Blood on German Snow: An African American Artilleryman in World War II and Beyond

8. Summing Up

CHAPTER 8 Summing Up This book is about my life before and after my service in the U.S. Army. My objective has been to make a record of some of the footprints I have made over my lifetime. They were made in the context of various time periods: from my being born into the false prosperity of the 1920s and brought up in the grim reality of the Depression of the 1930s; through my active participation in the war years; and finally, through my mature adult life, including marriage, family, education, and work. I am now entering the waning years of my life—my steps are slower, my hearing less sharp, my vision blurred, and at times my memory reservoir faulty. Common ailments that my body eagerly shook off at an early age are now lingering on as a permanent component of my body’s landscape. The cycle is nearing completion as I am almost back to where I started. It is prudent, from the point of view for posterity, that I pause here and make this record of some of the various life events that impacted my behavior , and the direction I took, outside the Christian homes I was reared in, including my marriage, my army experience, educational opportunities, and work experiences. My marriage to Hattie Balfour was the crowning event of my life. She brought to it the adhesive needed to keep my floundering and illusive life objectives in focus and is the catalyst that gave me the strength to persevere at times when the odds seemed insurmountable. From the residuals of these encouragements, I learned to meet triumph and disaster and treat both of these impostors just the same. My service with the armed forces of the U.S. Army was the second most important event that impacted my life’s course. In the outlay of events with linkage to army service and being engaged in a war on foreign soils, I was fortunate enough to have survived this carnage. Today, I look back on this event as simply a part of life’s passing parade, from which I learned so much. Regardless of the purpose, my having crossed two oceans and the English Channel on two occasions broadened my horizon of understanding of the world around me and presented me with an expanded vista through which to view the world and its people. I saw, firsthand, people speaking different Summing Up 131 languages, of different phenotypes and likely genotypes, but all with the same hopes, fears, aspirations, and desires to live and to work to make a living wage to support a family. That early-morning encounter with the German family having breakfast in the house we commandeered left me with an enduring feeling, because after their fears of survival were allayed, they sat and finished breakfast. I noticed that before resuming eating, each said a prayer and they offered to share with me their egg, wheat bread, jelly, and coffee. I refused the offer but thanked them. My mind drifted back to my grandmother’s kitchen table at home. Strangely, the meal, style of serving, time for reverence, and sharing were the same as at home. You may ask, how I could even think like this of my enemy? My only answer is we tend to believe at once in evil things and only believe in good upon reflection. Is this not sad? I cannot even imagine how my educational endeavors would have turned out without the financial support I received from the Veterans Administration . Adding to my financial difficulties was my state’s racist policy of not allowing African Americans to enroll in upper-level programs offered at white graduate schools within the state. Going to an upper-level graduate program out of Texas incurred a greater cost to me because of the high out-of-state expenses charged. This denial also added additional cost in my attempt to My home at 4135 Gairloch Lane, Houston, Texas. 132 CHAPTER 8 achieve a level of education that would afford me proper employment for an adequate living standard. I have a deep and loyal feeling today toward the universities that accepted me in both their undergraduate and graduate programs, as did Prairie View A&M University. They accepted me in the raw and taught me so much. I am grateful to Ohio State University for accepting me in their graduate Ph.D. program...