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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 4, 1973)
Portland/O b server Thursday January 4, 1973 Prefontaine pians race Black apprentices remain scarce Among 24 lusliiass leaders participating at the NHL Conference were Berkely C. Burrell N B L President, Benjamin Scott, executive director, United Mortgage Bankers of America; Eldon Sherman Brlecoe, executive director. National Newspaper Publishers Association; Waymon S. Wright, president, National Association of M arket Developers; H e rle rt Long, liaison officer. National Association ut Black Manufacturers; and Lawrence N . McClenney, executive director. National Association of M inority C .P .A . F in n s . Not shown la Kenneth I . Brown, representative of the National Association of M inority Consultants and I!rbanologlsts. NBL plans reorganization The second strategy session on restructuring and reorgan izing tlie National Business League (NB L) held recently at the U.S. Department of Commerce featured John L . Jenkins, D irecto r of the office of Minority Business E nter prise (o M B E ). The strategy session - con vened by NBL President Berkeley G. B u rrell, and con ducted by H . Naylor Fitzhugh, Vice President of tie Pepsi Cola Company - reported on an expansion of task force groups concerned with the problems and opportunities of restructuring the NBL and tie membership on those very special units. T ie task forces resulted from special ses sions leld during tie last NBI. Annual Convention leld In Dallas. Jenkins urged tie group of 24 Black Business Leaders to accept tie challenge of tie problems and opportunités of Black lusltess en trepreteur- shlp In tie Seventies. T ie tewly restructured N B L, Jenkins stressed, must have the manpower, know how and facilities to he of greatest possible service to the small husliessman In tie minority sector. He said that the key to tie whole oferatlon " Is and w ill continue to 1» effective communications." The 72-year-old NBL, founded by Booker T . Wash ington, Is currently In the planning phase of developing Into a minority multitrade and professional association. Toward thia end, the OMBE d irecto r said that by restruc turing itself Into a m ulti-trade service organization, the NBL would he In an Ideal position to fu lfill tie mainstream mis sion. "B u t to do th is ," lie added, "g re ater emphasis must be focused on communi cations among the member- ship. Its constituency, govern ment officials, leaders of private Industry, and the gen eral p ib llc ." Black sergeant retires The firs t black sergeant m ajo r In tlie M arine Corps retired this F all, bringing to a close one of tlie most dis tinguished aixl unbjue careers any black has served In tie Am erican m ilita ry . He is Edgar R. Huff who led the firs t black M arines into China at tlie close of W orld W ar I I. Nearly 25 years la te r, le was decorated for saving a whin? M arine half his age during the l e t Of fensive In South Vietnam. At retirem ent, he was tie firs t black to serve 30 years In tlie Corps and laid leen sergeant m ajor longer than any other of his rank In tie UJS. Armed Forces. Sgt. M a). Huff came from modest circumstances to achieve high m ilita ry distinc tion and accomplishments In three w ars. He was working the night shift In a steel plant In hts native Gadsden, Alabama, w len America entered World W ar I I, His father, no» deceased, was a veteran of World W ar I and hoped his son would enter tlie M arin es. Young Huff agreed. " I read one day In the paper that If a Negro was qualified he could 1» accepted,” Huff recalls, " I always heard tlie M arine Corps was tie lest and toughest. I wanted to he a part of It. I still feel that It’ s the best Armed Force.” So on June 26, 1942, he tegan his remarkable career as one of the first So blacks ever chosen for Die M a riie s , The Corps, now fully Integra ted, has changed markedly from those segregate«! days. But despite tlie limitations of segregated status, Huff went from private to first sergeant In Just 23 months while serv ing entirely within the U 3 . Then tie was made the se r geant-In-charge of all train ing of black recruits at Mont- ford Point. North Carolina, EDGAR R. HUFF near his present home. In the Pacific, Huff and other blacks of the 5th M arine Depot Company moved supplies to fighting units that were a ll- white. In 1946, 1« led a black unit Into Tslen Tain, the first ever on Chinese soil. Hardly any black has passed through the Corps since then who has not lieard of Sgt. M a j, Huff or leen Impressed by Ids massive slx-fo o t-slx- lnch frame, sijuared away manner, and sense of good humor and fa ir play. In Korea he got his chance to fight, serving as a weapons company "gunny" sergeant with tie 1st M arine Division, He made sergeant m ajor - his present rank - on Decem ber .31, 1955. He had gone as far as an enlisted man could and many were recotmnend- FOR B R A N D S you kn o i V A R IE T IE S y o u lilt S IZE S vo u w a n t mg that le become a com missioned o fficer. "Idecllned It because the pay for ser geant majors was higher than what I would have received as a lew ly commissioned sec ond lieutenant,” he says. "B u t, I feel that had I ac cepted the appointment that by thia time I would te a field grade o ffic e r." Huff returned to combat as the sergeant m ajor of the 1st M ilita ry Police Battalion In Vietnam . Wien the enemy at tacked Danang In tie early morning hours of January 30, 1968, Huff ran through an open field of withering enemy fire to reach a young wounded white M arin e. Round after round kicked up d irt around the M arin e. So Huff threw himself over tie man and took rounds In his elbow and shoulder, but saving the M a rine's life. Though wounded. Huff pulled the man onto a stretcher and dragged him to safety. L ater the M arine wrote: "Sergeant M ajo r, I thank you for my life ." Says Huff, "H e was one of my men, hlack or white, I would have done the same even If I got shot to hell In tlie process,” F o r that action, Huff was awarded tlie H ron /eS tarM ed - al with for valor. When his wounds healed le became the Sergeant M a jo r of the 3rd M arine Amphibious Force; the largest combat force ever u n d erM arliec o m mand, It a lt was one of three times In his career that Huff had served as sergeant m aior to General Robert E . Cushman, now commandant of the Corps, "v” Enrollment In Oregon’a state registered Job training programs has cracked tie 4,000 b a rrie r, die State Ap prenticeship and Training Council was told at a meeting at Portland Community C ol lege on F riday. According to Norman O. Nllsen, die State I,abor Com missioner and Council C h air man, the Apprenticeship arid Training Division of the O re gon Bureau of Labor reported that as of October 31, tle re were 4,046 persons re gistered In apprenticeship and Industrial and service training programs, a tew re cord num ler. “ Actually, Nllsen said, " I have leen Informed that tle re are about 60 or so more ap plications to be processed which means we’ve actually gone over 4,100. "T h is Is remarkable In dial we have almost doubled our registration in tie 5-1/2 years tie present Apprentice ship and Training Law has teen In effect. P a n of the credit must go to the pro visions of the law, which has allowed new programs and expansion of existing pro grams, but part also must go to the dedicated members of our staff who have done d ie lr utmost to provide ser vice to the people of Oregon. "1 am extremely pleased that we have leen able to give assistance to our re turned servicemen. Almost one third of diose registered are receiving benefit pay ments under provision of the 01 P ill.” The Council was told diat Page 3 1,246 trainees and appren tices were under die auspices of die Veterans Administra tion. The Council also was told dial die num ler of m inority group persons participating has risen to a new high of 173. W ien the present law, which facilitates entry of m inority group members Into die various trades, skills and crafts, was adopted in tie Spring of 1967, there were 19 minority group persons re gistered. Also when die law was adopte«], tie total registra tion was slightly more than 2,000, making the growth figure almost 100 per cent. In the firs t year of operation under the rew law, tie re gistration figures remained static, lu t then they went up almost 1,500 in 1969 and to 3,295 In 1970. T ie Council also was told that tle re have leen impor tant strides made to fac ili tate apprenticeship and train ing opportunities fo r inmates in tie state prisons. "W e've had and we now have inmates on tie work release program and on parole and even still In prison who have been ap prentices," said W illiam R. Shuck, Director of Appren ticeship and Training. "Now we're going to try to get programs going ir the In s titu tio n s themselves. They have excellent training facilities for a lot of trades." Shuck also said an advisory committee has leen set up to develop a relationship between the institutions and industry. Olympian Steve Prefontaine w ill attempt an unprecedented fourth straight victory In tie tw o-m ile run at the 13th re newal of the Oregon Indoor Invitational Track Field M eet Jan. 27 In Portland’ s M em orial Coliseum. Prefontaine, fourth In the Olympic 5,000 rneter run last summer, ran to victory in tie Oregon Indoor tw o-m ile the last three years in times of 8:39.2, 8:31/> and 8 :2 6 /). T ie la tte r time, identical to his winning time posted In a la ter meet at Los Angeles, stands as tie collegiate In door record. The popular " P r e ” also w ill te trying for his third consecutive title as the meet's "outstanding p erfo rm er." He is the only two-time winner and Is one of five tw o-m ilers to win the award. The University of Oregon senior has an outdoor le s t of 3:57.5 In tie m ile . Ticket applications for tie meet w ill he mailed next week. Tickets w ill go on sale in mid-January at the Univers ity of Oregon arid Oregon State University athletic depart ments, M em orial Coliseum and at various other locations in the Portland area. A little money in the ban» always helps. Come rain or come shine HEW asks opinions on unemployed fathers Because of the widespread Interest In the Issue, HEW asked for public comment on two alternative regulations regarding the d e f i n i t i o n employed fatliers In the aid to fam ilies with dependent child ren (AFDC) program. Both alternatives would provide an hours-ofwork test fo r unemployment (less than 100 hours a month). Under one regulation. States would continue to have the option of adding other condi tions, such as the exclusion of fatliers whose unemploy ment results from participa tion In a labor dispute o r who are unemployed by reason of conduct o r circumstances which disqualify them for un employment compensation un d er tie State's unemployment compensation law. The alternative would make the hours-of-work test the exclusive definition of unem ployment, and would bar the States from adding other con ditions. The regulations, proposed by HEW’ s Social and Rehabil itation Service, apply to the optional AFD C -U F program (aid to fam ilies with de pendent child ren-unemployed fathers). Twenty-three States a re c u r r e n t l y operating A F D C -U F programs. Although States have heen determining whether o r not to assist strikers, existing HEW regulations have not heen specific on this lsue. Several months ago, the Su preme Court requested the views of tie United States In a case challenging aMaryland rule which excludes families of strikers and others dis qualified for unemployment compensation from the AFDC- U F program. HEW had e a rlie r filed a b rief In the d istrict court supporting M aryland’s posi tion that the exclusion dkl not violate HEW’s regulation de fining "unemployed father" In terms of hours worked and nothing more. Thecourt, how ever, had construed tie reg ulation as an exclusive defi nition barring all collateral conditions, and thus Invalida ted the Maryland rule. The State appealed to the Supreme Court. A brief was submitted to tie Supreme Court In August 1972, Indicating that a regulation would te Issued to make the policy explicit. On October 16, 1972, the supreme Court up held tie lower Courtdeclsion, which had the effect of leaving the Issue for HEW clarifica tion. Only two of the States (Maryland and Oregon) that have AFDC -UF programs ex clude fam ilies of fathers who are on strike o r are disquali fied for unemployment com pensation. The proposed alternative regulations were juhllshed in the FEDERAL REGISTER. C o n s i d e r a t i o n w ill he given to any comments, sug gestions. or objections which are submitted within 30 days to the Administrator, SRS, HEW', W ashington,D.C.20201. Comments received w ill be available for public inspec tion In Room 5121 HEW'South, 301 C Street, S.W., Monday through Friday, 8:30 a j n . to 5:00 p jn . You never know. O ne day. max he you're facet! w ith an emergency. A big medical h ill. 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