Page 13 - Discover Spring 2023
P. 13
Serve & Succeed
Black Quartermasters in WWII
By Joe Reagan, Director of Military and Veterans Outreach at Wreaths Across America
At the entrance to the U.S. Army Infantry needed more of them.
Museum, located in Ft. Moore, GA, (formerly Ft.
Nearly one million black men served in
Benning), visitors begin their journey by walking
WWII, over 80 percent of them were assigned to
up a 100-yard ramp that shows the history of the
logistics and service units, in fact by 1944 almost
U.S. Army Infantry. It is a symbolic representation
all black soldiers were assigned to these units.
of what is ingrained in every infantry soldier –
They were responsible for building bridges, roads,
you can have all the tanks, artillery, planes, trucks,
and runways, they moved beans, bullets, fuel,
and anything else in the world, but in battle the
and the fallen – their efforts were critical to the
last 100 yards requires a soldier with a gun – the
allied success and were the embodiment of the
last 100 yards will always belong to the Infantry.
modern military saying, “armatures study tactics,
This mindset inspires great pride in Infantry professionals study logistics.” To be historically
Soldiers, and inspires the admiration of historians, accurate, all black units such as the 92nd and
filmmakers, and civilians alike – often lost is the 93rd infantry divisions, the 861 Tank Battalion,
story of those troops who comprise supply lines and the Tuskegee Airman have impressive and
that often begin in the U.S. and extend thousands well documented success in combat – the story
of miles to ensure that the infantry has everything of black quartermasters is important because it
it needs to fight their way across that last 100 not only embodies the courage and valor of these
yards. By some estimates standing behind each Americans but demonstrates their ingenuity and
infantry soldier are six support soldiers – they how their service led to success on the battlefield
are the lifeline and unsung heroes whose efforts and when they came home.
are often overlooked. This was especially true in
In Europe, allied preparations for the D-Day
World War II.
invasion required a massive movement of supplies,
World War II saw an increased level of ships would have to be quickly unloaded to
mechanization – no longer did an army run solely make room for the next load – this job fell to
on its stomach, fuel and spare parts were needed the quartermaster corps whose dockhands were
to keep the machines of war moving and that primarily black GI’s. In prior conflicts much of
meant a supply chain extending back to industrial this unloading would have been done by hand
hubs in the United States. When comparing the – a menial task – given the size of the loads,
success of campaigns like D-Day to failures like often exceeding 30 tons, it required skilled crane
the German invasion of Russian in 1941 – it was operators who worked non-stop during the
logistics that determined success or failure – even 18-month build up to D-Day. In the final hours
the most tactically proficient army can’t win if before the invasion these skilled operators would
it doesn’t have supplies. This required support transfer loads directly from the supply ships to the
soldiers to be better trained, and the U.S. Army invasion crafts.
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