European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 01, 1968, Darmstadt, Hesse Mily mag him by the associated press negro Soldier in Vietnam Tsifis no Man s War and certainly. A coloured Man s. When people can t e together Back Home i can t see i sever Here negro Soldier Speaks i m sick of it. They say we re fight free the people of South Vietnam. 5 Newark was t free. Was Watts is Detroit i mean which is More important Homo or Here and another i m an american citizen first. Its Only country the Only life i know can t turn my Back on it even though know it s been wrong Many times particularly about coloured people. I feel have a sense of responsibility and i la stick with my for two months Paul Hathaway Astaff writer for the Washington evening Star talked to negro soldiers in Viet Iam and to negro veterans who had re ironed Home. The quotations above and uie observations that follow came Fromm five articles published by the Star. For most negro soldiers in Vietnam it is not a Case of my country right or wrong but my country. Right an wrong " Hathaway a negro wrote in Fie last of the they see America As a land of cruel paradoxes conflicting commitments an shifting priorities. They see the War As theirs and not yet quite theirs and democracy As something that is in their presence yet not within their one breath a negro Soldier can accuse his country of using him for can non fodder and yet defend its right to be in Vietnam. Another Black Soldier called this a racist White Man s War against nonwhite people and yet called for the virtual extermination of the Viet namese people As a useless drag on he to Many negro soldiers who see their lives threatened by War the vietnamese i Are not so much people As obstructions that must be overcome Hathaway re ported. They consider them people who refuse to help themselves who should i be Able to lift themselves by their own Bootstraps without american help. These soldiers Don t appear to rec Cognize the similarity Between this Atti tude and the attitudes they most deeply present at Home Hathaway said. A squat Gold toothed negro soldiers in Hue stared across the Street at a group of South vietnamese soldiers loot ing abandoned and damaged stores. Look at them said the Soldier. Mey re All the same soldiers or civil ians they steal from each other. They eat they lie. Most of those peo plent Worth saving minutes wider the same Soldier had expressed l Fig belief Tillat Chuck White officers i Cec negroes in untenable Dame positions so they would be killed ant there would be one less Nigger about Back stories circulate among in which the enemy As a Friend or new Hea he books it these Sev and they killed a11 six Whites negro As saying. M Athaway added Irenr la vietnamese leaflet which and the f ? in Dpi integration in the foxhole Why not you cover his hide and he covers War is against the White Man one negro Soldier admitted that inthe midst of shooting he is moved by that Appeal. A think to myself Man you re right " in can Tho in the Mekong Delta Hathaway overheard a negro Soldier telling a negro Friend the other night we were on patrol All Brothers he said. The Whites were on guard. We got through the nigh without any trouble. But afterwards i got to thinking what if this was a ambush we d be wiped out and t h e Whites would be ," said the other the Guys on guard duty could have been hit and you would have been the Safe ones. You Ever think of it that Way the first negro shrugged and did t reply. A Marine private in Dong Hassid lie thought the negro death rate was As High As 60 per think we re being killed off he said. I think we re being used. That defense department figures show the percentage of negroes killed in Viet Nam is slightly higher than for Whites a statistic the Pentagon attributes to the higher percentage of negroes i elite Volunteer combat units Aid the High percentage of noncommissioned officers among negro soldiers. There were 56,000 negroes i n the armed forces in Vietnam on Jan 1, 1968, 9.8 per cent of the total fighting deaths in combat during the six years prior to Jan 1 were 14.1 per Centof total . Deaths. It Llano negro soldiers attribute a their negative attitude toward the War to the situation at Home not on the War seemed like when the rioting broke out Back Home they Felt that they had something More important to do in the world the United states said Marine it c. Richard l. Gray jr., of Fairmont w. Va., in Phu b u. I seemed Tike they wanted to be Back there kicking somebody Marine pfc. Richard Strothers 21,, mass., told of playing cards with a group of negro friends at a club in Phu Bai when a White Soldier swag gered in drunk shouting i want Strothers took him on. Later he said he was fined one Day of office duly while the White Soldier Wai fined $50, a punishment Strothers though Twain t enough because the White Soldier had instigated the judge told me 1 should have f 1 it v-,4 turned the other Cheek Strothers s been the coloured people s prob Lem All these years. We be been fuming the other As a group of five negro soldiers sat around a mess table nodding agree ment army spec. 4 William f. Washington los Angeles criticized stories he had read about Harmony betwee negro and White on the Battlefield. All this talk about integration in the foxhole Washington said. Well Why not Why not you cover his hide and he covers yours. That s How you sur , you see that does t mean that he s going to treat you any different when he gets Back in the world. It s just that you need each other it was that Way in Nha Trang he said. The Whites talked with them worked with them. But when it came downtown to the bars and to the women they went separate when i get up in the morning in the Barracks and i Don t speak to Noone the White soldiers will say Washington what s the matter with you Idon t answer. But i want to say Man Don t you know Don t you know by now " to " 1, 1968 the stars and stripes o Marine Cpl. Hosea Dyson Chi Cago being Black is irrelevant in a War there Are Only those who gain glory in fighting for a cause they believe m an american citizen first. It s the Only country the Only life i can t turn my Back on it once a mortar barrage buried him Ina Blinker for 45 minutes. Another time a rocket exploded nearby killing his buddy and perforating Dyson s eardrums. Once when a White Soldier left my squad said Dyson he Shook my hand and told me he d been proud to be inthe same foxhole with me. It made me feel Good so Good. I would have Felt Good if a negro had said it but it struck me that someone White should do War there in t any color line. Charlie the enemy does t car whether you re Black or and after the War i think War changes men Dyson said. It will make a difference when beget Back. Out Here they see us As peo ple. Before you were just a Shadow or something. Now they know in Plesku. Spec. 4 Lawrence Harkless a former policeman in Watts spoke of the Large number of negroes who loin elite groups such As the airborne to which he join because of Pride and the $55 extra a month he said. It s Challenge. The brother likes the Chal Lenge. We re Tough and we want every body to kno v it. When i get Home i Don t want anyone to mess with me inthe Block. Because i m a Man. If they never noticed before they better soldiering even in Vietnam often of fers the negro More than civilian life said Marine s. Sgt. Leon Thomas 30,a Veteran of 11 years and a native of s not like world War ii when the army was segregated and the negro did t have any responsibility. Here we have a role to play. We can see Marine Cpl. William Bellamy 22,Tarboro, n.c., admitted there is a grow ing contingent of anti White Antiwar negroes in Vietnam which he keeps at Arm s talk continually about How they Are being treated unfairly he i can never get anything specific from them. As far As i am concerned i am treated like anyone it. Col. Howard Moon 38, joined of continued on Page Jujj Page u
