A fascinating driver tonight
An older man who I got into a great conversation with. He was in Army in Germany in the 50s. He talked about being in a smaller sized German town as a Black, being a local "curiousity" as he put it. He had many stories to tell of a fascinating life. These are the kinds of drivers I love to get - to learn of interesting lives and experiences. It's a great way to spend the time getting home.
posted by DC Cab Rider @ 8:42 PM
2 Comments:
There's a very interesting history of the US Army right before the end of the war. As Truman, against the judgment of many of his team, desegregated the services, he also, unwittingly, created all Black companies of soldiers. As the services were being pushed toward Berlin--the US wanted to get there before the Russians, the Black companies were kept in back to "clean up". One result was the Black US soldiers ended up "liberating" some of the Death Camps in Germany, to the amazement of both sides. The prisoners had never seen Black people before, so they were amazed, and frightened. The soldiers had never seen people treated this badly, not even in Mississippi. So there was much disgust and sadness. I wonder if you cabbie had participated or heard of this particular WW2 story?
Jim Landry
http://MusicFromTheFilm/blogspot.com
I had heard about it elsewhere, yes. He didn't go over to Europe until the 1950s. We mostly talked about the reaction of Germans (men and women) to the Black soldiers.
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