Freeman: Blacks and the Legion. PD 9/15/1989

Headline: BLACKS AND THE LEGION
Reporter: Gregory Freeman

Publication: ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
Last Printed: Fri. Sep. 15, 1989
Section: WAR PAGE Page: 1C Edition: THREE STAR

WHEN THE United States entered World War I in 1917, a black man from Georgia named Tom Powell tried to join the Army to fight for his country. He was rejected, because blacks were not accepted in the Army in the South.
Undaunted, Powell climbed aboard a freight car and made his way to Chicago. There he enlisted in the Army, was sent to France and assigned to deliver dispatches. Powell was killed in the line of his messenger duties and later was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. Powell's black contemporaries returned to the United States in 1918, after fighting triumphantly in Europe. But unlike white soldiers, they did not return to an America that appreciated their efforts.
Once more, they found themselves banned from public places. They could eat in restaurants, but only in the ''colored'' sections. They could buy homes, but only in certain parts of town. They could send their children to schools, but not to the same schools that white children attended.

In May 1919, six months after the war ended, the American Legion held its first U.S. convention at the old Shubert-Jefferson Theater in St. Louis. Black and white war veterans attended the conference, which had been designed ''to build up a nationwide organization of America's civilian soldiers and sailors, with no distinction between those who served in France an d those who were not sent overseas, '' according to the Post-Dispatch at that time.
But while the national organization drew no distinction between those who served overseas and those who did not, the posts here did draw a distinction along racial lines. Black veterans were rebuffed by local legion posts.

Nonetheless, many black veterans who had attended the convention here were enthusiastic about the Legion concept.
On Sept. 17, 1919, 15 black veterans started their own American Legion post: the Tom Powell Post No. 77, named after Powell as a memorial to a soldier who had to make an effort to fight for his country.
It was the first black American Legion post in the nation. Like all Legion posts, it afforded war vets an opportunity to stay in touch with one another and to tell stories about their war years. It was a source of pride.

Today, 70 years later, Tom Powell's No. 77 remains a proud post. It no longer has its peak number of 1,500 members, reached after World II, and many of the 50 members are older men.
In the early 1950s, President Harry S Truman desegregated the armed forces. That helped black service personnel, many of whom had not been pleased with the ''separate but equal'' policies of the service. But it hurt black American Legion posts tremendously, said Damon Ambus, past commander of the Tom Powell post. The membership dropped over the years as older members died and newer members joined integrated posts. But the post remains open for all war veterans, men and women.

The Powell post occupies a modest building on North Kingshighway, but it remains a major resource for black veterans who served in World Wars I and II, or in the Korean and Vietnam wars.
    ''The American Legion was founded to take care of war veterans, and we still do that, '' said Robert Fulton, the post's commander. ''We promote citizenship and Americanism. We make sure that veterans and their families are taken care of. We're also involved in some child-welfare programs.''
    They also provide scholarships to those children and grandchildren of veterans who are in need.
    The post has worked with youngsters for many years, trying to point them in the right direction. For a time, it had a drum and bugle corps. Quite a few jazz musicians went through the corps, as did State Sen. John F. Bass, whose picture is on a wall of the post.

Tonight is a special night for members of the post, as they celebrate their 70th anniversary with a dinner at Stegton's Restaurant in St. Charles. It will be the first anniversary the organization has ever celebrated.
'We never thought about having one, '' said Fulton. Finally, George Truss, a Vietnam veteran who belongs to the post, convinced the other members of the importance of preserving and recognizing their history. Among those to be honored tonight will be LeVaunt Taylor, 96, who joined the post in its first year.
Said Ambus: ''The black soldier holds a very important place in history, but we've never really been acknowledged for that place in history. The anniversary will give us a chance to recognize ourselves.''

Daniel Schesch - Webweaver

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