- Golden Thirteen
The Golden Thirteen were the thirteen African American
enlisted men who became the firstAfrican American commissioned officers in theUnited States Navy .History
In March 1944, John Walter Reagan, Jesse Walter Arbor, Dalton Louis Baugh, Frank Ellis Sublett, Graham Edward Martin, Phillip George Barnes, Reginald E. Goodwin, James Edward Hair, Samuel Edward Barnes, George Clinton Cooper, William Sylvester White, and Dennis Denmark Nelson were commissioned as
ensign s. Charles Byrd Lear was commissioned as awarrant officer .Responding to pressure from First Lady
Eleanor Roosevelt and Assistant Secretary of the NavyAdlai Stevenson , the Navy began officer training for 16 African-American enlisted men atCamp Robert Smalls , Recruit Training Center Great Lakes (now known asGreat Lakes Naval Training Station ),Illinois in January 1944. Although all sixteen members of the class passed the course, only twelve were commissioned as ensigns and one as a warrantboatswain . The class average was 3.89.President
Harry S. Truman officially desegregated the U.S. military in 1948. At the time of the Golden Thirteen's commissioning, there were approximately 100,000 African-American men serving in the United States Navy's enlisted ranks.Frank Ellis Sublett, the last living member of the group died on September 27, 2006. [http://www.news.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=26644]
The Golden Thirteen's Legacy
In 1987, the U.S. Navy reunited the seven living members to dedicate a building in their honor at
Great Lakes Naval Recruit Training Command , Illinois. Today, Building 1405 at RTC Great Lakes, where recruits first arrive for basic training, is named "The Golden Thirteen" in honor of them.In 2006, ground was broken on a
World War II memorial inNorth Chicago, Illinois to honor the Golden Thirteen andDorie Miller .ee also
*
List of African American firsts References
* [http://www.news.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=26644 "Last of the "Golden 13" Dies"] Navy News Wire Service
* [http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/prs-tpic/af-amer/afa-g-13.htm Naval Historical Center]
*Stillwell, Paul, "The Golden Thirteen: Recollections of the First Black Naval Officers" (1993)
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