Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
Man: A THOUSAND MILES AWAY,
WE WERE FIGHTING FOR OTHER PEOPLE'S RIGHTS.
Narrator: IN THE SECOND WORLD WAR,
OVER A MILLION AFRICAN AMERICANS FOUGHT FOR FREEDOM AND DEMOCRACY
IN AN ARMY THAT WAS STRICTLY SEGREGATED BY RACE:
SEPARATE DINING HALLS, SEPARATE UNITS...
EVEN SEPARATE BLOOD BANKS.
Man: I WAS FAST BECOMING AN ANGRY YOUNG BLACK SOLDIER.
Narrator: AFTER THE WAR, ABOUT 150,000 OF THESE GIs
STOOD AMONG THE RUINS OF NAZI GERMANY
AS PART OF THE AMERICAN OCCUPYING FORCES.
BUT IN DEFEATED GERMANY,
THEY WOULD DISCOVER A NEW WAY OF LIFE.
[JAZZ PLAYING]
Man: THE FIRST THING I SAW
WAS THIS BEAUTIFUL LADY SITTING OVER THERE,
AND I COULDN'T TAKE MY EYES OFF HER.
Woman: AND I SAW HAROLD,
AND I THOUGHT, "AW, HE'S KIND OF CUTE.
HE LOOKS LIKE SIDNEY POITIER."
Narrator: PERSONAL EXPERIENCE THAT WOULD CHANGE HISTORY.
Man: IT DID SHOW ME,
AND I BELIEVE ALL AFRICAN AMERICAN SOLDIERS
WHO WERE IN GERMANY,
THAT PEOPLE OF BOTH RACES COULD LIVE TOGETHER.
[YELLING AND DOGS BARKING]
Narrator: AFTER LIBERATING GERMANY,
THEY WERE NOW FIGHTING FOR THEIR OWN FREEDOM.
Man: EVERY BLACK PERSON OF MY GENERATION
WAS INVOLVED IN CIVIL RIGHTS.
Martin Luther King, Jr.: I HAVE A DREAM TODAY!
[CHEERING]
Colin Powell: WHEN I FIRST WENT TO GERMANY
IN JANUARY OF 1959,
I HAD JUST FINISHED MY TRAINING IN COLUMBUS, GEORGIA,
AT FORT BENNING.
AND IN COLUMBUS, GEORGIA, IT WAS STILL SEGREGATED,
THERE WAS DISCRIMINATION, THERE WAS RACISM.
FOR ME AS A YOUNG LIEUTENANT,
WHO COULDN'T GO OFF THE POST IN COLUMBUS, GEORGIA,
CAN GO OFF THE POST ANYWHERE IN GERMANY...
IT WAS A BREATH OF FREEDOM.
Narrator: JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI.
ON JUNE 12, 1963,
MEDGAR EVERS,
THE MOST IMPORTANT CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST IN MISSISSIPPI,
IS RETURNING HOME FROM A MEETING
TO HIS WIFE AND THREE YOUNG CHILDREN.
[GUNSHOT]
HE'S AMBUSHED IN HIS OWN DRIVEWAY
AND MURDERED.
Lonnie Bunch: HERE IS, IN SOME WAYS,
THE MOST VISIBLE AFRICAN AMERICAN LEADER
IN MISSISSIPPI,
GUNNED DOWN BY A WHITE SUPREMACIST
WHO WAS ALSO A WORLD WAR II VETERAN
LIKE MEDGAR EVERS.
PEOPLE CAME HOME FROM WORLD WAR II
WITH CONFLICTING VISIONS OF WHAT AMERICA SHOULD BE.
Narrator: AS A DECORATED SOLDIER OF WORLD WAR II,
MEDGAR EVERS IS BURIED WITH MILITARY HONORS
AT THE NATIONAL CEMETERY IN ARLINGTON.
FOR HIS BROTHER, CHARLES EVERS,
THE LOSS IS ALMOST UNBEARABLE.
AS BOYS, THEY HAD ALWAYS BEEN CLOSE.
Narrator: 50 YEARS AFTER THE *** OF MEDGAR EVERS,
CONGRESSMAN JOHN LEWIS PAID TRIBUTE
TO THE VICTIMS OF THE COMMON STRUGGLE.
Man: THE MEMORIAL REMEMBERS
40 PERSONS WHO DIED DURING THE STRUGGLE.
PEOPLE LIKE MEDGAR EVERS,
WHO DIED SO THAT ALL OF US COULD ENJOY THE RIGHT TO VOTE.
John Lewis: TO GO AND SERVE, SERVE IN EUROPE,
THEN COME BACK AND DIE IN YOUR YARD...
IT'S AMAZING TO ME
THAT YOU LIVE, YOU SURVIVE THE WAR,
THEN YOU COME HOME, AND YOU'RE SHOT AND KILLED.
[WOMAN SINGING]
Narrator: AS A YOUNG CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST,
JOHN LEWIS VERY OFTEN RISKED HIS LIFE FOR THE STRUGGLE--
AT TIMES, SIDE BY SIDE WITH VETERANS.
Lewis: THESE BLACK VETERANS
IDENTIFIED WITH THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT
AND BECAME A PART OF IT.
THEY FELT THAT THEY HAD GONE ABROAD
FIGHTING FOR DEMOCRACY AND EQUALITY.
AND NOW WE HAVE TO COME BACK HOME AND FIGHT AGAIN.
AND THEY DID FIGHT.
Man: I SAW WHAT HATE CAN DO.
THE DAMAGE IS DONE TO ALL OF US, WHITE AND BLACK,
WHEN YOU LIVE IN A SOCIETY WHERE YOU HAVE EXCLUSION.
Narrator: LEON BASS FROM PHILADELPHIA
HAS LIVED THE LONG ROAD,
FROM THE BATTLEFIELDS OF WORLD WAR II
TO THE ELECTION OF THE FIRST AFRICAN AMERICAN PRESIDENT
OF THE UNITED STATES.
Leon Bass: IN 1943, I DECIDED TO JOIN THE ARMY.
WE WERE SENT DOWN INTO THE DEEP SOUTH
FOR OUR BASIC TRAINING.
Narrator: THE DEEP SOUTH.
AT THE TIME LEON BASS JOINED THE ARMY,
OVER 70% OF AFRICAN AMERICANS
STILL LIVED IN THE SOUTHERN STATES.
RACIAL SEGREGATION,
THE SO-CALLED JIM CROW LAWS,
AFFECT EVERY ASPECT OF LIFE.
Bass: I GOT ABOARD THE BUS, I LOOK UP, I READ THE SIGN.
THE SIGN SAYS THAT COLORED MUST BE SEATED
AT THE BACK OF THE BUS.
I GO BACK THERE, BUT ALL THE SEATS WERE TAKEN,
AND SO ON THAT DAY I STOOD UP FOR MORE THAN A HUNDRED MILES,
AND I LOOKED AT THE EMPTY SEATS IN THE FRONT OF THE BUS
THAT I WAS NOT PERMITTED TO OCCUPY.
THAT'S A DAMNABLE EXPERIENCE TO HAVE WHEN YOU'RE JUST 18
AND YOU VOLUNTEERED TO SERVE YOUR COUNTRY.
Narrator: ON ARRIVAL,
JOSEPH HAIRSTON ALSO BECAME FAMILIAR
WITH THE JIM CROW LAWS OF THE SOUTH.
FOR JOSEPH HAIRSTON,
ARRIVING IN THE SOUTH FROM PENNSYLVANIA
WAS A RUDE AWAKENING.
Joseph Hairston: STANDING THERE BY THE TRAIN STATION
WAS A COUPLE OF WHITE CRACKERS.
AND ONE SAID TO THE OTHER AS WE GOT OFF THE TRAIN--
THERE WERE ABOUT EIGHT OR NINE OF US--
"THAT LOOKS LIKE A BUNCH OF *** NORTHERN ***.
WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO TEACH THEM HOW TO ACT DOWN HERE."
THAT WAS MY INTRODUCTION TO THE SOUTH.
AND I'VE LEARNED THE HARD WAY.
YOU HAD TO BE SUBSERVIENT.
FOR EXAMPLE, IF YOU WALKED DOWN THE STREET,
YOU SHOULD NOT LOOK AT A WHITE WOMAN.
IF YOU PASS HER, YOU SHOULD STEP OFF THE CURB.
BUT NEVER LOOK DIRECTLY AT A WHITE WOMAN.
IF A WHITE PERSON SPOKE TO YOU, THEY REFERRED TO YOU AS "BOY,"
YOUR ANSWERS HAD TO BE PROPERLY SUBSERVIENT,
I MEAN, "YES, SIR."
THEN I BECAME AWARE OF THE KU KLUX ***
AND THE FACT THAT YOU CAN BECOME STRANGE FRUIT
HANGING FROM A TREE.
Narrator: 5,000 MILES AWAY IN GERMANY,
THE NAZIS HAD MEANWHILE ELEVATED RACIAL HATRED
TO A STATE IDEOLOGY.
THE ARYANS REGARDED THEMSELVES AS THE MASTER RACE.
JEWS AND OTHER MINORITIES WERE CONSIDERED SUB-HUMAN.
IN 1939, IN THE FANATICAL DELUSION
OF CREATING A WORLD EMPIRE FOR A SUPERIOR RACE,
ADOLF HITLER LAUNCHED THE SECOND WORLD WAR.
BY THE TIME THE U.S. ENTERED THE WAR TWO YEARS LATER,
NEARLY ALL OF CONTINENTAL EUROPE WAS IN HITLER'S GRASP.
IN THE EAST, THE ARMED FORCES OF NAZI GERMANY
PUSHED DEEP INTO THE SOVIET UNION.
IN THE WEST, THEY OCCUPIED FRANCE.
HITLER AT THE EIFFEL TOWER,
AT THE PINNACLE OF HIS POWER.
THIS IS THE ENEMY
AFRICAN AMERICAN SOLDIERS WOULD CONFRONT.
THE MILITARY OPENED UP POSSIBILITIES FOR BLACKS
THAT THEY NEVER HAD IN CIVILIAN LIFE.
DURING WORLD WAR II,
THE ARMY WAS THE BIGGEST EMPLOYER FOR BLACKS.
BUT RACISM AND RACIAL SEGREGATION
HELD SWAY IN THE ARMY, TOO.
Man: THERE'S NO SERVANTS HERE, YOU UNDERSTAND?
Narrator: ROSCOE BROWN
WOULD BECOME A LEGENDARY FIGHTER PILOT,
BUT HE, TOO, WAS CONFRONTED WITH RACISM DURING HIS TRAINING.
Roscoe Brown: THE UNITED STATES MILITARY
ACTUALLY HAD DONE A STUDY IN 1925
THAT CONCLUDED THAT BLACKS DIDN'T HAVE THE INTELLIGENCE,
THE SKILL, THE LEADERSHIP ABILITY
TO BE PILOTS OR TO BE LEADERS.
SO, AS A RESULT OF THAT,
THE BLACK COMMUNITY PRESSURED THE PRESIDENT TO SAY,
"GIVE BLACKS A CHANCE TO FLY."
AND BECAUSE OF THAT, HE AUTHORIZED THE CREATION,
OVER THE OBJECTIONS OF THE MILITARY,
OF AN EXPERIMENTAL GROUP
NOW COLLECTIVELY CALLED THE TUSKEGEE AIRMEN.
Narrator: TUSKEGEE, ALABAMA,
WAS THE TRAINING BASE FOR THIS ELITE UNIT.
ALL BLACK PILOTS DESIGNATED FOR COMBAT,
NOT JUST SUPPORT ROLES.
Brown: WE WENT TO TUSKEGEE, WHERE THERE'S A UNIVERSITY
WHERE THE MILITARY HAD ACTUALLY BUILT A SEPARATE AIR BASE
JUST TO TRAIN BLACKS.
SO, THE SEGREGATION WAS SO SILLY AND STUPID,
THEY WOULD SPEND MONEY TO BUILD A SEPARATE AIR BASE
TO KEEP BLACKS SEPARATE FROM WHITES.
Narrator: DESPITE THE FORMAL SEPARATION,
CLASHES BETWEEN WHITE AND BLACK SOLDIERS WERE COMMON.
Hairston: ON THIS ONE OCCASION,
ONE OF THE SOLDIERS WAS DRUNK AND DISORDERLY.
SEVERAL BLACK MPs TOOK HIM INTO CUSTODY.
BUT THEN SOME WHITE MPs SHOWED UP
AND TOOK THE PRISONER FROM THE BLACK MPs,
AND THE GROUP SAW THIS,
AND THEY JUST BEAT UP THE WHITE MPs
AND DROVE THEM OUT.
NOW THIS MOB IS EXUBERANT.
I MEAN, HEY, THEY GOT RID OF THESE WHITE PEOPLE.
AND THEN NEXT SHOWED UP WAS THE MPs
WITH A GROUP OF ARMED WHITE POLICEMEN WITH SHOTGUNS.
ONE WHITE POLICEMAN PUSHED ME IN THE CHEST,
OUT OF THE WAY, AROUND THE CORNER
AND SAID, "GET OUT OF MY WAY, ***,"
AND A FEW MINUTES LATER
OPENED POINT-BLANK FIRE INTO THE GROUP.
TO THIS DAY, I HAVE NEVER SEEN AN OFFICIAL REPORT
OF WHAT I SAW.
Narrator: MANY AFRICAN AMERICANS
HOPED THAT FIGHTING FOR THEIR COUNTRY ABROAD
WOULD FINALLY GAIN THEM FULL EQUALITY AT HOME.
Bass: WE HAD A SESSION IN THE MILITARY.
THE LIEUTENANT WHO WAS IN CHARGE OF MY PLATOON SAID,
"WE'RE TALKING ABOUT WHY WE'RE FIGHTING THIS WAR."
I ANSWERED HIS QUESTION.
I SAID, "WE'RE FIGHTING THIS WAR AGAINST THE ENEMY OVERSEAS
SO WE CAN PRESERVE OUR RIGHTS AND PRIVILEGES
AS AMERICAN CITIZENS.
BUT I'M FIGHTING THIS WAR BACK HOME
BECAUSE I DON'T HAVE THOSE RIGHTS IN CITIZENSHIP
BACK HERE IN THE USA."
OOH. ALL MY FRIENDS GOT VERY QUIET.
HE TURNED A LITTLE BIT RED,
BUT THEN HE SAID, "PRIVATE BASS, I'M FROM GEORGIA."
I SAID, "YES, SIR."
"PRIVATE BASS, WHEN YOU'RE IN ROME, YOU DO AS ROMANS DO."
AND I LOOKED HIM STRAIGHT IN THE EYE,
I SAID, "SIR, I'M AN AMERICAN, AND I'M LIVING IN AMERICA,
AND I'M GONNA DO AS AMERICANS DO."
Narrator: YET IN GERMANY, RACISM HAD REACHED A DIMENSION
THAT WAS UNFATHOMABLE EVEN FOR AFRICAN AMERICANS.
JEWS AND OTHER MINORITIES WERE DEPORTED
TO CONCENTRATION AND EXTERMINATION CAMPS.
MOST WOULD NEVER BE SEEN AGAIN.
BUT THERE WERE ALSO BLACKS, LIKE THEODOR MICHAEL,
LIVING IN HITLER'S GERMANY
AS FOREIGNERS IN THEIR OWN COUNTRY.
THOUGH BORN IN GERMANY, UNDER THE NUREMBERG LAWS,
THEY WERE DEPRIVED OF THEIR CIVIL RIGHTS AND CITIZENSHIP.
UNDER THOSE CONDITIONS,
IT WAS ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO FIND WORK.
[SPEAKING GERMAN]
Theodor Michael, translated: AFRO-GERMANS
DID NOT GET ANY JOBS.
THE GENERAL FEELING WAS
AFRO-GERMANS ARE TAKING AWAY JOBS FROM GOOD GERMANS.
SO, WHAT OPTIONS DID WE HAVE, THEN?
IN THIS SITUATION,
COLONIAL FILMS PLAYED AN IMPORTANT ROLE
BECAUSE THEY WERE THE ONLY SOURCE OF INCOME WE STILL HAD.
[SPEAKING GERMAN]
Narrator: MANY GERMAN BLACKS
SURVIVED IN THE UNLIKELIEST OF PLACES--
THE NAZI "DREAM FACTORY"
AS EXTRAS IN WHAT WERE CALLED "COLONIAL FILMS."
THESE WERE AIMED AT ROUSING GERMANS
TO WIN BACK THE COLONIAL EMPIRE THEY HAD LOST AFTER WORLD WAR I.
Narrator: THE FILM STUDIOS OFFERED THEM REFUGE,
AT LEAST TEMPORARILY,
FROM THE RACIST REALITY OF NAZI GERMANY.
Michael: THE FILM STUDIOS WERE AN ARTIFICIAL WORLD.
THE REAL WORLD WAS THAT OF DAILY RACISM.
I DESPERATELY TRIED TO AVOID ALL BEHAVIOR
THAT COULD CAUSE YOU TO BE DEPORTED
TO A CONCENTRATION CAMP.
ALMOST NO PEOPLE OF COLOR WHO WERE SENT THERE SURVIVED.
Narrator: THEODOR MICHAEL SURVIVED THE NAZI YEARS
IN THE SERVICE OF RACIST PROPAGANDA.
IN THE FAMOUS FILM "MUNCHHAUSEN,"
HE PLAYED THE SERVANT WHO FANNED THE SULTAN.
Michael: THE AIM OF THESE FILMS
WAS TO DEPICT THE INFERIORITY OF OTHER RACES TO WHITE PEOPLE.
Narrator: WHEN AFRICAN AMERICAN GIs WENT TO EUROPE,
MOST HAD NO IDEA OF THE EXTENT OF GERMAN RACISM.
Bass: MY UNIT WENT ON,
CROSSED THE ATLANTIC OCEAN TO ENGLAND.
Narrator: BROTHERS CHARLES AND MEDGAR EVERS
ALSO JOINED THE RANKS,
BUT THEIR WAYS PARTED:
CHARLES FOUGHT IN THE PACIFIC;
MEDGAR IN EUROPE.
Narrator: ON JUNE 6, 1944,
THE ALLIES LANDED IN NORMANDY
AGAINST THE FIERCE RESISTANCE OF THE GERMAN TROOPS.
D-DAY.
Jon Hendricks: WE GOT TO SHORE.
AND WE LAY DOWN IN THE SAND
BECAUSE WE WERE DOG-TIRED.
Narrator: ONE OF THOSE WHO TOOK OMAHA BEACH THAT DAY
WAS JON HENDRICKS,
LATER TO BECOME A FAMOUS JAZZ MUSICIAN.
Hendricks: WE KEPT MARCHING FOR 18 MILES.
WE SAW A FRENCH FARM,
AND WE WALKED OVER TO IT, AND WE KNOCKED ON THE DOOR.
AND THE WOMAN CAME TO THE DOOR.
I SAID...[SPEAKING FRENCH] "WE ARE AMERICANS."
SHE SAYS, "OH, LA, LA! AMERICAN."
SHE COULD SPEAK ENGLISH,
AND SO SHE WENT AND GOT HER HUSBAND.
AND HE SAYS, "AH, I HAVE SOMETHING FOR YOU, TOO."
AND HE WENT OUT INTO THE BARN, AND HE DUG UP SOME CHAMPAGNE,
AND HE OPENED UP
THIS MUD-COVERED BOTTLE OF CHAMPAGNE.
AND WE WENT BACK TO THE HOUSE AND DRANK IT.
AND THEY WERE WEEPING BECAUSE I TOLD THEM,
THERE'S MANY MORE OF US DOWN ON THE BEACH.
Narrator: THE ALLIES PUSHED BACK THE TROOPS OF NAZI GERMANY
ALONG THE WESTERN FRONT.
THE NUMBER OF AFRICAN AMERICAN TROOPS IN EUROPE
ROSE TO 260,000 FROM 150,000.
BUT FEWER THAN 9% BELONGED TO COMBAT UNITS.
THE REST WERE IN LABOR, SUPPLY, AND BACK-UP UNITS,
WHERE THERE WERE NO RISK OF BLACKS BECOMING WAR HEROES.
LIEUTENANT WALTER PATRICE COMMANDED ONE OF THESE UNITS.
Walter Patrice: GENERAL PATTON'S TANKS NEEDED GAS
AND A LOT OF GAS.
AND TO GET THE GAS TO HIM WAS OUR PRIMARY JOB.
AND ONE DAY HE CAME THROUGH ON A FLAT CAR, AND HE STOPPED...
FLAT CAR STOPPED.
AND HE SAID, "LIEUTENANT, KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK."
AND I SAID, "THANK YOU, GENERAL,"
AND HE TOOK OFF.
Narrator: MEDGAR EVERS WAS ALSO SERVING IN A SUPPLY UNIT.
Bunch: MEDGAR EVERS WAS PART OF THE RED BALL EXPRESS.
THE RED BALL EXPRESS WAS BASICALLY A SUPPLY UNIT
OF TRUCKS DRIVEN BY AFRICAN AMERICANS,
WHOSE JOB IT WAS TO BRING SUPPLIES TO THE FRONT.
BUT WHAT HAPPENED IS
THAT THE RED BALL EXPRESS WAS SO GOOD
THAT THEY WOULD ACTUALLY BRING THE SUPPLIES
INTO THE COMBAT ZONE.
AND SO THERE ARE MANY STORIES
OF THESE SOLDIERS COMING UNDER FIRE,
OF THESE SOLDIERS HITTING LANDMINES.
SO MEDGAR EVERS WAS PART OF A UNIT
THAT, WHILE IT WENT DOWN IN HISTORY AS A SERVICE UNIT,
REALLY WAS A COMBAT-TESTED UNIT.
Bass: FINALLY THE ORDERS CAME DOWN
AND SAID OUR UNIT,
THE 183rd ENGINEER COMBAT BATTALION,
WOULD BE ATTACHED TO THE 3rd ARMY
UNDER THE LEADERSHIP OF GENERAL GEORGE PATTON.
WE WERE GOING TO BE SENT UP INTO BELGIUM.
Narrator: IT WAS THERE THAT GENERAL PATTON'S ADVANCE
GROUND TO A HALT.
IN THE WINTER OF 1944
CAME THE GERMAN COUNTER-OFFENSIVE,
THE BATTLE OF THE BULGE,
UNDER THE COMMAND OF GENERAL VON RUNDSTEDT.
Hendricks: HE WAS ONE OF HITLER'S GREATEST GENERALS.
THAT THING THAT HE DID WAS REMARKABLE.
HE ACTUALLY BROKE THROUGH OUR LINES
AND GOT WITHIN 18 MILES OF LIEGE,
WHERE ALL THE SUPPLY LINES CAME TOGETHER.
IF HE GETS THROUGH THAT, HE'S GOT NO ENEMY.
AND HE DAMN NEAR DID IT.
Narrator: FACED WITH A CRISIS,
THE U.S. COMMANDERS HAD NO CHOICE
BUT TO BREAK THE RULE OF STRICT SEGREGATION.
THE 761st ARMORED DIVISION, THE BLACK PANTHERS,
WAS PITCHED INTO BATTLE.
FOR THE FIRST TIME IN THE WAR,
BLACK SOLDIERS COULD ACTIVELY ENGAGE IN COMBAT,
SIDE BY SIDE WITH WHITE SOLDIERS.
THOUSANDS OF AFRICAN AMERICANS
VOLUNTEERED FOR THESE INTEGRATED UNITS.
Hendricks: WE GOT PERMISSION THIS TIME
BECAUSE THEY HAD NO ONE ELSE TO DEPEND ON.
Narrator: SOME BLACK SOLDIERS SAW THIS EMERGENCY SITUATION
AS A TURNING POINT FOR EQUAL RIGHTS IN THE ARMY.
Hendricks: ONCE WE DID INTEGRATE,
IT WAS AMAZING HOW EASY IT HAPPENED.
I THINK IT HAPPENED THAT EASY
BECAUSE IT NEVER SHOULD HAVE BEEN.
I THINK THE WHITE SOLDIERS FELT THAT, TOO.
WHY IN THE WORLD SHOULD WE BE FIGHTING AGAINST EACH OTHER
WHEN WE HAD A VERY POTENT ENEMY THAT WE HAD TO FACE?
I THINK IT WAS STUPID.
Narrator: BATTLING A FREEZING WINTER
AND BOTTLED UP IN THE TOWN OF BASTOGNE,
U.S. TROOPS FACED A CRUCIAL MOMENT.
BLACK SOLDIERS LIKE LEON BASS PLUNGED INTO THE FRAY
AND SHOWED THEIR METTLE.
Bass: OUR RESPONSIBILITY WAS TO REBUILD A BRIDGE.
THE BRIDGE WAS RIGHT THERE NEAR BASTOGNE,
WHERE OUR TROOPS WERE ENCIRCLED.
WE WORKED NIGHT AND DAY,
BUT WE FINALLY PUT THAT BRIDGE UP.
AND ALL OF THOSE RESOURCES--
THE TANKS, THE GUNS, THE MEN, WHATEVER--
ALL OF THOSE THINGS CROSSED THE BRIDGE AND WENT IN
AND JOINED UP WITH ALL OF THE MEN
WHO WERE THERE INSIDE OF BASTOGNE.
AND IN SO DOING, WE WERE ABLE TO HELP THEM
DEFEAT THE ENEMY,
AND THAT WAS A WONDERFUL EXPERIENCE,
I CAN TELL YOU THAT.
I WAS JUST 19 YEARS OF AGE.
Narrator: BOTH ON THE GERMAN AND ALLIED SIDE,
THE BATTLE OF THE BULGE CLAIMED AROUND 20,000.
Patrice: I WAS RIDING A JEEP,
AND I DON'T KNOW HOW I GOT OFF THE MAIN ROAD,
BUT I ENDED UP AT A MILITARY CEMETERY.
THE GRAVE REGISTRATION DEPARTMENT WAS AT WORK,
BURYING DEAD SOLDIERS.
AND THIS WAS THE FIRST TIME
I COULD EVER FEEL TEARS RUNNING DOWN MY CHEEK.
FROM THE VANISHING POINT IN THREE DIRECTIONS,
HERE WERE GUYS BEING BURIED
WHO HAD NEVER HAD A SHOT AT LIFE.
WHAT I FELT WAS JUST THE INSANITY OF WARFARE.
I THINK IT STINKS.
Bass: I REMEMBER SEEING THESE TRUCKS GO BY ONE DAY.
I WAS STANDING ALONGSIDE THE ROAD IN THE SNOW,
AND I WATCHED THEM.
BUT THESE WERE GRAVE REGISTRATION TRUCKS
WITH THE BODIES OF THE AMERICAN SOLDIERS
COMING BACK DOWN OUT OF BASTOGNE.
AND I LOOKED AT THAT, AND I SAID TO MYSELF,
"LEON, WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?
WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN THIS PLACE?
WHAT ARE YOU FIGHTING FOR?"
AND I BEGAN TO BE ANGRY BECAUSE I REMEMBERED SOMETHING.
I REMEMBERED I COULDN'T GET THAT DRINK OF WATER
BACK HOME AT THE PUBLIC WATER FOUNTAIN.
I COULDN'T GET A MEAL IN A RESTAURANT,
AND I COULDN'T GET A SEAT ON A BUS.
I WAS FAST BECOMING AN ANGRY YOUNG BLACK SOLDIER--
ANGRY AT MY COUNTRY BECAUSE I FELT MY COUNTRY WAS USING ME.
BUT WE WON THAT BATTLE OF THE BULGE,
AND THEN WE WENT INTO GERMANY, TO CROSS THE RHINE RIVER.
Narrator: BUT SOON AFTER THIS VICTORY,
THE U.S. ARMY REVERTED TO ITS PRACTICE OF RACIAL SEGREGATION.
ROBBED OF THE FREEDOMS THEY HAD ONLY JUST WON,
THESE SOLDIERS WERE PITCHED INTO THE FINAL BATTLE FOR GERMANY.
FROM ITALY, THE TUSKEGEE AIRMEN FLEW SORTIES OVER GERMANY.
AMONG THEM WAS ROSCOE BROWN.
Brown: OUR JOB WAS TO ESCORT THE BOMBERS,
PROTECTING THEM FROM THE ENEMY FIGHTERS.
IN A BATTLE, THERE MIGHT BE OVER 300 BOMBERS
STRETCHING OVER ABOUT 30 MILES IN THE AIR.
[AIR RAID SIREN]
Narrator: AS A CHILD,
INGRID LINTON EXPERIENCED THE AIR RAIDS
ON THE GERMAN CAPITAL, BERLIN.
Ingrid Linton: EVERY NIGHT WE HAD TO GET UP,
MY SISTER AND I.
WE WERE LITTLE KIDS.
WE HAD TO GET DRESSED, GO INTO THE CELLAR.
IT WAS...TRAUMATIC.
AND EVEN TO THIS DAY WHEN I HEAR,
ESPECIALLY A GERMAN POLICE CAR GO BY,
I THINK ABOUT THE AIR RAID SIREN,
AND I DO LIKE THAT.
Brown: AS WE CAME OVER THE OUTSKIRTS OF BERLIN,
WE WERE ATTACKED.
THEN THE FIGHTER PLANES WOULD BE SWARMING AROUND,
UP AND DOWN.
AND WHEN THE ENEMY ATTACKED,
THEN YOU'D TRY TO SHOOT THE ENEMY DOWN.
AND THEN THERE WOULD BE WHAT THEY CALL A DOGFIGHT,
WHERE HE'S TURNING THERE, YOU TRY TO TURN,
HE GOES DOWN, YOU GO DOWN, YOU FOLLOW HIM UP.
AND WHEN I SAW THE JET PLANES COMING UP FROM ABOUT 8 O'CLOCK,
I TURNED MY PLANE UPSIDE DOWN AND WENT UNDER THE BOMBERS.
THE BOMBERS WERE HERE. I WENT UNDER THE BOMBERS.
THE M.E. WAS COMING UP HERE,
AND I TURNED INTO HIS BLIND SPOT,
AND I USED MY ELECTRONIC GUN SIGHT
TO GET THE LEAD TO BE OUT,
AND I SHOT HIM RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE,
AND HE BAILED OUT.
[SPEAKING GERMAN]
Michael: WHAT'S LARGELY UNKNOWN
IS THAT PROPAGANDA HERE
SUGGESTED IT WAS BLACKS WHO WERE FLYING THESE MISSIONS
AND KILLING GERMAN WOMEN AND CHILDREN.
AND I WAS ONCE THROWN OUT OF A BOMB SHELTER.
THEY SAID, "THEY'RE YOUR FRIENDS UP THERE BOMBING US,
SO GET YOURSELF OUT OF HERE."
Ingrid Linton: THERE WAS NOTHING TO EAT, OF COURSE.
THEN THERE WERE HORSES SHOT,
AND PEOPLE WENT OUT TO CUT PIECES OF THE HORSE,
AND WE ATE SOME.
Narrator: HERE IN THE WAR'S FINAL PHASE,
THE FULL HORROR OF NAZI CRIMES WAS BROUGHT TO LIGHT.
Bass: ON THIS DAY IN APRIL, IN 1945,
I WAS GOING TO HAVE THE SHOCK OF MY LIFE
BECAUSE I WAS GOING TO WALK THROUGH THE GATES
OF A CONCENTRATION CAMP CALLED BUCHENWALD.
AND, REALLY, YOU'VE GOT TO BELIEVE ME,
I WASN'T READY FOR THAT.
AND I SAW THE DEAD BODIES STACKED UP OUTSIDE.
AND THESE WERE BODIES THAT WERE ADJACENT TO THE CREMATORIUM.
SO I WENT INSIDE THE CREMATORIUM,
AND I SAW WHAT WAS LEFT
OF SOMEONE WHO HAD BEEN PLACED THERE.
I SAW THE BLACKENED SKULL, I SAW THE RIBCAGE,
I SAW ALL THE ASHES.
I WALKED BACK TO THE GATE WHERE WE CAME IN,
AND I STOOD THERE WAITING FOR MY FRIENDS TO COME.
BUT WHILE I WAITED,
I BEGAN TO REALIZE THAT I WAS NOT THE SAME ANYMORE.
SOMETHING HAD HAPPENED TO ME.
I WAS AN ANGRY YOUNG BLACK SOLDIER
WHEN I CAME INTO THAT CAMP,
AND I WAS WONDERING WHY I WAS FIGHTING THIS WAR,
BUT NOW A TRANSFORMATION HAD TAKEN PLACE.
SOMETHING HAD CHANGED ME.
AND I REALIZED, HUMAN SUFFERING IS NOT RELEGATED TO JUST ME.
Narrator: A FEW DAYS LATER,
THE U.S. MILITARY COMMANDER FORCED THE PEOPLE OF WEIMAR
TO GO SEE FOR THEMSELVES
THE HORROR PERPETRATED IN THEIR NEIGHBORHOOD.
HAD THEY REALLY NOT NOTICED ANYTHING?
MANY OF THEM HAD EMBRACED
THE IDEOLOGY OF RACIAL FANATICISM
WHICH HAD COST MILLIONS OF HUMAN LIVES
AND LAID WASTE TO THEIR OWN COUNTRY.
GERMANY WAS DEFEATED.
FROM 1945 TO 1949,
THE COUNTRY WAS OCCUPIED AND ADMINISTERED
BY THE VICTORIOUS POWERS.
IN THE AMERICAN OCCUPATION ZONE THIS TASK WAS PERFORMED
BY AN ARMY THAT STILL PRACTICED RACIAL SEGREGATION.
PART OF THEIR JOB WAS TO EXPUNGE NAZISM FROM GERMANY.
BLACK SOLDIERS HARDLY KNEW LIBERTY THEMSELVES,
BUT SUDDENLY HAD A NEW ROLE AS LIBERATORS.
Announcer: HITLER, OUT.
SWASTIKAS, GONE.
CONCENTRATION CAMPS, EMPTY.
THE PROBLEM NOW IS FUTURE PEACE.
THAT IS YOUR JOB IN GERMANY.
BY YOUR CONDUCT AND ATTITUDE WHILE ON GUARD INSIDE GERMANY,
YOU CAN LAY THE GROUNDWORK OF A PEACE THAT COULD LAST FOREVER,
OR JUST THE OPPOSITE.
YOU ARE SOLDIERS ON GUARD.
YOU WILL NOT BE FRIENDLY.
YOU WILL BE ALOOF,
WATCHFUL, AND SUSPICIOUS.
THAT IS YOUR JOB IN GERMANY.
Narrator: A JOB THAT CREATED INNER TURMOIL
FOR MILTON JOHNSON.
ON HIS POSTING ABROAD,
HE'D MET HIS FUTURE WIFE, CHARLOTTE.
TODAY, AS THEY PREPARE TO LEAVE THEIR HOME
TO MOVE IN WITH THEIR DAUGHTER,
MEMORIES OF MANY YEARS IN GERMANY AND AUSTRIA
COME FLOODING BACK.
Milton Johnson: THE ARMY TOLD ME THAT I WAS GOING OVERSEAS
AND I WAS REPRESENTING THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
AND EVERYTHING WAS NEGATIVE
THAT THEY HAD TO SAY AND TOLD ME ABOUT THE GERMANS.
I COULDN'T REPRESENT THIS COUNTRY IN MY OWN COUNTRY,
SO HOW CAN I REPRESENT THE COUNTRY OVER THERE?
THIS WAS A LITTLE CONFUSING TO ME.
I WAS BORN IN COLUMBIA, TENNESSEE,
A SMALL TOWN.
MY PARENTS WERE SHARECROPPERS.
CAN YOU IMAGINE, WITH NO SHOES ON,
LET'S SAY IN MARCH,
YOU GO OUT AND PLOW THE FIELDS?
YOU WALK AROUND BEHIND A MULE WITH A PLOW,
AND YOUR FEET ARE FROZEN
BECAUSE YOU HAVE NO SHOES OR SOCKS ON.
AND THE MULE RELIEVES ITSELF,
AND YOU STAND IN IT BECAUSE THE URINATE IS WARM,
AND THAT WARMS YOUR FEET UP.
CAN YOU IMAGINE THAT?
YOU WORK FOR NOTHING.
YOU TOOK ALL KIND OF ABUSE.
YOU HAD NO RIGHTS.
WHEN YOU HAVE NO RIGHTS,
IT'S A DIFFERENT WORLD.
I HAD A RESPONSIBILITY TO MYSELF WHEN I LEFT THE FARM.
I WASN'T GOING BACK TO BE A DAMNED SHARECROPPER.
THE ARMY GAVE ME THE OPPORTUNITY.
I ARRIVED IN EUROPE IN THE SPRING OF '46,
ARRIVED IN GERMANY.
EVERYTHING WAS JUST ABOUT DESTROYED.
PEOPLE WERE BEGGING FOR CIGARETTES.
THERE WAS NOWHERE TO GO.
EVERYTHING WAS BOMBED OUT.
Narrator: NAZI IDEOLOGY DID NOT VANISH OVERNIGHT
FROM THE MINDS OF THE GERMANS.
THEIR REACTION TOWARD THEIR VICTORS VARIED.
MANY SAW THEM AS CONQUERORS AND OCCUPIERS.
OTHERS, THOUGH, WELCOMED THEM AS LIBERATORS FROM DICTATORSHIP,
LIKE THE YOUNG PRISONER OF WAR AND FUTURE SATIRIST
DIETER HILDEBRANDT.
[SPEAKING GERMAN]
Dieter Hildebrandt, translated: WE CAME INTO THE PRISON CAMP
IN GARDELEGEN
AND WERE KEPT IN FENCED PENS.
THE FIRST PERSON TO STROLL BY WAS A SMOKING BLACK GI.
THEN SOME WHITE AMERICANS WALKED BY
AND PLAYED THIS GAME OF ONLY SMOKING THEIR CIGARETTES HALFWAY
AND THEN TOSSING THEM.
AND WE COULDN'T PICK UP THE BUTTS
AND THOUGHT, "YOU ***."
THE ONLY ONE NOT TO DO THAT WAS THE BLACK SOLDIER.
THAT WAS OUR FIRST IMPRESSION.
WHAT WAS PART OF HIS NATURE, I BELIEVE,
WAS A SENSE OF FAIRNESS.
Narrator: THE IMAGE OF THE AMERICAN GI
SHARING HIS FOOD RATIONS WITH STARVING GERMANS
LEFT A DEEP IMPRESSION ON THE COLLECTIVE MEMORY.
[SPEAKING GERMAN]
Michael: FIRST OF ALL, THE AMERICANS WERE VICTORS.
THE AFRICAN AMERICANS AS WELL.
SECONDLY, THEY HAD FOOD, AND THEY SHARED IT.
Narrator: THOSE WERE DEFINING MOMENTS FOR BOTH SIDES.
FUTURE JUDGE CHARLES JOHNSON
RECALLS THE FEELING OF BEING A STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND.
Charles Johnson: WE WERE WALKING DOWN THE STREET,
AND ONE OF THE GERMAN MOTHERS WITH A CHILD...
MAYBE 4 YEARS OLD...
SHE CAME UP TO ME AND JUST LOOKED AT ME.
SO EVENTUALLY SHE TOOK MY HAND AND DID LIKE THIS
TO SEE IF THE BLACK WOULD RUB OFF OF IT.
IT WAS SO CUTE TO SEE.
I DON'T BELIEVE SHE'D EVER SEEN AN AFRICAN AMERICAN BEFORE.
Ingrid Linton: MY FATHER WAS A NAZI,
AND I GREW UP AS A NAZI CHILD.
THE FUNNY THING IS THAT EVEN AS A LITTLE CHILD,
I USED TO HAVE A BLACK DOLL.
THAT WAS GERDA, MY BELOVED DOLL.
I ALWAYS LIKED THINGS THAT WERE DARKER THAN WHITE.
SO I SAW SOME BLACK PEOPLE ON THE STRASSENBAHN,
AND I THOUGHT, "YAY! NICE BROWN PEOPLE!"
FINALLY, YOU KNOW.
Harold Linton: YOU CAN'T EXPERIENCE ANYTHING WORSE
THAN WHAT THE GERMANS HAD EXPERIENCED--
THAT DEFEAT.
AND SO WHILE THEY WERE TRYING TO PULL THEMSELVES UP,
THE BLACK SOLDIERS WERE TRYING TO PULL THEMSELVES UP
FROM BATTLING SEGREGATION.
AND MAYBE THAT KIND OF HELPED TO BOND US AND BIND US TOGETHER.
[SPEAKING GERMAN]
Hildebrandt: BECAUSE THEY WERE OPPRESSED WITHIN THEIR ARMY,
THEY WERE MORE LIKE US.
THEY TENDED TO IDENTIFY WITH THE DEFEATED,
AND A FEELING OF EMPATHY DEVELOPED BETWEEN US.
Narrator: A U.S. ARMY SURVEY
REVEALED THAT 70% OF GERMANS AFTER THE WAR
PREFERRED THE AFRICAN AMERICAN OCCUPATION TROOPS TO THE WHITES.
Johnson: THE GERMANS WERE EXPERIENCING
HARD TIMES AT THAT TIME,
JUST LIKE THE BLACKS WERE EXPERIENCING A HARD TIME.
SO IT WAS BASICALLY, WE GOT ALONG WITH EACH OTHER.
Narrator: TO SOME, GERMANY SEEMED A MODEL OF TOLERANCE.
THE TRUTH WAS MORE COMPLICATED.
[SPEAKING GERMAN]
Hildebrandt: THE NAZIS HAD MYSTERIOUSLY
DISAPPEARED OVERNIGHT,
AS IF THEY HAD NEVER EXISTED.
I WITNESSED SOME DE-NAZIFICATION TRIALS.
IT WAS SHAMEFUL, ALMOST UNBEARABLE
TO SEE THEM WHINING AND CLAIMING THEY HAD NEVER BEEN PART OF
AND NEVER KNOWN ANYTHING OF THE ATROCITIES.
THE AMERICANS WERE DISGUSTED.
[SPEAKING GERMAN]
Michael: GERMAN RACISM STILL EXISTED,
BUT UNDERCOVER,
LIKE "I HAVE NOTHING AGAINST BLACKS.
I JUST DO NOT WANT THEM TO COME
TO MY FAVORITE NEIGHBORHOOD BAR."
AFTER THE END OF THE WAR, I HAD JUST ONE WISH:
TO GET AWAY FROM ALL THE DESTRUCTION,
TO GET AWAY FROM MISERY
AND AWAY FROM RACISM.
AMERICA RADIATED HOPE.
[BEEPING]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Narrator: ALONG WITH THE AMERICAN SOLDIERS,
AMERICAN CULTURE ARRIVED IN GERMANY.
[SPEAKING GERMAN]
Hildebrandt: WE LISTENED TO AFN EVERY DAY
FROM MORNING TO NIGHT
AND DANCED TO IT WHENEVER WE COULD.
I ONLY LEARNED ABOUT THE SO CALLED "BLACK VOICES"
ONCE THEY WERE HERE.
I WENT TO CONCERTS IN THE MUNICH CONGRESS HALL
AND HEARD ELLA FITZGERALD.
IN THE AUDIENCE,
THERE WERE SOLDIERS WHO WERE STILL OCCUPATION TROOPS.
THAT MUSIC, I BELIEVE,
WAS THE BEST RE-EDUCATION WE COULD HAVE.
[SINGING SCAT]
Narrator: FOR MANY GERMANS,
THE U.S. ARMY AT THE TIME WAS THE ONLY SOURCE OF EMPLOYMENT.
DIETER HILDEBRANDT EARNED HIS MONEY
AS A STOCK CLERK IN A U.S. ARMY STORE.
HE ALSO SPENT HIS FREE TIME WITH AMERICANS.
Hildebrandt: YOU'D GO INTO THE BARS,
AND THERE THEY WERE.
THEY HAD THREE OR FOUR BARS IN THE MILITARY COMPOUND,
AND THERE WAS ALWAYS A GERMAN BAND
PLAYING JAZZ AND SWING.
Narrator: JAZZ, CHEWING GUM, AND LUCKY STRIKE CIGARETTES
WERE EVERYWHERE,
BUT SO WAS THE DISTINCTLY AMERICAN FORM
OF JIM CROW RACISM.
Hildebrandt: I HAD MY OWN ENCOUNTERS
WITH THE MPs, THE MILITARY POLICE.
WHEN THEY CLEARED A BAR BECAUSE IT WAS CLOSING TIME,
"MP TIME,"
THEY IMMEDIATELY HAD THEIR NIGHT STICKS OUT
WHEN THERE WERE BLACKS IN THE BAR.
I SAW ONE INCIDENT WITH A BLACK GI
WHO PROBABLY WAS DRUNK AND TALKED BACK.
THE MP HIT HIM AND KNOCKED HIM TO THE FLOOR.
Narrator: THEODOR MICHAEL
WAS WORKING FOR THE AMERICANS AT THE TIME AS A TRANSLATOR.
[SPEAKING GERMAN]
Michael: I SAW HOW IT WAS WITH THE BRAWLS
BETWEEN THE WHITE AND BLACK SOLDIERS--
WHOLE BARRACK BLOCKS PITCHING IN AND FIGHTING EACH OTHER.
THAT WAS COMMONPLACE AT THAT TIME.
AMERICA WAS NO LONGER
THE PROMISED LAND I WANTED TO LIVE IN.
Narrator: SOME WHITE U.S. SOLDIERS
WERE ALSO CRITICAL OF THE RACIAL CONFLICT.
ONE WAS DAVID BRION DAVIS,
THEN AN 18-YEAR-OLD MEMBER OF THE SECURITY POLICE.
David Brion Davis: THESE ARE LETTERS I WROTE
TO MY PARENTS FROM MANNHEIM.
I'D BEEN THERE SINCE LATE 1945.
"I'M GETTING QUITE BITTER ON THIS RACE QUESTION.
OUR ARMIES WERE TO TEACH ALL EUROPE
DEMOCRACY AND DECENT LIVING.
YET IN THE ARMY,
THE RACE PROBLEM IS MAGNIFIED A THOUSAND TIMES.
WHAT ARE PEOPLE TO THINK OF A, QUOTE, 'SON OF LIBERTY'
WHO TAKES EVERY POSSIBLE CHANCE TO KILL OR HURT A ***
FROM HIS HOME STATE OR TOWN?"
Narrator: THESE LETTERS
ARE AN EXTRAORDINARY DOCUMENTATION OF THE TIMES
BECAUSE THE NEWSPAPERS WERE NOT WRITING ABOUT THESE CONFLICTS.
[SPEAKING GERMAN]
Hildebrandt: EVERYTHING THAT GERMAN NEWSPAPERS PRINTED
WAS CENSORED.
THERE WERE NO ANTI-AMERICAN ARTICLES.
THEY'D NEVER HAVE GOTTEN THROUGH.
THE GERMANS WERE ACTUALLY TOLD, "STAY OUT OF IT.
YOU HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO RIGHT TO TALK ABOUT RACIAL HATRED,
YOU OF ALL PEOPLE!"
AND THAT WAS, OF COURSE, CORRECT.
Narrator: UNDER CONDITIONS LIKE THIS,
AFRICAN AMERICAN SOLDIERS FELT
THEY WERE BEING TREATED BETTER BY THE FORMER ENEMY
THAN BY THEIR WHITE COLLEAGUES.
Bunch: MY DAD WAS ONE OF THOSE GIs.
HE WAS IN THE ARMY OF OCCUPATION IN GERMANY,
SO YOU GO INTO AN ENVIRONMENT IN EUROPE,
AND YOU'RE STILL BEING DISCRIMINATED AGAINST
BY MANY OF YOUR WHITE SOLDIERS.
YOU'RE SERVING IN SEGREGATED UNITS.
BUT SUDDENLY NOW YOU'RE MEETING PEOPLE
WHO ARE TREATING YOU AS EQUAL.
AND SO WHAT IT DOES IS IT HELPS PEOPLE REALIZE
THAT THE SITUATION IN AMERICA COULD BE CHANGED,
AND THAT SIMPLE SPARK
THAT THERE'S A POSSIBILITY OF A NEW AMERICA
IS WHAT MANY OF THESE SOLDIERS BROUGHT HOME.
IT'S REALLY PEOPLE LIKE MEDGAR EVERS
WHO START AT THE LOCAL LEVEL
AND BEGIN TO SAY,
"IT'S OUR RESPONSIBILITY TO EFFECT CHANGE."
HE WENT FROM A WARZONE IN EUROPE TO A WARZONE IN MISSISSIPPI.
Narrator: WHILE AFRICAN AMERICANS IN THE STATES
TOOK UP THE BATTLE AGAINST SEGREGATION,
THOSE IN GERMANY WERE ABOUT TO BE PLUNGED BACK INTO CONFLICT.
IN 1948, THE SOVIET UNION BLOCKED ACCESS TO WEST BERLIN,
CUTTING THE CITY OFF FROM ALL SUPPLIES.
THIS CONFLICT WOULD CHANGE GERMAN-AMERICAN RELATIONS
FOREVER.
Ingrid Linton: THERE WAS HARDLY ANY FOOD LEFT.
I WAS VERY, VERY HUNGRY.
I WAS A TEENAGER.
I REMEMBER THAT MY MOTHER DIVIDED THE BREAD IN DAYS.
WE COULD ONLY EAT THIS MUCH.
Narrator: THE WESTERN ALLIES, LED BY THE U.S.,
UNCOMPROMISINGLY SUPPORTED THEIR FORMER ENEMY.
THE FAMOUS "CANDY BOMBERS"
SUPPLIED "THE ISLAND OF WEST BERLIN" FROM THE AIR
FOR ALMOST A YEAR.
Ingrid Linton: THE CHILDREN THAT LIVED IN TEMPELHOF
ALWAYS GOT CANDIES BECAUSE THE PILOTS THREW DOWN CANDY.
I LIVED IN CHARLOTTENBURG, WHICH WAS FAR AWAY,
SO I NEVER GOT CANDY.
THAT'S, I THINK,
WHERE THE BERLINERS GREW TO LIKE THE AMERICANS
MORE THAN ANYBODY ELSE,
BECAUSE THEY HELPED US,
THEY MADE US SURVIVE.
Narrator: AND SOME GIs FOUND TRUE HAPPINESS ABROAD.
THE THOMPSONS AND THE JOHNSONS
ARE TWO TYPICAL MILITARY FAMILIES.
THE MEN WERE CAREER SOLDIERS
AND MET THEIR FUTURE WIVES DURING DEPLOYMENTS ABROAD
AT A TIME WHEN LIAISONS BETWEEN BLACKS AND WHITES
WOULD HAVE BEEN IMPOSSIBLE BACK HOME.
Maria Thompson: THIS IS WHEN I MET MY HUSBAND.
THAT'S WHY I FELL IN LOVE WITH HIM--VERY HANDSOME.
AND THAT'S ME DOWN THERE.
Narrator: THE FAMILIES ARE BOUND TOGETHER
BY MANY SHARED MEMORIES
OF A TIME OF UNIMAGINED FREEDOMS.
James Thompson: WE DOCKED UP IN BREMERHAVEN.
IT WAS ALL BOMBED OUT.
Milton Johnson: I DOCKED IN HAMBURG.
James Thompson: IT WAS ALL BOMBED OUT.
Pat Johnson: DO YOU THINK, ON ANY LEVEL,
THE GLOW OF YOU FOLKS BEING DIFFERENT
MADE GERMANS MORE INTERESTED IN YOU
THAN THEY WOULD HAVE WHITE AMERICANS?
'CAUSE IF YOU LOOK AT A WHITE AMERICAN, YOU KNOW, OK...
Maria Thompson: I WAS GOING WITH MY BICYCLE TO WORK,
AND HE USED TO PASS ME EVERY MORNING, IN THE BUS.
HE USED TO LOOK FOR ME, AND I LOOKED FOR HIM,
JUST ON THE BUS.
AND ONE DAY HE SURPRISED ME,
HE GOT OFF THE BUS TO MEET ME.
THAT'S THE WHOLE STORY.
AFTER HE GOT OFF THE BUS AND WE TALKED,
THAT MELTED MY HEART.
James Thompson: TELL THE TRUTH.
Maria Thompson: TELL THE TRUTH WHAT?
James Thompson: YOU WANTED TO SEE THE TAIL.
[LAUGHING]
Maria Thompson: NO, THAT'S WHAT THEY SAID IN GERMANY,
THAT THE COLORED MEN HAD A TAIL
THAT COMES OUT AT MIDNIGHT AT NIGHT.
Charlotte Johnson: OH, THAT WAS AN OLD STUPID STORY.
Maria Thompson: BUT THAT'S WHAT THEY SAID.
YOU HEARD IT, TOO, RIGHT?
Charlotte Johnson: YEAH, SURE.
James Thompson: THE WHITE GIs WOULD ALWAYS TELL THE GIRLS
ALL THE COLORED SOLDIERS HAD TAILS,
AND AT NIGHT, THE TAILS COME OUT, YOU KNOW.
"YEAH, WE GOT A TAIL AT 12 O'CLOCK.
COME, AND HE'LL SHOW IT TO YOU," YOU KNOW.
Narrator: BLACK MAGAZINES LIKE "EBONY"
PUBLISHED LONG ARTICLES ON THE FRIENDLY RECEPTION
GERMANS WERE GIVING TO AFRICAN AMERICAN SOLDIERS.
GERMANY APPEARED AN ATTRACTIVE DEPLOYMENT
FOR BLACK RECRUITS, LIKE CHARLES JOHNSON,
WHO LATER BECAME AN IMPORTANT CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST AND JUDGE.
Johnson: I WAS EXCITED ABOUT GOING TO GERMANY.
I WAS A HISTORY MAJOR, BASICALLY, IN COLLEGE,
AND I WANTED TO LEARN MORE AND MORE
ABOUT WHAT WAS GOING ON IN GERMANY.
Narrator: IN 1948,
CHARLES JOHNSON WAS POSTED TO NUREMBERG,
WHERE HE TAUGHT AFRICAN AMERICAN SOLDIERS IN A MILITARY SCHOOL.
LIKE OTHER SOLDIERS,
HE FOUND THAT THE KEY TO UNLOCKING GERMANY
WAS TO HAVE A GERMAN GIRLFRIEND.
Johnson: I TRAVELED A LOT,
AND I WAS FORTUNATE THE YOUNG LADY THAT I KNEW
COULD DIRECT ME.
AND I SAW A LOT OF DIFFERENT CULTURAL THINGS.
I WENT TO GARMISCH, I WENT TO BERCHTESGADEN,
I WENT TO SEE THE PASSION PLAY
THAT THEY PUT ON EVERY 10 YEARS IN OBERAMMERGAU. YEAH.
WE DID GO SEE THE LUDWIG CASTLE.
I WENT UP IN THE BAVARIAN ALPS.
IT OPENED UP FOR ME A NEW WORLD.
Narrator: EVEN IF THEY DIDN'T LIKE TO SEE AFRICAN AMERICAN GIs
WITH FRAULEINS,
THE DEFEATED GERMANS
USUALLY DIDN'T EXPRESS THEIR DISPLEASURE OPENLY.
Johnson: A GROUP OF US, SIX OR EIGHT OF US,
WENT TO A GERMAN... KIND OF A GERMAN RESORT.
EACH ONE OF US HAD A GIRLFRIEND,
AND WE WENT THERE AND KIND OF TOOK OVER THE PLACE.
BUT THERE WAS A LOT OF RESENTMENT
IN THAT LITTLE COMMUNITY WHERE THIS RESORT WAS.
THEY'D SEE THESE BLACK SOLDIERS WITH THESE WHITE GIRLS.
AND WE WERE THERE ABOUT THREE DAYS,
AND YOU COULD TELL THAT A LOT OF PEOPLE DIDN'T APPRECIATE IT.
BUT THEY DIDN'T BOTHER US.
WELL, IN GERMANY, YOU COULD GO INTO ANY ESTABLISHMENT,
WHETHER THEY WANTED YOU TO COME IN OR NOT,
AND THEY WOULD HAVE TO SERVE YOU.
AND WHEN YOU HAD THE UNIFORM ON,
YOU HAD SPECIAL PRIVILEGES IN GERMANY
BECAUSE YOU WERE A UNITED STATES SOLDIER.
AND ONE OF THE THINGS THAT HAPPENED IN GERMANY WAS,
FOR ME INDIVIDUALLY
AND I THINK FOR AFRICAN AMERICAN SOLDIERS,
IS THAT YOU COULD MOVE ABOUT, YOU COULD GO INTO RESTAURANTS,
YOU COULD GO INTO ANY FACILITY AS AN AFRICAN AMERICAN
AND NOT FEEL SEGREGATED OR DISCRIMINATED AGAINST.
[JAZZ PLAYING]
Ross Walker: JAZZ.
JAZZ.
THE GERMAN GIRLS REALLY LOVED THE BLACK SOLDIERS
BECAUSE WE TAUGHT THEM HOW TO JITTERBUG, YOU KNOW.
THROW THE GIRL OUT, BRING HER BACK IN,
AND SPIN HER AROUND.
[JAZZ PLAYING]
HEY, MAN,
I WAS ONE OF THE KING JITTERBUGS.
I WAS ONE OF THE KING DANCERS.
I COULD PICK A GIRL UP AND THROW HER UP IN THE AIR
AND CATCH HER BEFORE SHE'D HIT THE FLOOR,
THROW HER OVER MY BACK AND ALL LIKE THAT, YOU KNOW,
AND SPIN HER AROUND AND AROUND AND BRING HER BACK.
AND JAZZ WAS JUST MY THING, MAN.
I LOVED IT.
[JAZZ PLAYING]
Bunch: YOU HAVE STORIES OF INTERRACIAL COUPLES
BEING ABLE TO EXPERIENCE A FREEDOM
THAT WAS UNHEARD OF IN THE UNITED STATES.
SOME WAS LOVE,
BUT THE REALIZATION THAT MOST PEOPLE HAD
WAS THAT YOU COULDN'T BRING THAT BACK TO THE STATES,
THAT IN ALMOST EVERY STATE IN THE UNION
INTERRACIAL MARRIAGES WERE STILL ILLEGAL.
[BELL RINGING]
Narrator: WOMEN LEFT BEHIND BY THEIR BLACK LOVERS
HAD A HARD TIME IN GERMANY,
ESPECIALLY IF THE LIAISON PRODUCED A BROWN BABY,
LIKE ELVIRA RYPACEK.
Elvira Rypacek, translated: THERE WERE THREE OF US
IN THE VILLAGE,
TWO GIRLS AND A BOY.
Narrator: THEIR FATHERS HAD ARRIVED AS UNASSAILABLE VICTORS,
BUT THESE BROWN BABIES WERE AN EASY TARGET FOR RACISM.
[SPEAKING GERMAN]
Rypacek: I REMEMBER BOYS AT SCHOOL
ALWAYS SHOUTING NASTY THINGS LIKE "***."
MY MOTHER NEVER SPOKE TO ME ABOUT MY FATHER.
WHENEVER I TRIED TO TALK ABOUT MY FATHER,
WHEN I WAS OLDER,
MY MOM IMMEDIATELY CHANGED THE SUBJECT.
Narrator: THESE WOMEN OFTEN FACED REJECTION
BY FELLOW GERMANS,
INCLUDING EVEN THE CHARGE OF PROSTITUTION.
IN THE MEDIA, THEY WERE DEPICTED AS DEVIANTS.
Rypacek: HALF A YEAR BEFORE SHE DIED,
SHE GAVE ME AN ENVELOPE CONTAINING A PHOTO OF MY FATHER.
THAT WAS THE FIRST TIME I'D SEEN WHAT HE LOOKED LIKE.
Narrator: THE BROWN BABIES WERE ALSO A TOPIC
FOR MEMBERS OF THE GERMAN PARLIAMENT.
Narrator: SOME OF THESE CHILDREN WOULD BE ADOPTED IN THE U.S.
AND LOSE THEIR CONNECTION TO THEIR GERMAN ROOTS.
OTHERS, LIKE ELVIRA RYPACEK, WOULD GROW UP GERMAN
BUT NEVER KNOW THEIR BIOLOGICAL FATHERS.
EVEN AS A CHILD, SHE HAD DREAMED OF FINDING HER FATHER
IN "GREAT BIG AMERICA."
IN SEPTEMBER 2012, SHE FINALLY TRACKED HIM DOWN.
AFTER ALL THE SACRIFICES THEY HAD MADE OVERSEAS
AND ALL THE LIBERATING EXPERIENCES
OF WAR AND OCCUPATION,
SOLDIERS HAD RETURNED HOME IN A SPIRIT OF OPTIMISM
ABOUT CHANGING THEIR OWN COUNTRY.
Brown: AT THE END OF THE WAR,
THE AIRLINES WERE HIRING PILOTS,
AND THEY WERE HIRING WORLD WAR II PILOTS,
BECAUSE THAT'S WHERE MOST OF THE PILOTS CAME FROM.
I FILLED OUT MY APPLICATION
WITH MY HONORS AND NUMBER OF FLYING HOURS.
I TURNED IT IN, AND I LEFT TO LEAVE,
AND I REALIZED I HAD LEFT MY NEWSPAPER,
SO I WENT BACK TO GET MY NEWSPAPER,
AND WHEN I WENT BACK FOR THE NEWSPAPER,
THE SECRETARY WAS THROWING MY APPLICATION IN THE WASTEBASKET,
AND HER FACE GOT RED
AND SHE SAID, "WE DON'T HIRE NEGROES HERE."
[TRAIN WHISTLE BLOWING]
Brown: SO THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT
WAS A COMBINATION OF A LOT OF THINGS--
THE FRUSTRATION OF THE VETERANS COMING HOME,
NOT BEING RECEIVED WELL.
THOSE WHO SERVED OVERSEAS IN POST WORLD WAR II
HAD THE EXPERIENCE OF LIVING IN A COUNTRY
WHERE THERE WAS NOT RACIAL SEGREGATION.
THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT WAS REALLY TRIGGERED BY THE FACT
THAT THIS SILLY INHUMANE SEGREGATION
DENIES US THE FULL FRUITS OF OUR ABILITY,
AND THAT'S WHAT MOTIVATED US.
Narrator: CHANGE CAME GRADUALLY.
AND IN 1948, PRESIDENT TRUMAN NEEDED THE AFRICAN AMERICAN VOTE
TO BECOME RE-ELECTED.
VETERANS AND CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVISTS
DEMANDED AN END TO RACIAL SEGREGATION
IN THE ARMED FORCES.
RACISM AND SEGREGATION
WERE RAPIDLY BECOMING AN EMBARRASSMENT FOR AMERICA
IN ITS POSTWAR POSITION AS A GLOBAL SUPERPOWER.
HISTORIAN DAVID BRION DAVIS,
WHO WAS AN 18-YEAR-OLD SOLDIER IN THE OCCUPYING ARMY,
REMEMBERS HOW RACISM BECAME A FOCAL POINT
IN THE IDEOLOGICAL CONFLICT WITH THE SOVIET UNION.
Davis: THE RUSSIANS HAD A TERRIFIC ARGUMENT
IN THE SENSE THAT THEY COULD ATTACK US
FOR OUR RACISM AND PERSECUTION OF BLACKS,
AND THAT WAS A VERY MAJOR PART OF THEIR PROPAGANDA.
I MEAN, WE WERE IN GERMANY TO HELP THEM DEMOCRATIZE
OR TEACH THE GERMANS DEMOCRACY,
AND YET WE BROUGHT TO GERMANY A SEGREGATED ARMY,
A RACIST ARMY.
THE VERY FACT THAT A NATION
THAT'S SUPPOSED TO BE REPRESENTING DEMOCRACY
HAS A SEGREGATED ARMY
MAKES IT A KIND OF A MICROCOSM
OF THE SITUATION IN THE UNITED STATES
THAT BROUGHT ON THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT.
Narrator: HARRY TRUMAN BECAME THE FIRST PRESIDENT
TO ADDRESS THE LEADING CIVIL RIGHTS ORGANIZATION,
THE NAACP.
5,000 VETERANS WERE ON HAND
TO HEAR A MESSAGE THEY HAD FOUGHT LONG AND HARD FOR.
Narrator: TRUMAN ISSUED AN EXECUTIVE ORDER
THAT ENDED RACIAL SEGREGATION IN THE MILITARY.
EVEN THOUGH DESEGREGATION
WOULD STILL TAKE MANY YEARS TO ACHIEVE,
THIS REMAINS AN EARLY, MEANINGFUL CHAPTER
IN THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT
THAT WAS PARTLY WRITTEN IN GERMANY.
IT PAVED THE WAY FOR CAREERS
LIKE THAT OF A YOUNG, RECENTLY PROMOTED LIEUTENANT
WHOSE FIRST DEPLOYMENT ABROAD WAS IN GERMANY--
COLIN POWELL.
Colin Powell: IT WAS A LONG STRUGGLE,
BUT NO INSTITUTION DID MORE
TO DEMONSTRATE THE FALLACY OF RACISM
THAN THE UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES.
WE WERE THE MOST SOCIALLY PROGRESSIVE INSTITUTION
IN AMERICA.
I ARRIVED IN GELNHAUSEN, EAST OF FRANKFURT,
IN JANUARY OF 1959.
AND YOU HAVE TO CONSIDER WHERE WE WERE IN THE UNITED STATES
AT THAT POINT.
IN THE LATE '50s,
WE HAD SEEN THE RISE OF DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING.
Martin Luther King, Jr.: WE DO WHAT IS RIGHT
AS A NATION ON THE ONE HAND,
AND YET ON THE OTHER HAND
WE HAVE THOSE FORCES THAT ARE AGAINST DEMOCRACY.
Powell: WHILE WE WERE PUTTING TROOPS IN GERMANY
TO GUARD AGAINST THE RUSSIANS,
PRESIDENT EISENHOWER HAD TO PUT TROOPS
INTO SEVERAL CITIES IN AMERICA
TO GUARD AGAINST RACISM AGAINST STUDENTS.
SO EVEN THEN, IN THE '50s, WHILE WE WERE STRUGGLING,
WE WERE IN MANY WAYS BETTER OFF
WHEN WE WERE STATIONED IN GERMANY.
I'LL NEVER FORGET ONE COLD, COLD WINTER DAY
OUT IN THE FOREST TO THE WEST OF FULDA.
WE WOKE UP--
I'M JUST A 22-YEAR-OLD, 21-YEAR-OLD LIEUTENANT,
AND THERE WAS A LOCAL FARMHOUSE,
AND THE LADY OF THE HOUSE
CAME OUT WITH HOT KAFFEE AND BROTCHEN FOR THE SOLDIERS.
AND SHE SAID, "WE'RE SO GLAD YOU'RE HERE,"
AND WE DRANK THE COFFEE AND ATE THE BREAD.
AND SO MY EXPERIENCE IN GERMANY WAS, YOU KNOW,
HOPEFULLY COLUMBUS, GEORGIA, IN A FEW YEARS
WILL BE LIKE GELNHAUSEN.
Narrator: AFRICAN AMERICAN GIs, ONCE CONFINED TO SERVICE ROLES,
WERE NOW REPRESENTED IN ALL MILITARY UNITS,
EVEN AMONG THE OFFICERS' RANKS.
[ROCK 'N ROLL MUSIC PLAYING]
Powell: MY BEST RECOLLECTION OF THE GERMAN POPULATION
WAS GLAD WE ARE THERE,
BECAUSE THERE WAS ANOTHER PART OF THE CONTEXT
THAT YOU HAVE TO KEEP IN MIND--
THE COLD WAR.
Narrator: AS THE COLD WAR HEATED UP,
COLIN POWELL STOOD AT THE FRONT LINE
OF A CONFLICT THAT COULD ESCALATE AT ANY TIME.
Powell: AND THE PEOPLE OF GERMANY
KNEW THAT THE RUSSIAN ARMY
WAS JUST ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE FULDA GAP,
WHICH WAS MY BATTLE POSITION.
WE HAD THE NARROWEST PART OF THE NATO FRONTS.
IF THEY GOT THROUGH, THEY WERE AT THE BRIDGES OVER THE RHINE,
AND GERMANY WOULD BE CUT IN HALF.
Narrator: POLITICS AFFECTED PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS
BETWEEN GIs AND GERMANS,
ESPECIALLY IN DIVIDED BERLIN.
Harold Linton: I GOT TO BERLIN,
I THINK ON AUGUST 26, 1960.
AND I MET INGRID ON SEPTEMBER 2, 1960,
SO I WASN'T THERE ALMOST A LITTLE OVER A WEEK,
AND I SAW INGRID FOR THE FIRST TIME.
Narrator: TODAY, INGRID AND HAROLD LINTON LIVE IN ARIZONA.
BUT BERLIN REMAINS THEIR HOME AWAY FROM HOME.
Harold Linton: I WAS IN THE INTELLIGENCE FIELD,
RIGHT, AS A LINGUIST.
WE WERE TRYING TO MAKE SURE THAT WE COULD MAINTAIN FREEDOM
NOT ONLY FOR THE GERMANS,
BUT FOR THE AMERICANS AS WELL, TOO.
Ingrid: AND THAT'S WHY HAROLD THOUGHT FOR THE LONGEST TIME
WHEN WE STARTED DATING
THAT I WAS A SPY.
AND I HAVE A FUNNY REMEMBRANCE.
I HAD A BOXER DOG,
AND I WALKED THE BOXER DOG IN THE GRUNEWALD IN BERLIN,
AND I WANTED HAROLD TO WALK WITH ME,
AND HE WOULDN'T GO INTO THE WOODS WITH ME.
AND I COULDN'T FIGURE OUT...
YOU KNOW, I DIDN'T KNOW THAT HE THOUGHT I WAS A SPY.
Harold: YOU WOULD GET THESE PROFESSIONAL INDOCTRINATIONS
EVERY DAY ABOUT, "BE CAREFUL WHO YOU MEET, WHO YOU TALK TO,
AND ESPECIALLY PRETTY GIRLS WHO ARE VERY NICE TO YOU."
SO, AGAINST THAT BACKGROUND, I MEET...
SIX DAYS LATER I MEET A VERY PRETTY GIRL IN BERLIN,
AND ALL THIS STUFF IS GOING THROUGH MY HEAD.
Ingrid: SO FINALLY HE WALKED WITH ME,
AND I GUESS HE REALIZED I WAS NOT A SPY.
WHEN I MET HAROLD
AND I TRIED TO INTRODUCE HIM TO MY FAMILY,
MY FATHER DIDN'T EVEN WANT TO TALK TO HIM.
HE DIDN'T EVEN WANT TO LOOK AT HIM.
Harold: I TRIED MY FEW WORDS OF GERMAN,
AND I TRIED TO BE AS POLITE AND RESPECTFUL AS I COULD.
UM...
Ingrid: AND MY FATHER, TO HIM, THAT WAS...
NO, NO WAY...
THAT HIS DAUGHTER WOULD MARRY A BLACK GUY--NO.
Narrator: THEIR GERMAN-AMERICAN LOVE STORY
WAS RUDELY INTERRUPTED BY A SUDDEN CRISIS.
AUGUST 13, 1961.
THE COMMUNIST GOVERNMENT OF EAST GERMANY
TRIED TO STOP THE EXODUS OF ITS CITIZENS
TO THE FLOURISHING WEST
BY ERECTING THE BERLIN WALL.
Ingrid: WE WENT THERE AND SAW THE TANKS.
AND THEN YOU SAW PEOPLE CLIMBING OVER THE HALFWAY-BUILT WALL,
PEOPLE JUMPING OUT OF WINDOWS, YOU KNOW, INTO THE WESTERN PART.
IT WAS ALL, TO US, SO UNREAL.
Harold: MY FIRST THOUGHT WAS,
"GOD, I MEET THE LOVE OF MY LIFE,
I WANT TO MARRY HER,
AND THESE GUYS ARE GONNA BUILD A WALL,
AND WE'LL NEVER GET OUT."
THEN I THOUGHT, AS I GOT MORE SERIOUS ABOUT IT,
I THOUGHT, "WHOA, WAIT A MINUTE. YOU COULD DIE HERE."
Ingrid: THE AMERICANS BROUGHT IN TROOPS OVER TROOPS INTO BERLIN
FROM WESTERN GERMANY.
Narrator: AMERICAN AND RUSSIAN TANKS
CONFRONT EACH OTHER AT CHECKPOINT CHARLIE
FOR 48 HOURS,
WITH PERMISSION TO FIRE.
SOME AFRICAN AMERICAN SOLDIERS,
CHARGED WITH DEFENDING THE FREEDOM OF THE WESTERN WORLD
FAR FROM HOME,
EXPERIENCED MIXED FEELINGS.
Harold: IT SOUNDS STRANGE FOR SOMEONE WHO SITS ON A TANK.
IMAGINE A BLACK SOLDIER SITTING IN A TANK,
PREPARED, IF HE'S GIVEN THE ORDER,
TO BLOW SOMETHING UP.
BUT NOW HE'S ENDORSING, ON THE OTHER HAND,
A NONVIOLENT MOVEMENT BACK IN HIS HOME COUNTRY.
I MEAN, THINK ABOUT ALL THE HEAD GAMES
THAT YOU GO THROUGH AT THAT POINT.
Narrator: IMAGES FROM BACK HOME GAVE THEM THE IMPRESSION
THAT A WAR WAS RAGING IN THEIR OWN COUNTRY.
RACISTS LIKE THE KU KLUX ***
WOULD DO ANYTHING, NO MATTER HOW RUTHLESS,
TO PRESERVE THEIR WAY OF LIFE--
AN ATTITUDE BOB ZELLNER REMEMBERS WELL.
Bob Zellner: MY FATHER GREW UP IN BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA,
WHERE HE WAS A MEMBER OF THE ***.
WHEN I WAS IN HIGH SCHOOL, I WAS RECRUITED BY THE ***.
THEY WENT TO A BLACK AREA,
AND THEY COMMITTED ATROCITIES AGAINST BLACK PEOPLE
WHILE I WAS IN THE CAR.
AND THEY INSISTED
THAT I HIT A BLACK PERSON WITH A BASEBALL BAT
FROM THE CAR, A PASSING CAR,
AND I REFUSED TO DO THAT.
I'M NOT GOING TO COMMIT AN ACT OF VIOLENCE
AGAINST AN INNOCENT PERSON, NO MATTER WHAT COLOR THEY ARE.
Narrator: BOB ZELLNER SAW RACIAL SEGREGATION
AS A RESTRICTION ON HIS OWN FREEDOM.
HE FOUND ROLE MODELS AMONG CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVISTS,
INCLUDING VETERANS LIKE MEDGAR EVERS.
Zellner: THOSE VETERANS OF THE MILITARY,
MANY OF THEM HAD SERVED IN EUROPE,
WERE MENTORS OF OURS.
THEY TAUGHT US SURVIVAL TECHNIQUES
IN MISSISSIPPI, IN ALABAMA.
[TELEPHONE RINGING]
Narrator: MEDGAR EVERS BECAME
THE MOST PROMINENT CIVIL RIGHTS LEADER IN MISSISSIPPI.
Bunch: THAT IS LIKE BEING THE MOST VISIBLE TARGET
IN THE PLACE THAT HATED YOU THE MOST.
[TELEPHONE RINGING]
Narrator: MEDGAR EVERS' DEATH
WOULD GALVANIZE THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT.
[CANNON FIRES]
GIs STATIONED IN GERMANY
FOLLOWED THIS VIOLENCE WITH GROWING ANGER.
Thomas Stoney: I HAD SOME GERMAN FRIENDS
THAT WERE FARMERS, YOU KNOW.
AT THAT TIME, I DIDN'T HAVE A TV.
HE DID HAVE ONE DOWNSTAIRS, BLACK AND WHITE.
AND THEN, IN BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA,
THE *** BOMBED THIS BLACK CHURCH.
AND FOUR LITTLE GIRLS WERE KILLED IN THERE.
AND I REMEMBER HIS WORDS WHEN THE NEWS CAME ON THE GERMAN TV.
[SPEAKING GERMAN]
HE WAS SHOCKED!
AND I REMEMBER HIS WORDS, WHAT HE SAID IN GERMAN.
HE LOOKED AT ME AND SAID, "THEY DO THIS TO THE KINDERS?"
HE COULDN'T BELIEVE THEY'D DO THAT TO CHILDREN.
HE COULDN'T.
Joe McPhee: FOUR LITTLE GIRLS WERE KILLED.
SO, THIS KIND OF THING WAS GOING ON IN THE UNITED STATES
WHILE I'M SITTING IN GERMANY,
SUPPOSEDLY KEEPING THE WORLD SAFE FOR DEMOCRACY,
WHATEVER THE HELL THAT MEANS.
Narrator: IN THE EARLY '60s,
JOE McPHEE WAS A MEMBER OF AN ARMY BAND
AND STATIONED IN GERMANY.
McPhee: AFRICAN AMERICAN GIs EXPERIENCED A SEGMENT OF LIFE
THAT THEY WERE NOT ALL THAT FAMILIAR WITH.
YOU CANNOT GO HOME AGAIN.
YOU COME HOME, AND VIRTUALLY NOTHING HAD CHANGED AT HOME,
BUT YOU HAD CHANGED CONSIDERABLY.
Patrice: COMING HOME AT THE END OF WORLD WAR II,
NOTHING HAD CHANGED.
MY WAY OF LIFE WAS THE SAME AS WHEN I LEFT.
BUT THERE WE WERE,
A THOUSAND MILES AWAY,
FIGHTING FOR OTHER PEOPLE'S RIGHTS.
McPhee: I MEAN, ONCE YOU HAVE A TASTE OF FREEDOM
IN ANY RESPECT,
ONE DOESN'T WANT TO GO BACK TO THE WAY THINGS WERE.
SO IT WAS A MOVEMENT THAT WAS ON ITS WAY.
THERE WAS NO STOPPING IT.
Narrator: EVERY YEAR,
CIVIL RIGHTS ICON AND CONGRESSMAN JOHN LEWIS
LEADS A PILGRIMAGE TO THE LANDMARKS OF THE MOVEMENT.
ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT
IS THE EDMUND PETTUS BRIDGE IN SELMA, ALABAMA.
ON MARCH 7, 1965,
LEWIS LED A MARCH FOR AFRICAN AMERICAN VOTING RIGHTS.
HIS CO-LEADER THAT DAY WAS A WORLD WAR II VETERAN,
THE SOLE SURVIVOR OF A NAZI BOMBING RAID.
HIS NAME: HOSEA WILLIAMS.
Narrator: 20 YEARS EARLIER,
HAVING JUST RETURNED FROM THE WAR,
HOSEA WILLIAMS, STILL IN HIS UNIFORM,
TRIED TO GET A GLASS OF WATER AT A SEGREGATED BUS STATION.
Lewis: THIS IS CROSSING THE EDMUND PETTUS BRIDGE
ON SUNDAY, MARCH 7, 1965--
600 OF US CROSSING THE ALABAMA RIVER.
THIS IS A YOUNG MAN NAMED HOSEA WILLIAMS, A VETERAN.
THIS IS A YOUNG JOHN LEWIS.
A FEW MOMENTS AFTER THIS PICTURE WAS TAKEN...
THIS IS WHAT HAPPENED TO ME.
THAT SUNDAY BECAME KNOWN AS BLOODY SUNDAY.
Man on loudspeaker: GO HOME OR GO TO YOUR CHURCH.
THIS MARCH WILL NOT CONTINUE.
[SCREAMING]
Lewis: I THOUGHT I... I THOUGHT I SAW DEATH.
I THOUGHT I WAS GOING TO DIE.
[YELLING AND COMMOTION]
Bunch: PEOPLE OF GOOD WILL, REGARDLESS OF RACE,
BEGAN TO ASK THEMSELVES, "IS THAT FAIR?
IS THAT AMERICA?"
Narrator: IN TIME,
THROUGH STRUGGLE AND SACRIFICE,
AMERICA DID OVERCOME.
DECADES OF CHANGE AND HEALING HAVE PASSED,
AND YET THERE ARE STILL SOME UNFINISHED STORIES.
IN SEPTEMBER 2012, AT THE AGE OF 66,
ELVIRA RYPACEK MET HER FATHER, ROSS WALKER, FOR THE FIRST TIME.
AND SHE GAINED A WHOLE NEW FAMILY.
[LAUGHTER]
Ross Walker: I CAME TO NUREMBERG
IN THE LATER PART OF '45.
THE WAR WAS JUST OVER.
YOUR MOTHER, SHE WAS A BEAUTIFUL LADY.
[SPEAKING GERMAN]
Rypacek: DID YOU LOVE MY MOTHER?
Walker: JA. YES, VERY MUCH SO.
THE GERMAN GIRLS REALLY LOVED THE BLACK SOLDIERS.
THEY TAUGHT THEM WHAT THEY CALLED JITTERBUG.
I COULD PICK A GIRL UP, THROW HER INTO THE AIR,
AND CATCH HER BEFORE SHE HIT THE FLOOR.
I LEFT GERMANY IN SEPTEMBER 1946
AND CAME BACK TO THE UNITED STATES,
AND SO I WAS NEVER ABLE TO KEEP UP WITH HER.
AND I'M SO HAPPY THAT YOU CAME TO SEE ABOUT ME.
I AM SO HAPPY.
I AM SO HAPPY.
Narrator: THE U.S. SUPREME COURT
FINALLY LEGALIZED INTERRACIAL MARRIAGE IN 1967.
CHARLES JOHNSON
HAD TO LEAVE BEHIND HIS GERMAN GIRLFRIEND IN 1951
TO BECOME A LAWYER AND THEN A JUDGE.
Johnson: I KNEW WHAT I WANTED TO DO WITH MY LIFE,
SO I KNEW I HAD TO LEAVE GERMANY.
AND I HATED TO LEAVE.
BUT I KNEW THAT IF I WAS GOING TO FOLLOW MY DREAMS,
I WOULD HAVE TO LEAVE.
MY GIRLFRIEND WOULD HAVE MARRIED ME
AND COME TO THE UNITED STATES, HAD I LET HER.
I KNEW THAT WASN'T GONNA HAPPEN.
THERE WAS NO WAY I COULD COME BACK TO THE UNITED STATES
WITH A WHITE PERSON AS A WIFE.
THAT WAS TOTALLY OUT OF THE QUESTION
WITH WHAT I HAD IN MIND FOR MY LIFE,
WHICH WAS TO COME BACK AND GO TO LAW SCHOOL.
Narrator: FOR THREE DECADES,
CHARLES JOHNSON FOUGHT FOR CIVIL RIGHTS
AS AN NAACP LEADER, LAWYER, AND JUDGE.
Johnson: I WOULD SAY A THIRD OF THE MEMBERS OF OUR LOCAL NAACP
WERE VETERANS.
AND I THINK THEY DID IT BECAUSE THEY WERE LIKE ME.
THEY SAW THAT THERE WAS A BETTER LIFE
THAT AFRICAN AMERICANS COULD HAVE.
I WAS CHAIR OF THE NATIONAL LEGAL COMMITTEE
OF THE NAACP.
AND HERE WAS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR ME, AS A LAWYER NOW,
TO CONTRIBUTE
BY TRYING TO OPEN UP THIS COUNTRY
IN A CIVIL RIGHTS AREA
FOR THE NEXT GENERATION OF PEOPLE WHO WERE COMING ALONG,
SO THEY WOULD NOT HAVE TO EXPERIENCE
WHAT I HAD EXPERIENCED.
Narrator: THE FIGHT FOR CIVIL RIGHTS
HAS BEEN LONG AND HARD.
BUT ONE MOMENT OF TRIUMPH SHINES ABOVE THE REST:
THE MARCH ON WASHINGTON.
JOHN LEWIS WAS ONE OF THE ORGANIZERS OF THE MARCH
AND IS THE LAST SURVIVING SPEAKER FROM THAT HISTORIC DAY.
Narrator: THE MARCHERS INCLUDED MANY VETERANS,
WHOSE GRIT AND EXPERIENCE WERE INSTRUMENTAL TO THE CAUSE.
Lewis: YOU HAD MANY, MANY VETERANS.
MANY OF THE SOLDIERS THAT SERVED IN GERMANY AFTER THE WAR,
THEY DIDN'T SEE THE SAME STAIN OF RACISM AND DIVISION
THAT THEY FELT WHEN THEY CAME BACK TO AMERICA.
IT HAD A PROFOUND IMPACT.
THEY CAME BACK READY TO SERVE,
READY TO LEAD.
AND MANY OF THE LEADERS OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT
WERE VETERANS,
THEY WERE SOLDIERS.
THEY KNEW HOW TO HELP ORGANIZE.
THEY KNEW SOMETHING ABOUT MILITARY DISCIPLINE.
Narrator: JOSEPH HAIRSTON WAS A SECURITY OFFICIAL
ON THE MARCH ON WASHINGTON.
Hairston: HOW DO YOU ORGANIZE
IF YOU GOT POTENTIALLY THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE,
WITH TROUBLEMAKERS
WHO ARE GOING TO TRY TO START A FIGHT OR SOMETHING
TO DISCREDIT YOU?
AND WE ENDED UP USING A REGIMENTAL ARRANGEMENT:
PLATOONS, COMPANIES, BATTALIONS, REGIMENT.
OUR PLAN WAS
THAT IF SOMETHING HAPPENED AT THE LOWEST LEVEL,
YOU'D SURROUND THEM.
NOT FIGHT, JUST SURROUND THEM.
AND THEN TALKING UP TO ME...
I TALK TO THE DEPUTY CHIEF.
THE DEPUTY CHIEF HAS THE POLICE, WHO WERE STATIONED AROUND.
WHEN MARTIN LUTHER KING MADE HIS FAMOUS SPEECH,
IF THE CAMERA HAD PANNED UP,
I WAS ON TOP OF THE LINCOLN MEMORIAL,
BECAUSE THERE WITH THE RADIO, I CAN SEE AND CONTROL EVERYBODY.
Martin Luther King, Jr.: I HAVE A DREAM TODAY.
[CHEERING]
Martin Luther King, Jr.: ONE DAY RIGHT THERE IN ALABAMA,
LITTLE BLACK BOYS AND BLACK GIRLS
WILL BE ABLE TO JOIN HANDS
WITH LITTLE WHITE BOYS AND WHITE GIRLS
AS SISTERS AND BROTHERS.
I HAVE A DREAM TODAY!
Brown: I WAS STANDING ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE PODIUM,
UNDER THESE TREES,
AND I COULD ACTUALLY MOVE OUT AND SEE MARTIN LUTHER KING
GIVING THE "I HAVE A DREAM" SPEECH.
THAT WAS ONE OF THE HIGHLIGHTS OF MY LIFE.
Martin Luther King, Jr.: BECAUSE I HAVE A DREAM
THAT MY FOUR LITTLE CHILDREN WILL ONE DAY LIVE IN A NATION
WHERE THEY WILL NOT BE JUDGED BY THE COLOR OF THEIR SKIN,
BUT BY THE CONTENT OF THEIR CHARACTER.
I HAVE A DREAM TODAY!
[CHEERING]
Bass: WHEN HE RAISED HIS VOICE AND HE SAID, "I HAVE A DREAM!"
AND I LOOKED UP AND HE SAID, "I HAVE A DREAM THAT ONE DAY
PEOPLE WILL BE JUDGED NOT BY THE COLOR OF THEIR SKIN,
BUT BY THE CONTENT OF THEIR CHARACTER"...
I CRIED.
I CRIED.
Narrator: IT'S AN IRONY OF HISTORY
THAT SOME SEEDS OF THE AMERICAN CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT
TOOK ROOT IN THE RUINS OF NAZI GERMANY.
THEY BORE FRUIT IN THE STRENGTH AND RESOLVE
OF VETERANS WHO RETURNED HOME TO CONTINUE THE STRUGGLE
AND LAID THE GROUNDWORK
FOR "CHANGE THAT AMERICANS COULD BELIEVE IN."
Johnson: IN MY LIFETIME,
I NEVER THOUGHT THAT I WOULD LIVE TO SEE
AN AFRICAN AMERICAN PRESIDENT.
SOME OF US HAVE WORKED VERY HARD OVER ALL THE YEARS
TO RAISE THE LEVEL OF AFRICAN AMERICANS
IN THE UNITED STATES.
AND THEN TO SEE IT REACH THAT POINT,
A POINT WE DIDN'T DREAM WOULD HAPPEN IN OUR LIFETIME,
WAS MORE THAN YOU COULD ALMOST STAND.
IT WAS JUST MARVELOUS TO SEE THAT HAPPEN.
[CHEERING]
President Obama: THANK YOU.
[CHEERING]
WE, THE PEOPLE,
DECLARE TODAY THAT THE MOST EVIDENT OF TRUTHS--
THAT ALL OF US ARE CREATED EQUAL--
IS THE STAR THAT GUIDES US STILL...
JUST AS IT GUIDED OUR FOREBEARS
THROUGH SENECA FALLS AND SELMA AND STONEWALL,
LET US ANSWER THE CALL OF HISTORY,
AND CARRY INTO AN UNCERTAIN FUTURE
THAT PRECIOUS LIGHT OF FREEDOM.
Narrator: LEON BASS STILL FEELS IT'S HIS DUTY
TO SPEAK OUT FOR FREEDOM AND AGAINST RACISM.
Bass: YOU SHOULD BE TELLING THEM
ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU IN YOUR HOME COUNTRY,
WHEN THEY TREATED YOU SO TERRIBLY.
YOU SHOULD TELL THEM ABOUT WHAT YOU SAW AT THAT CAMP
IN NAZI GERMANY.
I'M HERE TODAY TO TALK TO YOU,
TO TELL YOU THAT YOU HAVE TO SPEAK UP.
Narrator: AFRICAN AMERICAN SOLDIERS
HAVE WRITTEN AN EXTRAORDINARY CHAPTER OF HISTORY--
ONE LONG OVERLOOKED.
THEY FOUGHT A WAR FOR FREEDOM AND DEMOCRACY ON TWO FRONTS--
IN GERMANY AND AT HOME--
AND WON BOTH.
THEY SECURED LIBERTY AND PEACE.
AND, BOLSTERED BY THE BREATH OF FREEDOM
THEY EXPERIENCED IN GERMANY,
THEY UNLEASHED THE WINDS OF CHANGE IN AMERICA.
[CHEERING]
Martin Luther King, Jr.: I HAVE A DREAM.
Powell: IT WAS A BREATH OF FREEDOM NOT ONLY FOR ME,
BUT FOR THE GERMANS,
WHO MIGHT HAVE THOUGHT OTHERWISE ABOUT BLACK SOLDIERS,
BUT RECOGNIZED THAT WE CAN DO THE JOB AS WELL AS ANYONE
AND YOU SHOULD NOT JUDGE US BY THE COLOR OF OUR SKIN.
Harold Linton: THERE WAS NEVER A QUESTION IN MY MIND
THAT GERMANY WOULD BE REUNITED...
JUST AS AT SOME LEVEL
YOU THOUGHT THAT THE MOVEMENT IN THE UNITED STATES WOULD PREVAIL
BECAUSE IT WAS THE RIGHT THING.
AND YOU JUST CAN'T SUPPRESS THE RIGHT THING FOREVER.
YOU JUST CAN'T.
I HOPE THAT DOESN'T SOUND NAIVE TO PEOPLE,
BUT I BELIEVE THIS TO THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART:
THE MAJORITY OF THE PEOPLE IN THIS WORLD ARE FOR GOOD.