Phillip, Phillip” . Missy softly said to Emma “ it is ok I am here with you”. As she had done over the past several days, Emma was slipping in and out and more often than not she was forgetting that she was in the hospital. This time Emma was thinking of Phillip and how much she missed him even after 30 plus years.
Emma had problems remembering even the most recent things beginning about six years ago. As her memory continued to falter she began to remember less and less. It had gotten to the point that she had even forgotten the names of most of her friends and other family members. She spent days on days not talking to anyone as it was difficult for her to carry on a normal conversation. Even through all of this Missy felt like she was getting closer and closer to her grandmother, They had always been close but as Emma’s health began to get worse, Missy put aside all other things to care for her grandmother. There were times when Emma even forgot Missy’s name and who she was. Even with all of the memories she had lost, she never quite forgot her Phillip.
Although Emma seldom talked about Phillip with anyone, there was never a day that she did not think of him and longed to reach out to him and feel his arms around her one more time. Emma thought of how she felt when Phillip announced that he was volunteering for the Army. She thought of how she cried after he left for basic training at Camp Jackson in Columbia South Carolina.
Phillip left about 3 weeks after he had volunteered for the Army. He along with 150 others both White and Negro had joined the army for various reasons. As they were getting ready for the trip to basic training, Phillip noticed many things. First as he expected the troops were segregated with Negroes and Whites in separate barracks. He also noted that while there were a few Negro officers, they seemed to be treated differently. He was told to salute ever officer but only the Negro soldiers saluted the Negro officers. Also as they began loading the bus to South Carolina, he noticed that Negro soldiers were in one bus and Whites in a separate bus.
As they were traveling he noticed that the White soldiers were able to go in to the restaurant and sit down and eat. The Negro soldiers went in the back of the restaurant and ordered at a window and they got their food and ate on the bus or sat on the ground. However this did not bother him as he knew that things would change once he got to Camp Jackson.
Phillip arrived at Camp Jackson and thought how proud he was to finally be in the same army as his father. He began to think about how it would be fighting the war across the waters and going to places that he had never been. He knew that Camp Jackson trained soldiers for the infantry and while he was somewhat concerned, he could not wait for training to begin so he could prove himself.
During basic training the troops continued to be separate and while Phillip was somewhat concerned he still was looking forward to going to Europe and fighting the war. He found that he was spending more time in the kitchen peeling potatoes then on the rifle range however he knew things would be different once he got across the water.
The experience for Phillip was no different than that of most Negroes who has been able to join the military. For 1942 was a time when Negroes were often rejected from joining the military. It had not been long that Negroes were able to join the Navy. Even then, the Negro could only serve as a mess man to serve the officers and other men on the ship. They were seen as inferior, illiterate and unable to be motivated to fight. This mindset of the war department continued through most of World War II. This led to the double V campaign for many Negroes. The double V meant one victory for America in the war and one V against the challenges for the Negro in America thus the Negro soldier was in fact fighting two wars. One on foreign territory and one at home.
Emma continued to remember the letters that Phillip wrote her during the war while he was in the army. She remembered the letter she received in late 1943. Phillip had been moved from the mess tent to drive trucks. He was now able to do what he did well which
is to drive trucks and maintain trucks. He along with many other Negroes was able to drive trucks through Europe. This unit was to become known as the Red Ball Express.
The Red Ball Express had been necessary because the Allies had destroyed most of the railways in Europe during their arial attacks. Thus the only way to supply the troops was to utilized transport trucks. More than 80% of the truck drivers and mechanics were Negro soldiers who gained fame because of their bravery and their relentless efforts to move the supplies against all odds. In later years their efforts were noted in a Hollywood war movie.
Phillip was one of the members of the Red Ball Express. Because of his civilian experience, he was promoted to corporal and soon after was promoted again to sergent.
Emma was so proud as she tried to envision Phillip in an Army uniform with stripes on his arm with his wide grin.