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.
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A big medical h ill. O r max hi-
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OW
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