Courage Has No Color: The True Story of the Triple Nickles, America's First Black Paratroopers (review)

The blatant injustice and grim irony of fighting European fascism in World War II with a segregated United States military may have been ignored or buried by the top brass, but it certainly wasn't lost on the black soldiers trained for combat and then relegated to service positions. The extraordinary convergence of a Democratic president (FDR) up for reelection, a black sergeant (Walter Morris) determined to improve his company's morale, a first lady (Eleanor Roosevelt) with an activist agenda, and a black Brigadier General (Benjamin O. Davis) putting pressure on the War Office made the formation of the 555th Parachute Infantry Company (later Battalion) a reality. The Triple Nickles, as they were nicknamed (the alternative spelling is traditional), seemed destined to break the pattern of blacks barred from combat. As highly trained as the white paratroopers with whom they nominally shared facilities, the 555th were battle ready and anxious for deployment, but it wasn't until the close of the war that they were finally sent to Oregon on a mission to put out forest fires ignited by Japanese balloon bombs, the very existence of which was kept under tight wraps by the government. Was this a legitimate assignment, or simply another ruse for keeping a group of unwanted men from fighting alongside white soldiers? To date, Stone reports, no definite answer has been reached, but the lingering discrimination in the military throughout the war, and the skill, loyalty, and heroism of the paratroopers themselves, is unquestionable. Richly illustrated with photographs, this compelling story of the Triple Nickles' training and Pacific coast mission will be of particular interest to young teens who have read Shelley Pearsall's Jump into the Sky (BCCB 10/12), and the appended bibliography, timeline, notes, and index will guide their further exploration of these heroes.