NOLANVILLE â James Wilkins grew up dirt-poor during the Great Depression of the 1920s and â30s, quitting school after sixth grade to go to work and help his parents support his seven brothers and sisters.
When the Japanese launched a surprise attack on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii on Dec. 7, 1941, the young man from West Texas who was picking cotton and beans as he approached his 21st birthday knew immediately what he had to do.
He enlisted in the Army and was soon on his way to basic training at Fort Sill, Okla.
âMy country was in the war, and they needed me,â Wilkins said recently from his home in Nolanville, where he has lived since 1980. âBack then, you had to be 21 to enlist, so I had to get a telegram sent from Mom to allow me to go in.
Backroads: African-American soldier contributions highlighted in museum exhibit
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Bell County museum s new exhibit honors African Americans in WWII
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Black History Month | Jackie Robinson’s Court Martial on Fort Hood
Did you know that Jackie Robinson was Court Martialed on Camp Hood one week after the D-Day invasion? Author: Kris Radcliffe Updated: 6:05 PM CST February 22, 2021
FORT HOOD, Texas It s amazing how history and fate can turn on a dime! Did you even know that Jackie Robinson was Court Martialed on Camp Hood one week after the D-Day invasion? Had he not been held over for trial, he probably would have been sent overseas to join General Patton s Army. Had he been convicted, the Dodgers wouldn t have considered him to be the one to break baseball s color barrier.