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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 9, 1978)
f é / <4 ■ 4 Portland Observer Thursday. N ovem ber9. 1978 'faMdtf /f&M lloVtkuetí, ■>, . V ■! •V M . by Kathryn H. Bogle TO ALL - fe r ir W HOM IT MAY tw ^*XZ/V ùz< k /$ « /« < $ _ V 'W W / ^ > //r ,A Z CONCERN. Zs*rS <6 / / f a----- //< f fZS » 'M .rX Y *« *- m - m m . I*. ^ s » y —» *” ' Z " 7/ / XYVZx «•—.« » . «... • « -* , IH.MI II vK«.»li <•--. M. - - — -, ». r.. w ■*». « Z f to e /J f * /? f / i »»a -, With the painful knowledge that 'Me beautiful ideals o f Democracy exist side by side w ith the ugly realities of segregation and inequality. Black Americans have, nevertheless, borne arms to defend this country since Crispus Attucks gave his life for his country in Boston dunng the .American Revolution. The Civil W ar had iu “ Colored" Infantry of the L nited States Army. Here in Portland lives the grand daughter of George Lee She is Mrs Gustavui Sheckles W inslow-Bonner Her grandfather had been a volun teer joining "Com pany G o f the 108th Regiment o f the ‘Colored* In fan try" from Kentucky some 114 years ago. Mrs. Bonner and her family treasure the original army discharge papers releasing George Lee from further army service on "this 21 day o f March. 1866.” dr8rt8d Worid W »r » presented Perewetl Concert at the Portland Armory on the day of their induction - Robert Kelly. Qcea McN.tl, Herbert World W ar I veteran Ralph Sheckles, 1917. (Winslow Family Collection) Uva War Documents. (Winslow Family Collection i i t s Good to ¿(now... px.gg»£-v M rs. Bonner also holds the original document issued by the U.S. Department of the interior which grants to Jennie Lee. Mrs. Bonner’s grandmother, the pension earned by Corporal George Lee for his army service. The pension came to her as the widow of her soldier husband. The amount? $12.00 per month. . . A faded picture o f James A rthur, a veteran o f the Spanish American war, appears in the family album of Gladys Baker Dukes . . . In the uniform o f W orld W ar I. Ralph Sheckles stands straight and tall. An uncle to Mrs. Bonner. Mrs. Sheckles also came from Kentucky where M rs. B onner’ s fam ily had their roots . . . . . . W'orld War I I drew many Black Portlanders in the lottery of the draft, but there also were some who enlisted and could choose their branch of the service. quickly to Fort Lewis. From there to “ Boot" training at the U.S. Naval Center in San Diego was also a fast trip. Hilliard saw service from aboard the “ Windham Bay,” an escort A ir craft Carrier built in Vancouver, Washington Despite the fact that President Harry Truman had at this time issued the historic order in tegrating the armed services, the or ders had not yet reached ’ implemen tation" in these seas of the South Pacific where the “ Windham Bay” sailed. According to H illiard, he, and only others of dark skin, were placed together and were designated as longshore crews. Bill loaded and unloaded supplies all through his hitch in the Navy as the vessels rode at anchor looking in to the jungles o f Guam and Saipan. He served "exactly one year and eighteen d ay s," H illia rd recalls without hesitation. He was given his discharge as Seaman ,/c , came home and was ready for enrollment at Pacific University. Tw o other Portlanders. Jack Holsclaw and Charles Duke, were Bagley and Hubert Lewis Standing above a James Ar thur. veteran of the Spanish American War. (Photo Duke Family Album, pilots and members o f this proud group. They flew P-40 Warhawks with open cockpits. Often as they flew low, strafing the enemy, the air scoops under the planes’ noses picked up the rocks and grass kicked up by their own machine gun fire. Never seriously injured in the great number o f assaults he made during the war years, now in the many years o f piloting afterwards. Deu. in 1962, put away ten air medals and his Distinguished Flying Cross. He had been in the service “ twenty years, two months and seven days. ” "B lack Americans went into W'orld War 11 in a state o f national anger phis their own anger with the place of Black men in American Society,” said M ajo r Deiz. " W e used this anger positively and demonstrated that skill and courage and pride in a job well done do not belong to any man just because of his skin color." John Leftndge. drafted in Port land, now 35 years ago almost to the day. (it was 11/21/43). went to Fort Lewis but was transferred quickly to « John Leftndge Indian Town Gap, a military reser vation in Pennsylvania. John became an expen marksman, was given duties as a mail clerk and. as a Tec/5, was assigned to the 550th Port Battalion. This was an all-Black unit with white officers during the time they were stationed overseas in Wales. The unit also went to France, arriving a few weeks after D-Day as (Please turn to Page 5 Column I) Fred Meyer S h o t» < » « rtri ( •-» » ••••« 9 C o m b «I Y nbz I ltM fT n Super Shopping Centers Help Lower Your Cost of Living . . . 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Bill, at graduation, had been the recipient o f a Criterion Club scholar ship which gave him his choice of colleges and a year’s tuition. (Mem bers of this local dub were Mr. and Mrs. Willis Williams, M r. and Mrs John M in o r and M r. and Mrs. Stephen W right., W ith in th irty days a fter his graduation Hilliard received a letter from Uncle Sam and was shuttled Walnut Park „ E. Killingsworth at Union Interstate • Peninsula N Lombard at Interstate Lombard Plenty of Free and Easy Parking Open 9 am to 10 pm daily, including Sunday. F