It was by sheer coincidence that, during Black History Month, I started reading a new book about the hostilities and discrimination that Black service men and women faced during World War 2 [Half American by Matthew Delmont]. In the years leading up to the war, Black sailors assigned to ship duty had only 1 job: messmen for the ship's officers. While Mess Attendant Doris Miller, assigned to the USS West Virginia, has been justifiably recognized for his actions on Dec. 7 at Pearl Harbor, three other Black sailors share a piece of WW2 history. Raymond Cook, Nebraska Dunston, and Joseph Johnson were serving aboard the USS Reuben James when it was torpedoed and sunk, Oct. 31, 1941. They were among the first Americans killed during the war. Jim Moran's Comparative Video 101 has an extensive discussion of the song The Sinking Of The Reuben James. It includes one of the verses Woody Gutherie had originally planned for the song i.e. to include the names of all the crew who lost their lives in the action. Dennis Howard Daniel, Glen Jones and Howard Vore Hartwell Byrd and Raymond Cook, Ed Musselwhite and more Remember Leonard Keever, Gene Evans and Donald Kapp Who gave their all to fight about this famous fighting ship
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