Inspiration ...
The inspiration for this website came to me after viewing the movie, "Saving Private Ryan". |
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| Anyone who has seen this movie cannot easily forget the death scene of Medic Wade. |
Pfc. Raymond D. Butler
Also reffered to by his comrades "Mighty But"
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Mr. Richard Benter is doing a research project on a WWII African American combat medic group. He has kindly asked me to post the names of the men who served bravely with this group during WWII. If you have any information related to the following group of men, please email myself or Mr. Benter at: RichardBenter@aol.com
The above group of African American medics landed on Utah Beach/Normandy on D-Day + 4, as part of a 9 person all Black team of medics, which included 2 officers, and spent most of the rest of the European campaign attached to the 3rd Army while participating in many of its major actions. This team served with the 687th and the 530th Medical Detachments.
AFRICAN-AMERICANS in MEDICAL SERVICE
(submitted by Alain Batens)
African American Troops’ Strength during World War II
Distribution of total strength and personnel of technical services and combat arms on December 31, 1944
| Arm/Service |
TOTAL |
OFF |
EM |
| Quartermaster |
221,211 |
682 |
220,259 |
| Engineers |
126,836 |
401 |
136,435 |
| Transportation |
85,025 |
169 |
84,856 |
| Air Corps |
69,776 |
888 |
68,888 |
| Infantry |
54,189 |
1,123 |
53,066 |
| Ordnance |
29,169 |
151 |
29,009 |
| Medical |
19,929 |
342 |
19,587 |
| Signal |
15,051 |
491 |
5,006 |
| Field Artillery |
11,1136 |
228 |
10,908 |
| Chemical Warfare |
5,092 |
78 |
50,014 |
Additional notes:
The Medical Department employed its limited complement of African-American doctors and nurses in a few all-black Hospitals and in black wards of white Station Hospitals – while the majority of MD blacks went either into ambulance and sanitary companies, or served in the Medical Detachments of segregated combat and support units . Nevertheless, all-black hospital units were deployed overseas during WW2, in Liberia (30 nurses worked at the 25th Station Hospital Unit), the Southwest Pacific (15 nurses with the 268th Station Hospital), and the C.B.I. Theater (with the 383d + 335th Station Hospitals) . One major exception to this rule (segregation) was a group of 63 African-American nurses who after reaching the United Kingdom in July 1944, began working in September at the 168th Station Hospital (1700-bed hospital near Manchester) then caring for wounded German POWS .
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