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>> each week american history tv visits museums and historic places. next, we visit the world war ii museum in new orleans to learn about the exhibit, fighting for the right to fight, african-american expenses in world war ii. kim: i'm kim guise. we have a special exhibit at the museum that opened in july of 2015. and runs through may. at which point we launch a national show. we are particularly proud of this exhibit, and artifacts therein. there are some fantastic stories which i will tell you about shortly. we crafted this special exhibit with the help of the national advisory board. so african-american scholars from around the country, including the smithsonian institution, who helped guide and steer the conversation, in

regards to the exhibit and the african-american experience in world war ii. when thinking about the importance of this story, and the importance of african-american stories during world war ii, the founder of the national world war ii museum, stephen ambrose wrote in citizen soldiers that the world's greatest democracy fought the world's biggest racist but the segregated army. that is really the great irony of world war ii, were one of them at least. those are some of the stories we're trying to tell of this exhibit. the mission of the world war ii museum, the national world war ii museum is to tell the story of the american experience during world war ii. 16 million americans fought in world war ii. 1.1 million americans were african-americans. and so those stories are crucial to the american experience in

world war ii. those the stories we tell in this exhibit. the exhibit is fashioned partially in chronological ways. we begin before the war, and we tell stories during the war, and then we follow-up with the postwar stories. when the u.s. is going into world war ii, many americans are living in a segregated country. so that is how we begin the story. a segregated situation that african-americans are living under. the interwar period sees a rise in ku klux klan activity. this is an application for membership in the kkk. the 1920's saw a resurgence in

kkk membership. and then you see tangible evidence, segregated facility signs. we serve colored carryout only. this is from georgia. another sign for montgomery, alabama. this is the life faced by african-americans, many of whom would shortly volunteer or enlist in the american military. so although african-americans served in every major american conflict prior to world war ii, they were seen as second-class soldiers, second-class citizens first of all and then second-class soldiers. so the american army produced evidence to back up this claim, to backup the racist practices at the time. -- theng the publication

employment of negro manpower and war, which states in past wars, the negro has made fair labor, but an inferior technician. as a fighter, he is inferior to the white man, even when led by white officers. these are the practices and the spirit of the time, when the u.s. was thrust into war in december of 1941. the national world war ii museum's collection includes nearly 7000 world history interviews with world war ii veterans. that is a program that we continue to this day. it is an urgent program, and no one can tell the story like those who lived it. the stories are very important in our collection. we feature several in this exhibit, including a story from harold lloyd.

many of his stories can be seen on our website and in the digital collection site as well in their entirety. in this exhibit we feature snippets rather than clips from the stories. one story we feature in this exhibit is harold ward, who served aboard the san francisco. he was badly wounded during the naval battle and he tells the story of how he wanted to serve his country, but he was serving his country fighting for the country by shining shoes. and how angry that made him. he said that he had to suppress the anger, or he would have gone mad and ended up in the nut house. that's a very important story. when telling the story of african-american experience during world war ii. another story that harold ward tells is that he wears his metals in his body.

when he was wounded aboard the san francisco, he was peppered with shrapnel all throughout his body. and throughout the decades, the later decades, the shrapnel, which had never been removed, would start poking out of his skin. that reminder of his service was there for the rest of his life. one important thing about this exhibit, and i think why is important here at the museum now is the exhibit opened in july, last july. we began to craft it earlier in the year. and since the exhibits open, two of the members featured in the exhibit have passed away. so harold ward died at the age of 94. in june.

so here, we feature a letter from edward carter junior, who is a medal of honor recipients. he has such a unique story, an incredible one. he wrote this letter home to his wife in 1942, when he is training in fort benning, georgia. many african-americans, when it went into service in the american military, if they had not been from the south, many of them had to train in the south. and so their military training experience was often the first time they experienced jim crow laws in segregation. that was a harsh welcome to the american military for many of those servicemen. edward carter wrote to his wife about an incident in fort benning.

he writes: was killed, shot for not getting off the white blood -- white bus. killed in cold blood. framed, that is one reason i don't go to town. i would kill some of those white to get killed myself. we are fighting for a great cause, long live the usa, home of the free and the brave. the campaign for equal rights at home, and the campaign for democracy and for freedom abroad -- democracy at home and abroad is referred to as the double victory or the double v campaign. one rallying cry for this campaign, which was spurred by the black press. rallying cry came from a one 26-year-old cafeteria worker, james thompson, when he writes should i sacrifice my life to live half american?

would it be too much to demand full citizenship rights in exchange for the sacrificing of my life? americans were fighting and being injured, living with shrapnel and their body, yet they are still being denied , equal rights. this piece that you see here is from a local person from new orleans. this is his aviator bag. he trained with the 332nd group, better known as the tuskegee airmen. you will see here that it says he is the last surviving tuskegee airmen from new orleans, however, calvin read did pass away at age 90 just last month. we were sorry to lose him, he was a good friend of the museums. he saying here with his barbershop quartet on his 90th

birthday. it was very special. he didn't know this was here, he had seen the exhibit and was very proud of his service and of the museum. and of this display. the 332nd fighter group, tuskegee airmen is probably -- has come to symbolize african-american participation in world war ii. however, only 992 african-american men were trained with the --332nd. the majority were relegated to labor roles. to support, supply, transportation, and labor battalions. you see that in the navy, takes the form of stewards, mess attendance, hooks, and in the army, it's transportation and quartermaster. so this is the dress blue jumper

of connecticut native lawrence anderson. he was part of the crew of the uss lexington. he served as a stewards made. you see the rating insignia. and the dress blue jumper here. anderson served meals have a polish silverware, and performed duties that were polishing shoes for the military. similar to what harold ward said earlier. fighting for our country by shining shoes. anderson did receive, like ward, a purple heart for wounds sustained when the lexington was torpedoed. by a japanese plane in december , 1943. so african-americans who served

with the marine corps were trained separately from white marine corps recruits. the separate, segregated training facility was in north carolina. african american marines during world war ii were known as montford point marines. this was a pioneering group. we are fortunate to have several uniforms in the national world war ii museum's collection. from these pioneers to the u.s. marine corps. this is a uniform worn by charles allen, his son spoke recently at the exhibit's opening. he said that his father wanted his dress blues, this was a very significant achievements. not only for african-americans, but a significant achievement for anyone to receive these dress blues.

he was very proud of them. and was very -- the donation of the uniform to the museum's collection is a significant one. we are very proud to have this. this item, this artifact is a bloodstained shirt. it has a piece of shrapnel there from the world war ii service of dr. rother smith, who goes by the name of doc rock. he was a conscientious objector at the time. he objected to service on religious grounds. he was a member of the church of latter day saints. many conscientious objectors served as medics because they did not carry weapons. they didn't carry firearms.

but they did serve their country and many with great distinction. he was attached to the 366 infantry regiment of the 92nd infantry division, which is the buffalo soldiers. one of the segregated african-american outfits. and on december 20 6, 1944, his unit came under attack in italy. german attack he was , injured. this piece of shrapnel actually went into his shoulder. it wasn't removed until 1954. that's a pretty sizable chunk of shrapnel to walk around with for 10 years. when it was removed, he kept it.

you can see where it entered his shirt. it's a fabulous display. after he was wounded in this barrage, he and a couple of other servicemen who were also wounded were left in this house, the rest of the unit had to retreat or be captured. so smith became a guest of the third reich, a pow of the germans. and so not only do we have the piece of shrapnel that went into his shoulder, causing his injuries, but he became a pow of the germans. he spent the rest of the war in 7 a. stalag it's actually where the bulk of american pows were liberated from. here is his german prisoner of war id tag. it looks very similar to the german dog tag.

and then we also have a spoon that he used during the camp. he tells the story that a fork let's all of the food slip through. and in the prison camp, every morsel, every scrap of food was important. the spoon became the essential tool that he used. he said that after the war, after he was liberated in return home, his mom had to show him how to use a fork again. because he didn't want to use a fork. but he had to return to civilized life. and learn how to use a fork again. these items that you see on display, they are really the crown jewels of this exhibit. we have five medals of honor here, our nation's highest military award, highest military decoration.

and this is the largest grouping of medals of honor awarded to african americans since the awarding in 1997. 1997 was not so long ago, it took until 1997 to recognize the achievements of these very unique individuals. so the stories that are associated with these awards read like something superhuman. they are really unbelievable, incredible stories of bravery. not only stories of bravery, but stories of bravery under very harsh conditions. often. when you have the system working against you. we talked about serving under in segregated units, being

considered a second-class soldier, not receiving proper training, not receiving the support of your superiors. when these awards were given out by president clinton, when they were awarded by president clinton in 1997, only one of the seven recipients was still living. and that was vernon baker. at the time, he was awarded the distinguished service cross, it was said that he was not even recommended for the medal of honor because it was known that that would not even have been considered for him because he was african-american. >> first lieutenant martin baker -- vernon baker distinguished courageby extraordinary and action.

1945, lieutenant baker advanced as the head of his weapons platoon, along with company sees three rifle platoons. a german mountain stronghold. moving more rapidly than the rest of the company, lieutenant baker and 25 men reached the south side some 250 yards from the castle within two hours. while searching for a position to set up a machine gun, lieutenant baker observed to cylindrical objects pointing out the slit at the edge of the hill. crawling up and under the opening, he stuck his rifle into this and empty the clip, killing the observation post who occupied it. moving to another position in the same area, lieutenant baker came upon a well camouflaged machine gun nest. he shot and killed both enemy soldiers. after the company commander joined the group, a german soldier appeared from the draw and hurtled a grenade which failed to explode. he shot the enemy soldier.

he then went down into the draw alone. there, he blasted open the concealed entrance of another dugout with a hand grenade. shot one german soldier who emerged after the explosion, tossed another grenade into the dugout and entered, firing his submachine gun, killing two more enemy soldiers. as he climbed back out, enemy machine gun and more fire began to inflict heavy cast is among the group of 25 soldiers, killing or wounding about two thirds. baker then volunteered to cover the withdrawal of the first group, which consisted of mostly walking wounded. and to remain to assist in the evacuation of the more seriously wounded. during the second groups withdrawal, lieutenant baker destroyed to machine gun positions with hand grenades. in all, lieutenant baker accounted for nine dead in her soldiers -- enemy soldiers, the elimination of three observation posts, and the dugout. the following night he

voluntarily led at italian through enemy minefields and heavy fire to obtain the mission objectives. andwriting spirit leadership represent the highest military service. [applause]

kim: it was only 1993 that the u.s. began to investigate stories of discrimination in the awarding of medals. 471, now there were a total of 471 americans who received the medal of honor for service during world war ii. seven of those recipients now, since 1997, are african-american. there's an ongoing investigation into discrimination in the awarding of medals, not just during world war ii, but during

other conflicts as well. and those are still being awarded today. it's possible we will see more medals awarded to african americans over time, as the records and claims are investigated. so we are very proud to have these five medals here on display, these are all on loan to the national world war ii museum. most from family members, then also from michigan's own military and states museum, and from the oklahoma history center. the u.s. army quartermaster museum. this was an effort really that was spearheaded by eileen carter, the daughter-in-law of edward carter junior. she really led the charge in the -- in elaborating on the story of edward carter and how miraculous it is really.

he was raised in india, raised abroad by missionaries, in china. and really was -- thought against a thought racist system. so she spearheaded the charge for his medal. he unfortunately passed away in 1963 at only 47 years old and he was long on by the time that this metal was awarded. but his family did accept this on his honor. >> staff sergeant carter six for nearly -- extruder heroism was an example of the highest traditions of military service. accepting the medal of honor for staff sergeant carter is his son. [applause]

kim: the story of edward carter junior in his service during world war ii is really incredible. he was born to missionary parents in los angeles, the raised in india and china. he ran away at 15 years old and fought with the chinese against japan, and then fought against fascism in the spanish civil war. when he got back to the united states, he joined the army. he was assigned to the role of cook. so again, we see an african-american who, although he has combat experience, and the spanish civil war, relegated to a servant's role. he volunteered for combat in

1944, and was assigned to the 12 armored division. on march 23, 1945, his unit came under attack while advancing. he led a patrol towards the town, but all of his men were killed or wounded. all of them. despite being hit five times, carter destroyed two enemy positions, killed several german soldiers, and captured two others. his unitso provided with important intelligence information, so capturing those prisoners was important. it allowed u.s. forces to advance. so this is the action for which he was decorated with the medal of honor, which was retroactively awarded in 1997. carter remained in the army after the war, but was denied reenlistment in 1949, due to

unfounded suspicions that he was a communist. this was related to his of bringing in china and to his service in the spanish civil war. again we see a postwar story that is not the happiest. so returning home to america didn't always mean a happy homecoming, victory and liberation parades. by many african-americans, coming home -- homecoming was a bittersweet experience. a very disappointing experience to come back to an unchanged america. the one important element to the story is the postwar story. 1.1 million americans served, black americans served in uniform during the war. many hoped that upon returning

home, their service record would mean something. it would mean something to fellow americans. and most were bitterly disappointed. we hear stories of people disembarking the ship, coming home to america and white serviceman had to go one way and black serviceman had to use another ramp and go the opposite way. we see stories of african americans returning home after having served, had to ride in the segregated train car. of course, next to the coal engine. that experience was very different from white americans, who were returning home to tickertape parades in victories celebrations. black americans often return home to an unchanged situation. we had won the victory for

democracy abroad, but that fight for democracy here and for civil rights here in the united states would take decades. and is ongoing, some would say. the work of the museum focuses heavily on the personal story. it is my job to help bring that personal story to the public. you can read numbers all day