The Michigan chronicle. [volume], January 22, 1944, SECOND NEWS SECTION, Page PAGE ELEVEN, Image 11

About The Michigan chronicle. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1936-current

Image provided by: Central Michigan University, Clark Historical Library

                
NEGRO CHAPLAIN
PLAYS GLORIOUS
PART IN BATTLE
By FLETCHER P. MARTIN
(RaprMMtiag Mmto ■«wipap«r Pooh
GUADALCANAL—(Via. Airmail)
•—One sultry, iktiguing day in New
Guinea Mississippi's battle-scarred
Chaplain Herbert Dubra (captain)
eased from the seat of his dust
ladened command car and headed
for the lister bag. He h?d driven
up the steep and rocky hill leading
to a unit of Negro quartermasters
—yaking a periodical call. The
short, hefty chaplain puffed as a
man tired after the first draught
of the tepid water. He drew an
extraordinary dirty and damp
handkerchief from hLs hip pocket
and wiped a fat and freely pers
piring face.
Tired? Herbert Dubra was more
than tired. Physical fatigue can
disappear with night's slumber. But
latigue caused by the mind is made
of sterner stuff. More than 20
months in the recognized world’s
■worst climate counseling and
preaching to the first American
troops to set foot on New Guinea
soil, witnessing sights unknown by
the bulk of Americans. Captain
Dubra was more than tired. His
parish spread from Papua to Dutch
(New Guinea which meant miles of
travel by air. water and land.
That was in those days when the
whole of the island was liable to
the brunt of enemy aerial power.
The Chaplain’s Letter
When men cracked under con
stant hammering Herbert Dubra
was there crouching deeper with
the rest, shuddering with the rest,
nnd praying with the rest. In ex
plaining these things he did not
talk in terms of the superlative.
He did not paint pictures of in
human personal hardships He said
pimply I grow tired and sometimes
discouraged.
I write this article for one reason
hnd that alone. I have just fin
ished reading a letter stated to
have been written by a Negro chap
lain to Brigadier General William
R. Arnold chief of chaplains. United
Statps army. The letter is en
titled. 'The Negro Chaplain’s Re
sponsibility in Race Relationships."
After reading it I thought of Her
bert Dubra. The things he had
said. The glorious work, the task
cf teaching men to face life un
afraid—to have ambition—to feel
that this fight for decency is their
fight too—why he feels that his
■work, at that time, bespoke little
ct tireless efforts Knowing Du
bra w.-s to know that such a be
lief was not caused by weakness,
but by a way of life he saw so far
from the shores of America.
The N>2ro chaplain wrote the
Chief chaplain, in part:
‘ The race problem and race lead
ership are naturally a port of the
Negro minister’s responsibility In
many communities he is the focal
point for adjustment and inter
course Unless he is apprised dif
ferently early in his career, the
colored chaplain is apt to imagine
btmself the protector of his troops
from the expected injustice of ther
white officer* This attitude is
probably at the root of the d.fa
culties recently experienced by
*vre Negro chaplains. It is an
• ttrtude guaranteed fatal to the
success of the Negro chaplains
work With it he can never be
■ good chaplain in terms of useful
ness to both officers and enlisted
men.
"He thereby alienates the officers,
Rome of whom need and would re-
Mrs. Gladys Dillard
- TEACHER OF -
PIANO-THEORY
Community' Music
Center
544 ERSKINE STREET
10 A M. TO 5 P M.
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Classes Open For
Beginners and Advance Students
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4808 Beaubein Street TE. 24280
Flowers For all Occasions Corsages - Bouquets
Negro Churches
Pick Champion
‘War Mother’
MEMPHIS— (ANP) —Mrs. Olivia
Jonea. who lives on a farm in West
ern Tennessee, will be crowned
on Sunday, Jan. 23, at Memphis’
great Convention hall as the
"Champion War Mother of Amerl
ea.” at a meeting arranged by the
Fraternal Council of Negro Church
es in America. Mrs. Jones was
chosen as a result of a nation
wide search for Negro war moth
ers. conducted by Bishop R. R
Wright, Jr., executive secretary of
the Fraternal Council, through the
courtesy of the leading Negro news
papers.
“I got responses from all over
America, mothers of two, three
four, five, six and more sons in
the army, navy, marines. After
sorting them I found Mrs. Jones,
who is the mother of 20 children,
and who has nine sons In the army
and one deferred to work on the
farm. After watching the papers
for four months, I have come to
the conclusion that Mrs. Jones is
not only the champion Negro war
mother, but the ohanrtpion American
war mother, and as such we shall
crown her, and proclaim her until
some one else claims the honor."
At the exercises which will be
under the auspices of thee Memphis
branch of the Fraternal Council,
•all mothers having four or more
sons in the army will be Mrs.
Jones' attendants and all those with
two to four sons will be in the
court of honor.
Bishop John A. Gregg, fresh from
England, North Africa. Italy and
the East, as well as from the Pa
cific war zone, will deliver the mes
sage to the mothers.
Detroit Man In
Charge Of Negro
Artillery Unit
Non - commissioned officer in
charge of a colored Anti-aircraft
Artillery battery in the South Pa
cific area, Sgt. William Lawrence.
1030 Hendrie street. Detroit, has
completed 17 months continuous
service on an advance base in
that area The unit has already
seen action against enemy planes
on several occasions.
A former auto worker here. Law
rence was inducted into Army serv
ice in October. 1941 at Fort Custer.
Training at Fort Eustis, Va, for
the following ten months, he left
on his present tour of duty in Au
gust. 1942.
FIRST RACE MARINE A COOK
CAMP LEJEUNE. New R.vcr,
N. C—i ANP‘—The first Negro en
listed in the marine corps. Cpl
Howard P Perry, 23 6110 North
field street. Detroit. Mich. now
•is an assistant cook for Negro
rr. -rines here.
quest his counsel and ministry
Again he lays himself open to
the charge of complaint-monger,
and will find himself with little
time to devote to the soldier-con
sultant who h.s a perfect record
but who still needs the religious
advice and counsel of his chap
lain.
‘The chaplain’s aim Is
provement and perfection of his
unit, by the use of all the enthu
siasm inspiration and talent which
he possesses."
White Army Man
Deals A Blow To
Discrimination
ABERDEEN PROVING
GROUND. Md.—(ANP)—"We will
tolerate no racial fooling at Aber
deen.’* deck red CoL P. C. Kelly,
director of training for the Aber
deen Ordnance Replacement Train
ing center, in a recent lecture be
fore 500 mixed basic trainees in
the Tropical theatre on the post.
"Any man who is spilling his blood
for his country has the same right
to identical treatment with any
other American soldier,” he tolcL.
the men.
Speaking In a vigorous Dixie
voice, the army fighter who was
recalled from retirement after re
ceiving an injury in the Chinese
theatre of operations, told the “raw
recruits" that racial intolerance
would not be countenanced on the
grounds.
“Some of you are southerners
and expect partiality and discrim
ination In your favor" declared
Colonel Kelly. "We absolutely will
no* tolerate any racial feeling at
Aberdeen. We never had •it and
we don’t ever want it here."
From Mississippi
The officer significantly pointed
out that he was born in Mississippi
and reared in the traditions of the
south. He said he could think of
no st: te more south than Mis
sissippi.
"But,” he emphasized, "any man
who is spilling his blood for his
country has the same right to iden
tical treatment whth any other
American soldier; and color, his
religion or his race hasn’t got a
damn thing to do with it."
Directing his remarks to the Ne
gro soldiers, he said: "You men
come from a regiment with a fine
record, one of the finest on the
post Your rifle marksmanship is
the best on the post.”
Anti-Aircraft Unit
Cited By General
FORT BLISS. Texas—The 503rd
Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion
which received its basic training
at Camp Stewart. Georgia, where
the outfit was originally activated
on February 10. 1943, recently Aas
eited for unusually ripid progress
by Brigadier General Stanley R
Mickelsen. commanding general of
the Antiaircraft Artillery Training
center here.
It was during a review of the
unit that Brigadier General Mick
elsen commended the officers and
enlisted men for their splendid co
ordinat on and rated the b ttalion
with the best in his command.
Detroit Mechanic
Barber For Navy
Robert Nolan Freeman, a Detroit
mechanic who
before his in
duction into the
U S Navy
worked as a col
li.'.on mechanic
and later was
emplove d by
the Ford Motor
company is now
stationed at Se
attle. Wash.,
where he serve*
as a barber for
both Negro and
white service
men His home
address is 3942
Milford avenue.
Westside Detroit.
ml ’ I
Robt Freeman
‘Slim Chance To
Be Army Pilots'
COLUMBIA. S. C.—< ANP>—The
chances of young colored men get
ting into the army air forces as a
flier are "slim " Brig Gen. Benja
min O Dnv is, the nat.on s highest
ranking Negro officer, said in an
swer to a posed question Friday
night Here on in inspect.on tour
of colored troop*’ at Fort Jackson.
General Davis made the statement
m reply to a question from an en
listed man at the Taylor USO
a here more than 100 business and
professional men attended an in
formal smoker ;n his honor
The general s. id that because
of limited quotas for this branch
of the service, accepted colored ap
plicants were placed on a "reserve"
list and were called when noeied
The waiting list was extremely
long, he admitted.
SGT. RETIRES AFTER 30 YEARS
FORT SILL. Okla —i ANP) —The
new year has brought retfr&rpent
to First Sgt J. R Carter'. SMth
Quartermaster Truck company, ott
er 30 years,service in the srmv.
SECOND NEWS SECTION
SATURDAY. JANUARY 22. 1944
LOOKING FOR THEIR HUSBANDS
V'?Wr * • /
",•',-•2 - KHHK
'O,O *-£*,**„ »y.J* -3 t'fy £ i’i'i ■?, u ■*—'«.?■' ■(,•
Ten memben of Company B, Women's Army Corps detachment.
Fort Sheridan, 111., have husbands in services. Photo shows three
of the WACs as they twirl a globe trying to locate the countries
where their respective husbands are on duty. From left to right:
Pfc. Rebelcer Landers. 807 East 16th street. Chattanooga, Tenn.;
Cpl. Elisabeth Woods, 2311 Nassau street, Philadelphia, Pa., and
Pvt. Isabel D. Finley. 1008 North Fairmont. Philadelphia. The
WACs are in the midst of a recruiting drive with Captain Ruth
L. Freeman. 4703 South Parkway, seeking all eligible women will
ing to help America win the war.
HANDS ACROSS THE PACIFIC
Bv WILL V. NEELY
Associated Negro Press
War Correspondent
WITH THE U. S FORCES IN
THE PACIFIC—<ANPi—Now that
the holidays are over and the army
is contributing to work for victory,
we shall continue to keep you home
folk informed about what's up with
the boys- overseas.
We accidentally ran into War
rant Officer Charles Shelden of
little old New York. Mr. Shelden
h3d just returned frorn his locu
tion and was on furlough He says
he has been in a hotter place than
it is here, so Mr Shelden has surely
been in a plenty hot place. He's
looking good and sends regards to
the boys and ladies back in New’
York
Sgt. John Hammond, the very
good boxer from B ltimore. tells
us r.e is in fine shape. The sarge
is bowling over the Aussies by the
numbers. He's good and you're
going to hear a lot about him in
the future. Yep, Sergeant Ham
mond knocked out Frank Kovacs,
another American, in a scuffle that
lasted just two rounds. Cmdr.
ctfcne Tunney was the referee. Sgt.
Hammond sends a lot of records
to his mother. Mrs. Minnie Ham
mond. and also to Helen 'We
didn't inquire as to who Helen
was. but the sarge is wearing an
awful big grin.)
While we re on boxing, we must
mention Sgt. Leon Winston who is
going up the ladder very fast. Ho
is fast. He is powerful and he
.s go.n: to make a name for him
self fighting in the ring . s well as
with the Japs.
If you haven't heard of Cpl A 1
Hoosman. were here to tell you
that he's the best heavyweight in
Australia. He's plenty good and
America is going to be proud of
him.
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PAGE ELEVEN
Well. I didn't intend to make
this a sports column, but I know
you'd be interested to know that
our boys are keeping right up at
the top in everything.
To the people in America who
wonder what "Black Velvet" me ns.
I can say that it is mentioned in
the book, ••Capricornica." by Xavier
Herbert. The word means native
women. So if your boy friend
writes home and says ho saw a
lot of black velvet, he means he
saw a lot of n tive women. ‘Maybe
the censor won't pass a word like
that )
The boys over here are tickled
pink over the full page pin-up pic
ture of Lena Horne in the current
issue of "Yank,” the army maga
zine. It's a honey, and Yank is
to be congratulated in its spirit of
democracy.
It would be swell if you folks
b rk home would send the boys
some of the clippings from Negro
newspapers. A lot of them have
subscriptions huLtUsometunes, takes
months for them to get here. How's
about a few clippings in the next
letter?
Several of the soldiers are fol
lowing the argument of the Chi
cago Defender concerning the ques
tion. "Should Negroes sit at the
Peace Table” The general idea
seems to be that the Defender is
doing a good job in stirring up the
question, but the whole thing is a
futile gesture. The boys feel that
.f the Negroes of America sit at
the peace table, and America is
represented by another delegate
the whole thing is tantamount to
the confession that Negroes are not
Americans They feel that it would
be better if Negroes were given a
chance to serve on juries in the
states Surely they would be less
able to sit in judgment on a group
of nations th n in a jury box
East Indians In
Pacific Aiding
United Nations
Out in the Timor sector of the
Far Pacific—where Allied warrior*
of many racial strains have been
pounding (he Japanese daily—there
is a famous Netherlands Blast In
dies Army Air Force plane called
“The Hedgehopper.”
The bomber, famed for its ex
ploits in the eastern islands of the
Archioelaso fas a Dutch pilot, a
Sumatra Indonesian co-pilot, a Hol
-1 nder navigator - bombardier, a
Java Indonesian radio operator
gunner .and a Chinese air gunner
Hailing the continued resistance
of the people of the Netherlands
East Indies against the Japanese—
both in their native islands and
abroad—the Netherlands Informa
tion Bureau this week cited “The
Hedgehopper" a- an example of the
united efforts of Asiatic peoples
against the invader.
Other Dramatic Exploits
No less dramatic tlun the ex
ploits of "The Hedgehopper.” the
Bureau pointed but. have been the
activities of the people in the Jap
anese-occupied territories. Start
ling proof of continued resistance
in the mountains of Sumatra, for
instance, was contained in a recent
Tokyo radio broadc st which told
of the capture of 2.000 Dutcl> and
Indonesian guerilla fighters in this
section Almost a year earlier, the
Japanese had announced that the
last cf the guerrillas had been
captured did that resistance was
at an end. No such claim was made
in the November, 1943, broadcast.
Leo J. Mason Is
Promoted To Sgt.
Leo J. Mason, whose sister. Velma
C. Mason lives at 247 E. Palmer
street, Detroit, Mich., recently re
ceived a promotion from corporal
'o his present rank of Technician
Fourth Grade. He is now serving
somewhere in the South Pacific
Area as a member of an Air Bose
Security Battalion.
Sergeant Mason was a student for
‘nree years at the Alabama State
Teachers' College at Montgomery.
A 1 bama. prior to his induction on
May 23. 1942. He majored in chem-
and life sciences and was co
cattain of the football team. Be
fore h:s entry into the service, he
lived in Laurel, Miss.
Detroiter, Five Others
Earn New Commissions
MIAMI BEACH, Fla-Six Ne
groes. members of Class 44-A, re
ceived commissions on January 8.
at graduation exercises of the
Army Air Forces Officer Candidate
school, held at Bayshore golf course.
Wives and sweethearts, in line with
OCS tradition, were on hand to pin
the precious bars on the new ad
ministrative officers of the Army
Air Forces.
The following received commis
sions: Second Lieuts. Albert L Mur
ray. Box 343. Tuskegee Institute.
Alabama; Unsea E Burns. 1006
Sprague street. Shreveport La;
Frank C. Eason. 2711 MrDougall
street. Detroit. Mich.; Jess W. Ains
worth. Mount Pleasant, Texas; Wil
liam R. Watkins. Jr., 281 South
22nd street. Columbus. Ohio, and
Ira J. O’Neal, 1426 East Washing
ton street. Phoenix. Aril.
SR rlnuin starts Y° u t 0 home ownership
3 UWWM in beautiful Woodland Park
It may be cold now,
but in a few weeks
the song of birds will
herald the dawn of
Spring. Now is the
time to start buying
that lot for your
summer or year
round home.
There is no safer investment in the world
than land. Nothing gives you such a
sense of security as owning your own
home. A down pa\ment of only 55 starts
you on the road to ownership of a beau
tiful homesite in Woodland Park.
WOODLAND PARK HOMESITES
AT BITELEY, MICH.
oTy SCQ N 0 MEREST -SC.
NO FINANCE CHARGES down
EVERY HOMESITE GUARANTEED SUITABLE FOR BUILDING
A Growing Community of Attractive Homes
Woodland Park is a fully developed com
munity |ust the place for your per
manent or summer home. Ideal climate.
12 miles of beautifully wooded shore-
NOW IS THE TIME TO PUT YOUR MONEY IN REAL ESTATE
While wages are high where can you
invest today to do the most gcxxP In
War Bonds of course. But a home comes
Act NOW Before
Prices Advance
For more information fill out and mail
this coupon. No obligation.
WOODLAND PARK
32 West Randolph Street, Chicago I, 111.
Roosevelt Lauds
West African’s
Lend-Lease Aid
The liberated people of French
North and We*t Africa—with lend
lease assistance—are now provid
ing thousands of tons of locally
grown food for American forces
in North Africa and Italy, the Presi
dent Roosevelt’s Thirteenth Report
to Congress on Lend-Lease Opera
tions said this week.
The French have already made
four cash payments for essential
civilian supplies shipped to French
North and West Africa under lend
lease from the United States. These
payments, made under a reverse
lend-lease agreement with tfle
French Committee of National
eration totaled $56,340,000.
Through December 19, 1943. the
report s.>ys. 342.000 tons of civilian
supplies were shipped to French
North Africa, and 48,800 tons to
French West Africa. These sup
plied. although furnished under
iend-lease. are being paid for, 100
cents on the dollar.
RICHARD H. AUSTIN
CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANT
406 East Adam, Avenue Telephone CA. 3057
HEATING
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CRACK AFRICAN
TROOPS SENT TO
SOUTHWEST ASIA
LONDON— <ANP>—Markinf the
first time in the history of the
four colonies that troops from Y.'est
Africa have been sent ♦* an over
seas thrntre of war was the an
nouncement this week that the
Rr : -al West Africa Frontier force
recruited from Nigeria. Gambia.
Gold Coast and Sierra Leone, will
serve in southeast Asia,
They are said to have arrived
in India recently to serve tn the
allied forces under the command
Adm. Mountbatten. su
p'hßrnr'-ebmmander of united na
tions forces in southeast Asia.
These men, rated among the em
pires most daring fighters, are
crack troops, well trained and well
armed whose transfer to southeast
Asia indicates that moves are un
derway to strengthen allied posi
tions in that area.
NOW is the time to start buying
NOW when money is easy NOW be
fore prices go up. And they're going UP
make no mistake about that. Then,
when the war is over, your War Bonds
will build your home on the land you
buy today.
line, beaches, electricity, pure drinking
water, good fishing and hunting. Direct
train service and motor roads victory*
gardens and poultry raising. Plenty of
opportunity for work.
next tor security in old age wnd for a
happier, fuller, richer life for the whole
family.
MAIL THIS COIPON TO
WOODLAND PARK .
—a* •
32 W. Randolph St.. DopL 172. Chicago (1). Ilk
•
I am intarastad in knowing more about
Woodland Park homasitoa. Plaaao tand mo tho
full facts at onco—without obligation.
NAME
ADDRESS
TOWN