No Race has a Monopoly on Courage

I've written previously on the maltreatment African American soldiers received, including the lynching of veterans before and during the Civil Rights era. But a walk around the National Mall today (especially the World War II, Korean War and Vietnam War Memorials) with tributes to American servicepersons of all races, creeds, religions, and genders, served as another reminder that no race has a monopoly on courage. 

President Harry S. Truman issued Executive Order 9981 on July 26, 1948. It abolished discrimination "on the basis of race, color, religion or national origin" in the United States Armed Forces. The executive order led to the end of segregation in the services during the Korean War... almost 85 years after the Gettysburg Address and Emancipation Proclamation.

Tadias Magazine

The Emperor's Own was recently reviewed by StrategyPage in cooperation with the New York Military Affairs Symposium. The review was featured at Tadias.

Tadias is a New York-based news and profiles magazine established in 2003 catering to the Ethiopian-American and diaspora communities.

We express sincere gratitude to these institutions. Please check out the review at the following links:

Tadias - Ethiopia in the Korean War: Book Review

StrategyPage - Book Review: Emperor's Own

COVID-19

As the world is racing to contain the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic, Public Health – Seattle & King County (Washington State, USA) published public health advisories in several languages, including Amharic.  Please check out the links below for more information.  Sincere gratitude to the authorities in Washington State for ensuring the information reached every community.

More information available at their website

Also, here is a direct link to the Amharic advisory

And below is a snippet of the two-page document.

 

The Emperor’s Own Book Trailer (Ethiopia’s Kagnew Battalion)

The Graybeards

Thank you to Arthur Sharp, editor of The Greybeards: Official Publication of the Korean War Veterans Association for not only including a blurb about the book in Vol. 33, No. 6 of their newsletter, but also for his tireless effort in getting recognition for Korean War veterans.

Book Review

The Emperor's Own received it's first independent book review from the Historical Miniatures Gaming Society...

After an overview of Ethiopia being ignored by the League of Nations and conquered by Italy in the 1930s, the Ethiopians responded to US President Harry Truman's call for allies to fight the North Korean invasion by sending the 1st Kagnew Battalion. Ultimately, Ethiopia rotated four Kagnew battalions into the Korean War.

The actions and activities of each battalion get covered in exquisite detail -- page after page of small-unit actions down at the patrol and platoon levels against North Korean and Chinese forces. Scenario ideas pop out in virtually every paragraph in the four main chapters.

If you never heard of this force, you'll be impressed with the detail, which seems taken mostly from official reports, but accentuated with interviews by the participants.

Contains 86 black and white photos, 8 maps, and 1 diagram through the main text. Center section contains four color uniform illustrations, three color vehicle profiles, and 21-photo (black and white and color) subsection with individual soldier photos and four color group photos of veterans' reunion in 2012.


Enjoyed this little known gem of a unit profile.

Now in Stores

The Emperor's Own is now available in stores...

#1 New Release in Ethiopian History

Since the October 30, 2019, release, Emperor's Own has remained the #1 New Release in Ethiopian History on Amazon for most of the past three weeks. Thank you everyone for your support. I hope you enjoyed reading about a part of history that was almost lost.

ROK Repays the Debt

Nov. 11, 2019 - A welfare center for Ethiopian veterans of the Korean War was opened in Addis Ababa with both Ethiopian and South Korean officials in attendance. The 712.8-square-meter, two-story facility was sponsored by the Lotte Group, a South Korean multinational conglomerate. The first such facility was established in Bangkok, Thailand, in 2014, and the second in Bogota, Colombia, in 2017.

Both Colombia and Thailand contributed ground troops to fight under the United Nation during the Korean War. In fact, the Colombians were attached to the US 31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. While the Ethiopians were attached to the US 32d Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. The news agency reported about 150 Ethiopian veterans are still alive. They are grateful for the support they receive from the Korean people.

YONHAP NEWS: S. Korea builds welfare center for Korean War veterans in Ethiopia

Veterans Day: Remembering the Lynching of George Dorsey and Friends

 

From left, May and George Dorsey, Roger and Dorothy Malcolm.

 
Veterans Day (called Armistice Day outside the US) is celebrated on November 11 to commemorate the end of World War I where hostilities ceased on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918. Ever since, we have taken that day to express gratitude to those who served in our armed forces.

A previous blog post on the history of African-Americans in the US Army made mention of George Dorsey, a sharecropper and WWII veteran who along with his wife and friends (Mae Murray Dorsey, Roger Malcom and Dorothy Malcom) was murdered on July 25, 1946, in the last documented lynching in the United States. Since there has been some developments in the case as of late, I felt it would be appropriate to remember this man.

The incident, often referred to as the Moore’s Ford Lynchings or the 1946 Georgia Lynching, happened in Walton County, Georgia. Much of the nation was outraged when details of the killings became known. Federal authorities interviewed thousands of people and assembled a grand jury to investigate the case, but no one was ever arrested despite claims by some that the perpetrators were identified.

Historian and author Anthony Pitch located the sealed grand jury testimony in the National Archives and started a lengthy legal battle to obtain the documents which are sealed as mandated by the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. Mr. Pitch died in 2019, but his attorney has continued the fight. The matter is now under review by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Thank you George Dorsey and others who served this nation honorably.

CBS News: Activists hope answers about 1946 lynchings will bring "healing"

NBC News: A mob lynching of 4 black sharecroppers in 1946 is focus of court battle over grand...

Kagnew Battalion Honors

In addition to dozens of Ethiopian decorations, members of Kagnew Battalion earned various honors from the governments of the United States, Republic of Korea, and Belgium, including: at least four US Legions of Merit, nine Silver Star Medals, 42 Bronze Star Medals for Valor, 41 Bronze Star Medals for Meritorious Service; seven ROK Medals including the Eulji Cordon and Hwarang Cordon as well as the Belgian Chevalier de l'Ordre de la Couronne avec palme, Belgian Decoration Militaire 2me classe avec palme, and La Croix de Guere 1940 avec palm. Some of these medals were awarded posthumously.