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^nrtlanb (Obstruer
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Surviving Hell
continued
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Reserve in 1942. W hen asked by an audience
m em ber at T hursday’s forum why he make
such a choice, knowing the turm oil of the time,
he says, “1 got news for you, there was a war
going on. Everybody [was] in the Army, Navy,
and M arines. And if I were drafted as black
man. I'd go to the quarter residences; heavy,
nasty, filthy, dirty w ork.”
Instead, Jefferson took up the opportunity
to become a pilot in the Tuskegee regim ent,
becom ing a second in com m and to the men in
his squad, and becom ing a self proclaim ed
ladies-m an in the process.
He fought for a country that had only re
cently allow ed white women to vote, and the
value of black life was system atically often
made dispensable; his skin rem ained a barrier
for him in service.
He recalled one time where he and his black
brigade were fraternizing with other white sol
diers at a safe haven for A m ericans in the
middle of the warzone. Jefferson says a low-
ranking white general w alked into the quarters
and stated “G entlem an this is my airfield. As
long as I ’m in com m and there will be no social
ization betw een white and colored officers.”
Though his daily heroism continued to be
overshadow ed by his color, Jefferson like so
m any other black soldiers in W orld W ar II
carried on.
It would be on his 19th m ission that the
horrors o f war would become much more real to
the gold bar L ieutenant Colonel.
Flying over skies of France and charged
with taking down a group of G erm an soldiers,
his fighter bom ber was hit by gunfire and
photo by D onovan M. S mith /T he P ortland O bserver
Former Tuskegee airman Alexander Jefferson (left) and longtime Portland educator Bob Gerber shake hands while remi
niscing on their World War II service during a veterans forum at Portland Community College in north Portland. Gerber said
his own life was saved by Jefferson and three other members of the all-black Tuskegee regiment after his plane was
attacked by German troops. Gerber, 93, shed tears recounting the experience, saying the heroism by black soldiers
forever transformed his views on race.
PCRI offers our sincere thanks to all veterans.
Your courage and sacrifice inspires us to
continue working for a better community for all.
For over 20 years,
PCRI’s affordable housing and award-winning
resident services have opened doors and changed
lives for Portland veterans and their families.
began nose diving tow ard the
ground. He was forced to eject
him self from a plane that would
have almost certainly killed him in
a fiery fashion as it hit the ground.
He says it was his first time
ever being underneath the wind
o f parachute, som ething his train
ers had ever prepared him for.
Alm ost fittingly for someone who
was suspended at 15,000 feet in
the sky am ongst warplanes for
the first time, Jefferson found him
self landing inside the branches
o f a tree.
He was im m ediately detained
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by Nazi officers and m ade a pris
oner of war. For m onths he and
other captives lived in hellish
conditions and forced to eat bread
he says was prim arily filled with
sawdust and soup that included
worms.
Som etim e later he and others
would be freed by American troops
and sent back hom e. Upon reach
ing New York City shores he re
calls reaching an unlikely welcome
with being told “whites to the left,
niggers to the rig h t.”
Despite his country’s contin
ued underm ining o f his hum anity,
Jefferson becam e a high school
te a c h e r and w o rk ed to b u ild
Am erica up by being an active
citizen. He encouraged the young
people at the PCC event, which
was co-sponsored by the Port
land chapter o f the N ational A s
sociation for Black Veterans, to
“jo in the system .”
“I don ’ t know, we ’ ve gotta over
come the knuckleheads,” he says.
“Tell kids, you’ve gotta learn E n
glish, math, science and jo in the
system . A m erica needs young
people with brains.”
He recalled Jackie Robinson,
the first black m ajor leaguer who
broke the color barrier in basebal 1.
“He could not play baseball in
the Am erican League or the N a
tional League. H e’s was out o f the
system. But once he got inside o f
the system , he could break hell
out o f it. We live in a system .”