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Saturday, November 10, 2007
“1st” paratroopers proved black men could jump”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Many of us know about the Tuskegee Airmen, America’s first black military airmen. At the very least, we’ve heard of them.
But what do you know about the Triple Nickles?
Honestly, I’d never heard of them till I talked to Robert Sample, a former paratrooper and military history buff. His interest is in black pioneers, their little-known stories and historic “firsts.”
Which led to his discovery of the Triple Nickles. The name itself intrigues. It stands for the 555th Parachute Infantry Division. 1944. World War II. A group of 16 black men became the nation’s first black paratroopers.
“It’s a history that’s untold,” said Sample, 62, of Norcross. “It’s not in the history books.”
When it comes to race and gender, this country loves “firsts.” The first black coach to win a Super Bowl (Tony Dungy of the Indianapolis Colts). The first woman to oversee the Georgia Department of Transportation (Gena Abraham). We applaud and acknowledge them, the cultural change, the penetration of so-called glass ceilings.
Back in the day, though, the significance of being “first” carried more cachet, notably for blacks. Back when “colored” and “white” signs were on public water fountains and bathrooms. Back when the military, like our society, lawfully segregated. Black officers couldn’t lounge in the officers’ club. Black infantrymen were assigned menial jobs.
Yet years before the military integrated, the Triple Nickles persevered. They performed the best with what they had, with the system they had to work within and proved the naysayers wrong.
Black men could jump.
The unit didn’t see World War II combat, but it still served. It was mobilized to fight forest fires in the West caused by Japanese incendiary balloons. Some original members of the Triple Nickles got to see combat during the Korean War as part of the 2nd Ranger Infantry Company, according to the Web site for the 555th Parachute Infantry Association, Inc., an alumni outfit.
Today, three members are still alive, including Joseph L. Murchison, president of the Tampa-based association. He said the nation’s first black paratroopers, like so much history, aren’t well known.
Something to ponder on Veterans Day.
“Black folk nowadays have never heard of the Triple Nickles,” Murchison said. “They don’t even know the army was segregated.”
Sample does.
And when it comes to the Triple Nickles, he’s a walking history. He first heard of the unit in 1995 at a veterans hospital in Philly, his hometown. He eventually joined a Triple Nickles chapter there and started giving speeches and presentations.
Now, he hopes to do the same here. He moved to Gwinnett about two years ago to be near family. A son, Talib Sample, 28, is a Marine stationed at Dobbins Air Force Base.
“Georgia is a patriotic state - red, white, blue, apple pie, Chevrolet, all those things,” Sample told me. “So I think people will be interested in this. I want to concentrate on high schools and colleges so young kids can know what African-Americans really went though, how they worked with it and opened doors to make things better.”
Rick Badie’s column appears on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Contact him at 770-263-3875 or e-mail rbadie@ajc.com.
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