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

African-Americans and the US Military

We are enormously grateful to the folks at Helion & Company for bringing the story of Kagnew Battalion to light. Emperor's Own: The History of the Ethiopian Imperial Bodyguard Battalion in the Korean War was published under the Asia@War series and had to fit the format of that series. Consequently, some content which might provide context, including a brief chronology of the contributions of African-Americans to the US Army and their ill-treatment by the nation they served, was not included in the final version of the book. That material has been posted below…

To understand the environment the Ethiopian troops would soon be entering in Korea, one would  have to take into account US culture in the 1950’s and the history of African-Americans in the military. Blacks had fought for America since the very start. The first casualty of the Boston Massacre in 1770 was a black man named Crispus Attucks. In the following days of the Revolutionary War both freemen and slaves fought in the Continental Army. Some 5,000 blacks served as infantrymen, artillerymen, musicians or as unarmed pioneers tasked with road and bridge repairs.¹ George Washington’s closest companion and valet was a slave named William Lee.

In subsequent wars, they continued to serve a nation which often recognized the rights of enemy prisoners of war more than it did theirs. During the Civil War, Colored Troops were established. The Buffalo Soldiers were renowned in the American West. Although they were mostly relegated to support roles during WWI, they fought well when given the opportunity even while receiving poor leadership, unfair treatment and little to no recognition. Black units held the line under French command during the Great War.²

Ethiopia had served as a beacon for Pan-Africanists, including blacks in the US, since her victory at Adwa marked the first time people of color defeated white colonialists. When Fascist Italy invaded Ethiopia again in 1935, recruitment drives for volunteer fighters sprang up in many African-American communities including Harlem, New York. While the effort was noble, actual foreign legions never materialized due to the many impracticalities, not least of all were the neutrality laws.

When the US finally entered WWII, African-American tankers spearheaded the drive into Nazi Germany, while the Tuskegee Airmen earned one of the finest combat records in the air. Still blacks were forced out of uniform as soon as the shooting stopped. Author Karen DeYoung, in her biography of General Colin Powell, characterized the US Army’s relationship with African-Americans as a “pattern of peacetime prohibition lifted only for the manpower demand of war – of prejudice versus pragmatism.”³

In fact African-American veterans of WWII were not only denied the same freedoms which they secured for the rest of the world, some were even lynched. In 1946, Sgt. Isaac Woodard was on his way home after being honorably discharged from the Army when he was pulled off the bus by police and beaten so severely that he was blinded in both eyes.⁴ A veteran of the Pacific Campaign named George Dorsey along with his wife and two companions were tied to a tree and shot at point blank range by an estimated 60 rounds in three successive volleys.⁵ Gruesome atrocities against African-American veterans meant to “put them in their place” were committed in the South.

The US government began to address these incidents as well as the role of African-Americans in national defense under mounting pressure from civil rights leaders. In 1946, the Gillem Board, which was tasked with investigating the Army's policy with respect to African-Americans, submitted a recommendation which amounted to "equality of opportunity on the basis of segregation." The following year, the President's Committee on Civil Rights pushed further by recommending action "to end immediately all discrimination and segregation based on race, color, creed or national origin in... the Armed Services." On July 26, 1948, President Truman issued Executive Order 9981, declaring it “to be the policy of the President that there shall be equality of treatment and opportunity for all persons in the armed services without regard to race, color, religion, or national origin." While the Navy and Air Force began desegregation in earnest, the Army leadership intentionally dragged its feet. It wasn’t until 1950 that the US Army submitted an acceptable plan for integration.⁶

Events on the ground ultimately forced the Army to abandon its policy of gradual desegregation as the need for replacement troops in decimated frontline units trumped individual bigotry. In April 1951, Gen. Matthew Ridgway, who was morally opposed to segregation, requested that he be allowed to integrate all forces in his theater of operations.⁷

Soon UN units under Ridgway’s command were learning to work together. Members of the Indian Parachute Field Ambulance Unit parachuted in with the US 187th Regimental Combat Team and provided medical treatment for combat casualties. The Korean Augmentation To the United States Army (KATUSA) program saw the infusion of South Korean conscripts into US Army divisions with soldiers living and fighting side-by-side. The Turkish Brigade had irrigated the North Korean mountainside with its blood as it fought a bitter rearguard action during the retreat in the wake of the Chinese intervention. The Greeks who were veterans of mountain warfare had distinguished themselves during Operation Roundup. And the recently integrated US Army was learning that no race had a monopoly on courage. Jim Crow, however, would continue to be the law of the land for blacks in American for at least another decade.

There was one more incident worthy of note vis-à-vis race relations in America. In 1948, an Ethiopian man was invited to Constitution Hall in Philadelphia for the centennial meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. The man was asked by an usher to leave his premium seat in the box and to "take a seat elsewhere in the hall." He left instead. That man was Ras Imru – Emperor Haile Selassie’s cousin, venerated war hero, and Ambassador to the United States.⁸

References

1.            Bowers, William T., William M. Hammond, George L. MacGarrigle. Black Soldier White Army. Washington D.C.: Center of Military History, 1996, p. 4.

2.            Bowers, William T., William M. Hammond, George L. MacGarrigle. Black Soldier White Army. Washington D.C.: Center of Military History, 1996, p. 4, 7.

3.            DeYoung, Karen. Soldier: The life of Colin Powell. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2006, p. 39.

4.            Bowers, William T., William M. Hammond, George L. MacGarrigle. Black Soldier White Army. Washington D.C.: Center of Military History, 1996, p. 129.

5.            “Four Negroes Lynched by Georgia Mob.” The Palm Beach Post [Palm Beach, FL], 27 Jul. 1946. Web.

6.            Truman Library. Desegregation of the Armed Forces: Chronology. Truman Library. Web.

7.            DeYoung, Karen. Soldier: The life of Colin Powell. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2006, p. 42.

8.            Associated Press. “Profound Regret Offered Minister.” Stars and Stripes, 17 Sept. 1948, p. 4.

© Dagmawi Abebe 2019

Memorial Hall for Ethiopian Veterans

The people of South Korea erected a monument in Chuncheon, Republic of Korea, to honor the sacrifice paid by Ethiopian troops during the Korean War. They also established a memorial hall which highlights the history of the Ethiopian troops by displaying uniforms, weapons, artwork, and cultural artifacts. A Korean blog titled Holiday Journal has more information. Over the years, the ROK government has graciously invited many Ethiopian veterans to visit the site. So if you find yourself in Chuncheon-town be sure to stop by the monument and memorial hall.

Cover Art

Helion & Company has released the cover art for Emperor's Own: The History of the Ethiopian Imperial Bodyguard Battalion in the Korean War. The design was by Farr out Publications, Wokingham, Berkshire.

Please visit Helion & Company for additional titles featuring fascinating stories, rare photographs, and splendid artwork.