Transcripts For CSPAN3 African American Women Army Corps Battalion 20240713

A Young American citizen of number ten downing street, as an old man, was this a car. The Young American turn to mr. Prime minister, mister Prime Minister, tell us secretive your success. The Prime Minister responded, study history. Study history. Were in a, lie all the secrets. You heard a great phrase, theres nothing you can do about having a 20 or, 22yearold body, but no excuse for you not having a 5000 year old mind. It is at your fingertips. But lets continue to look back so we can see forward, im pleased to introduce you pat lock, who will moderate the next panel, he is the first African American woman to graduate from the United States naval academy, in 1980. She will bring forth a group of women that have an unheard story, of Unsung Heroes that played an Important Role in American History. Im pleased to introduce path lock. Good morning everyone. Good morning and now i have a lot of friends at the naval academy, but i am not the first african woman to graduate from the naval academy, on the first African American woman to graduate from the military academy, so i want to have that as an admin correction. So, with that, i would like to say that i am honored to be in the presence of this history. I remember reading about these ladies 40 years ago in a department of defense publication, and noticing everything that they went through, to open the doors for people like me. So, with that, i know we have very limited time here, so i would like to make sure that i give them a chance to tell their story. I would like to start out with just a general question, and anyone that would like to respond, please do so. I would like to hear from everyone, but as you see fit, you can answer the question. So, i would just like to know, from that experience, and you may know the history, of the history here, but they went into the six triple battalion, it was formed to handle a backlog of emails. They initially had it hundred African American, women and deployed to england they had a surprise waiting for them, in 17 million pieces of mail that of a backlog. So, with that, with all of the deployment, and i remember reading that the only way that African American women could serve overseas was if the theater commander specifically requested them. So the six triple aid was one of the battalion that was recruited to come over to europe to serve in the european theater. So, with that, what was one aspect of your deployment, your effort, your successes over there, that he would like to relate to the audience . I would like to for them to know how appalling it was for us to get it done and the length of time they want us to do it. They gave us one year to get the blackmail. We did it in eight months. Eight months. Very good. So, did you have anything to add to that . Yes. When we got there, the male was piled up, it was a rat infested, we had to find a place to make sure postal facilities so that we could handle it. So used to these old airplane hangar, and built that post office. And with that, we worked seven days a week, three shifts, and we were able to get the mail out and one third of the time that they had assigned it. So, our motto was, no mail, no. We thought that the one thing that Service People want is to be able to connect with their families. And the families want to see how there loved ones are doing, so it was a very Important Mission for us to be able to have that connection. Very good. Before we go on, i want to make sure i get the comments from the ladies over here also, but i want to make sure you know you are talking to. So on the far end is mr. Johnson, thank you for your service. Next to me is this king, thank you also for your service. And over here, has mrs. Robertson. Thank you for your service, and over here i have mrs. Rather. Thank you all for your service. I think you have your biles on the back of the screen. With that, did you have any comments about how much you had to do when you first arrived in england with the male challenge . Did anybody else have any more comments regarding that before we go on to the next question . I think not only was there not place for our mail, we had no facilities to live and. Our facilities had been bombed, and we had to quickly make a place for us to stay. And we used an old school house, we cleaned it up and made that do for our lodging. You kind of improvised with everything. From what ive read the theater commander came down and we were very impressed with the level of discipline that you had in your unit, your appearance, your military courtesy. How did all that come about . How did you know to do that. Were you emulating someone else that you thought . That kind of open the door for the rest of us, because you guys set a standard for all African American women coming in to service after that. So did you have any comments regarding that . Youre in the army. You do youre told. You wear what you wear. When youre unlisted you wear what you are told, what is the government of the day . Theres not a problem, that away from it. We have a uniform, you wear it. You have a job to do and you do the job. Period. I dont know what other questions you have, because i could go on forever. I just remember, i really appreciate it, when i saw the photos, i dont know anything about the military when i was enlisted. When i saw you all photos and how sharply looked with your uniforms and shoes and everything, it made me want to join. When youre uniform for far rights, but you have you are working. We had a job to do, so you wear fatigues or whatever is their, period. Close its not the. Point the point is to get the male hat. Get the mail. Your motto was, low male, low morale. What is one of the primary, the most important lesson that you can share with our audience right now, about the leadership, hardship, about work ethic . Anything like that that you can share with our audience right now . Well, you are listed to do a job, and whatever you were inside, this is what you did. This is why you were there. So you cant go on just doing whatever you want to do, you came there to do this, to do your duty for the country. And, of course, you had to follow the rules and regulations. This is what we signed up for. You had a very hard experience, you had deployed to england but you also had to deploy from england to france. And you had all that happen in a very short amount of time. Can you tell me about the transition . How did you do that . You have a huge work ethic to get that done. Youre in the army. You do we are told. The army has a record. When we worked, we had three shifts and we did what we were told. So therefore, i was an officer, so i did what i was told. Therefore, we sorted the mail, you directed to where it was supposed to go, and we did is we were told. As i said, we worked three shifts. So when you are doing that, you do the best you can. Theres no question about it. In the army, you dont question anything. You do as you are told. So therefore, that was not a big problem. This was something new to us, when we are pretty on. I was 19 when i went and. That was it, and there is no problem. We did a shift and then we went to paris. So we worked at the three shifts there and we were able to get the male redirected in a very short time. We were able to do it in less than a year. Can you talk to us a little bit about the leadership that you had . You obviously accomplished a lot and a small a period of time. Did the leadership of anything to do with that . I think we all were dedicated and knew what we had to do, but we were told in the beginning that this was our job, this is the way we had been trained, and we went there to do this top and we got it done. I think, when they chose the group, and were trained we knew that it was discipline that kept us intact and may does know that this was an assignment, and we knew that this is what we signed up for. So its just that work ethic that we had. And i think they chose women who they could rely on to work that way. Think that way. Very good. You had both army and air force women in the same battalion . At that time, they were all in one unit. Airforce and army were together. It was just later that they were separated. How did you will get along . Did you get along okay, this is a been open days or have individual bedrooms, best friends, people you hated, being an army unit with that amount of pressure to get things done, the pressure cause friction, or you just were all best friends . You do it like its college. Doesnt matter what you feel how you think, youve adapted to, and you do it. You have a theme here. Youve got a job, you get it done. No matter what, right . Just like anywhere else, you choose the grip that you want to hang out with. It was a large battalion, you dont know everyone but you are there for the same purpose. Your leadership helps to guide, you know what your assignment is and you do it. I think we winter but the attitude that we were there to do a job. You are very successful with all the pressure, and youre sisterhood in the battalion, did you have a socialite and all . 17 million pieces of mail, could you do anything else . Go to a movie, have any social whatsoever . No. Not so much. I just thought i asked . Because you had a lot to do. We made our own fun. We played games, we had friendships, but as far as getting out in the public was very late in the game that we were able to get out and meet people. Okay. When we were in birmingham, the people were so wonderful to us. They knew we were therefore, they gave us a lot of support. We enjoyed their hospitality. When kyle can but when time came for work, we did work, and after our work was done. We had time for a little socializing but that was quite limited. Okay very good. Is there any aspect of your top that was the hardest thing you had to deal with . Say what . Its an aspect of your job, your big mission, that was the hardest thing that you had to deal with . And what was that . You had adapted. You did the job. Period. laughs ,. , . We are women, were in an army, we have picked up to do. We have sergeant that tell us what to do. Im a private, so therefore, you do it. If you have any questions, you have to keep it silent because its not going to get you anywhere. Therefore, the best thing to do, and this is all new to americans. We did it, and the thing i can say is, hey, after we finish the job ahead of the schedule that they thought it had to be done, we did it in about six months or so, so we covered it and got it out. Then we came home. So thats it. The army was a good, those of us who left came out of the service, and the army gave us schooling, where we wanted to go. And a little subsistence pay along with that. So, i took advantage of it, and that was it. Period. No more worried about the army, period. Thats it. Do you will want to tell us a little bit about what happened after your tour in overseas, and you came back home . Do you want to share the audience everything that happened after that . I went directly home because i lost my father. My mother was very sick while others in the military, so i got a discharge and went home. You have anything . I was discharged. I married while i was in the service, so i went from philadelphia where i enlisted. My husband was from california, and i live in california and started a family. I went to school and became an are and and had a family and that was the end of it. We never heard anything more about all of that. It was all behind, until a gentleman by the name charleston philpott thought we deserved to be recognized, because we never had a parade. We just came out and that was it. Carleton felt that we deserved some recognition. And he invited after 75 years. We were all in our nineties. Im 96, but anyway he thought we deserved a parade and he invited us all to come to kansas city. He had a monument for us. He said these ladies deserves some recognition. They were over there, in the first African American battalion. They were very well disciplined, they deserve our service. It thought he would give us a parade, which he did. Not only that, he had a monument for us. He had the country really, we would not be here today if it werent for minister philpott. He made the country aware of us, and for that. Really thank him, because we would have lived you know, just really unknown. And in part that these ladies it deserved a parade. So, we had the parade, we never had before. We were here because of him. Okay, lets go. Im here. Did you want to comment on anything that happened after you left service and came back to the United States . Florida . They want to comment on anything that happened after you love service and came back to the United States. I said before, argumentative the durable, and i want this guy wanted to go to. It meanwhile little subsistence, and that. And never heard anything about it until november, so the. Soft were making it known to the world that there was, and by the time we finished doing our processing of the male, the mail to the soldiers was already formulated, so there is no backup mail at that time. So we got rid of the backup male, animal has gone on ever since. This is a little belated thing, it came so late that it ended up where only seven of us out of the 100 that were there to work with the job, and im afraid that at our old age we were not really capable of giving them full credit, as much as we should. Because the memory helped. However, here we are. Ladies, is there one other thing, im looking to see if theres a time limit, if we can take a couple questions from the audience . I have a question for miss parker inaudible . Thank you. Hello. This is parker, can you tell the audience in may of 2019 what happened at Winston Salem State University . I received my degree, ive got the march down the aisle because i was not able to march when i finished my four year college because i was teaching in virginia. My superintendent were not give me permission to leave, so i taught for 32 years and got my degree last summer. Good morning ladies, thank you for coming. Im from the naval academy. My question is, headed your families initially deal with you joining the army . What did she say . Headed to families react to you joining the army . Actually, what happened was i was 19 when i joined, and since i could go to the school that i really want to go to because my father could not afford, the opportunity came that someone said why dont you joined the army . And that was something new, so i asked my father if i could join. And he said okay. So i was representing him in the service, and he signed me up to go into the army. So that was it. There were others, but i went into the army for one reason, and i guess i ask accomplice that because, after i came out, i did what i wanted to do. Think you very much. Did you have a comment about how your family reacted to you going to the army . My mother did, but my father was not he did not think it was a good idea. They were all kinds of negative comments from various people about what was happening with women in the service and so forth, it was because of ignorance, they did not know. So, my mother had she went along with it for the most part. My father who objected, he wondered how i could bear because i was has little girl. I was the only child, so that was very difficult for him to sign up. Did you have an experience . How did your parents react to you . Theyre very supportive, my father said it was a amanda. As to their women there to, but it was not a struggle, no. Very good. Any other questions . I have one, young lady. Can you hear me . We need to mike, because we are recording. Ladies, i want to thank you, but can you take a minute, having been involved in the congressional gold medal process, can you please tell the audience what theyre trying to do for you to contact your senators and congressmen, give them the bill numbers to support your efforts for your congressional gold medal. inaudible i just need to information out there. Hello, im edna coming, to champion for the six simple a congressional. The number is bill number 633, thats where the monument is located, and so he sponsored the bill on the senate side. On the outside, the bill numbers hr 3138, introduced by the representative from wisconsin. As of today, we have 15 cosponsors on the bills, and 68 on the house side. We need to third from the senate and house, which equates to 67 on the senate side, 290 on the outside, so we have a ways to go. I appreciate your port and the bill. I am the other producer of the film, so we just want to thank you all for the service. Please come out and support this gold medal, but on behalf of these amazing ladies, carbon superstars, on behalf of all of them, we are going to present major lot with a poster signed by all these women sitting there, and it is a documentary that was done by james face, and it is simply called the six triple eight, make sure you get that. Dont let me have to use my army voice, okay . Thank you maam. applause im honored to be here in your presence, and it is because of women and youre discipline and work ethic to get the job done, you dont hear anything done, so because of that i have the same attitude when i came in, just to get the job done. Thank you very much for your service, and thank you for four paving the way for not just me, and not just women, but foreman also, thank you so very much. Army heritage days is an annual event held in may at the u. S. Army heritage and Education Center in carlisle, pennsylvania. Hundreds of living history hobbyists talk to the public about the military, from the American Revolution to the war on terror. The theme this year was the dday 75th anniversary. Next, we visit an American History camp to learn about the experiences oth