
Caption | African-American US Marines carrying a Japanese prisoner of war, who was suffering from malnutrition, on a stretcher on the beach of Iwo Jima, Japan, 23 Feb 1945 ww2dbase | |||||||
Photographer | Don Fox | |||||||
Source | ww2dbaseUnited States National Archives | |||||||
Identification Code | 127-N-110622 | |||||||
More on... |
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Photos on Same Day | 23 Feb 1945 | |||||||
Photos at Same Place | Iwo Jima, Japan | |||||||
Added By | C. Peter Chen | |||||||
Added Date | 5 Jan 2008 | |||||||
This photograph has been scaled down; full resolution photograph is available here (1,412 by 1,086 pixels). | ||||||||
Licensing | Public Domain. According to the US National Archives, as of 21 Jul 2010: |
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31 Jul 2009 03:15:20 PM
The Marines strongly resisted the introduction of coloured troops until ordered to do so in June 1942. With the exception of the 51st and 52nd Defense Battalions (neither saw combat), the Corps’ 20,000 blacks were relegated to 51 depot and 12 ammunition companies, which were attached to all-white base and field depots. For all practical purposes these companies were stevedore units used to manhandle supplies and ammunition from the beach to the front, leading them sarcastically to call themselves ‘Ration Box Commandos’. A confidential letter of instruction, issued by the Commandant in March 1943, stated that black NCOs would not be a grade senior to white NCOs, and that few, if any, would be of the same grade. Seven ammunition and 12 depot companies saw limited combat. The 4th Ammo Company, for example, successfully hunted down Japanese stragglers after Guam was declared secure. (US Marine Corps 1941-45, Gordon Rottman, Osprey-Elite, 1995)