(2014-0122-F) The Association of 2,221 Negro Volunteers

The materials in 2014-0122-F are a selective, not necessarily all inclusive, body of documents responsive to the topic of the FOIA. Researchers should consult the archivist about related materials. An organization formed by J. Cameron Wade in the aftermath of wartime service by African American soldiers going unrecognized, the Association of the 2,221 Negro Volunteers was actually the first unit involved in the integration of American armed forces. This landmark event occurred in December 1944 during the Battle of the Bulge, four years before President Harry S. Truman signed an executive order formally ending segregation in the American military. Wade and others responded to an edict issued by General Dwight D. Eisenhower allowing them to “volunteer” out of black service units and to join white soldiers on the front lines. The Supreme Allied Commander had to deal with the rapid depletion of men during the Germans thrust through the Ardennes; he needed replacements desperately. In many cases Wade and his cohorts accepted demotions so as not to outrank their white counterparts. 2,221 refers to the number of African Americans who ended up volunteering to fight the Germans. Afterwards many of these soldiers got shipped back to their original units, but without any effort being made at the restoration of their previous, higher ranks. Moreover, in most instances their service records didn’t reflect the time they had spent in combat. Wade devoted his postwar years to attempting to right the wrongs visited upon him and the other volunteers. Wade got President Clinton to officially honor the little known Association of the 2,221 Negro Volunteers at their first reunion in 1994. He issued a presidential message commemorating the bravery and courage they displayed in confronting the Germans during the Battle of the Bulge. Four years later at a Pentagon ceremony Wade and some of the remaining volunteers received Bronze Stars and had their old ranks restored. Wade passed away 2012 at the age of 87. He distinguished himself after his wartime service by pursuing a career that included a number of years as an investigator for the Internal Revenue Service, becoming a business manager for Johnson Publishing, which was responsible for the magazines Ebony and Jet, and establishing SEDAW Management, a contracting company that set-up and operated military dining facilities all across the United States. At various times Wade lived in Illinois, Texas, California, and Washington, D.C. FOIA request 2014-0122-F consists of correspondence, memoranda, notes, and reports related to the Association of the 2,221 Negro Volunteers and their achievements during World War II. The correspondence is mostly from Wade and comprises part of an ongoing effort to get the attention of President Clinton, First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, and Chairman of the JCS, Colin Powell. There are declassified reports from the European Theater detailing the process whereby black troops made it to the front lines to fight Germans alongside white troops.