| Original caption: “Sergeant John C. Clark, Lorman, Mississippi, and Staff Sergeant Ford M. Shaw, Tucson, Arizona, clean their rifles in the bivouac area alongside the East-West Trail. They are members of E Company, Twenty-Fifth Combat Team, Ninety-Third Division (colored). This is the first time that colored ground troops have been used in this theater in combat.” United States Army Sergeant John C. Clark (February 28, 1915 – January 20, 2016) and Technical Sergeant Ford M. Shaw (January 2, 1906 – March 20, 1969) clean their M1 Garand 30 caliber (7.62 millimeter) rifles on the East-West Trail, which ran northwest from Buin on the southern tip to Gazelle Harbor below Empress Augusta Bay. In the jungle heat and humidity, unless you took care of your things, your clothes rotted and mildewed, and your weapon rusted. Clark and Shaw, along with the rest of E Company, boarded the transport USS General John Pope (AP-110) in Pittsburg, California, on January 23, 1944, en route to Guadalcanal. Trained in desert warfare 6 months earlier, the rainforests of the South Pacific were unfamiliar territory to the men of the United States Army 93rd Infantry Division. Prejudiced white officers demanded that the 93rd be kept away from the European Theater. The men of the 93rd were very familiar with racism. In the Southwest Pacific Theater, the 93rd was parceled out by regiments, mainly at Banika, Vella Lavella, Guadalcanal, and New Georgia. Under the leadership of Major General Raymond Lehman (October 26, 1895 – December 15, 1964), the men of the 93rd endured the boredom of undertaking menial tasks and scrutiny during combat. Racist white officers and correspondents looked for any faults in the battalions and regiments scattered across the Pacific, while the African American press diligently reported racist incidents. The War Department’s racist reliance on exaggerated stereotypes regarding African American capabilities under fire and its difficulties in finding a theater commander willing to field the 93rd in the field. On February 1, 1944, in response to inquiries by Congressman Hamilton Fish (August 3, 1808 – September 7, 1893), a white former “Harlem Hellfighter” officer in World War I, as to why African Americans were not deplyed in combat, Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson (September 21, 1867 – October 20, 1950) replied, “many of the Negro units have been unable to master effciently the techniques of modern weapons.” The African American press went ballistic. By March 5, demonstrations began in Chicago calling for Stimson’s resignation. Then, news of the deactivation of other African American units was reported in the press. The controversy was alleviated by the recommendation for the 93rd for front-line duty. United States Army Air Force Lieutenant General Millard F. Harmon (January 19, 1888 – February 26, 1945), at the time Commanding Officer of the Southwest Pacific Theater, was ordered to place the 93rd into action. He responded that while the division was adequately trained, he didn’t have any amphibious operations planned. Harmon was very critical of the idea of placing large numbers of African Americans in his Command Area. Bougainville seemed the obvious choice, as stragglers from the Imperial Japanese Army were causing trouble and could reform to pose a threat to the Allied airfields there. The 93rd Infantry Division left Guadalcanal for Bougainville on March 23, 1944. The 25th Regimental Combat Team operated against the Japanese along the Numa and East-West Trails during May 1944. In June 1944, the unit left Bougainville for the Green Islands. Battle casualties of the 25th Combat Team as reported through May 30, 1944, totaled 26 killed, 13 seriously wounded in action, and 27 slightly wounded in action. The soldiers of the 93rd faced the terror of combat with the Japanese and racism from their white officers and other units holding the line. While white units might be given time to acclimate to the rigors of combat, any adjustment to learning jungle fighting was reported as cowardice in the face of the enemy. Despite acts of bravery reported by their white officers and fellow soldiers, the command rated the 93rd’s performance as “poor” before changing it to “fair” for political reasons. But the correspondents of the African American press and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) found a different story. In personal interviews with officers and men of the 93rd and 37th Divisions, they found that the African American soldiers were rated “outstanding for a unit in its first combat action,” and the Division “conducted itself well at Bougainville.” Yet racism was so pervasive, the stories about the ratings remained and went up the chain of command to the Pentagon in Washington. Stories were told that the Division failed to take a beachhead and cost white officers their lives. The reports rated the work of the division’s infantrymen as poor, the performance of the artillerymen as good, and its vehicle maintenance “of high order.” “The general level of leadership was poor, particularly in the companies and platoons,” General Douglas MacArthur, the new Southwest Pacific Theater Commander, stated in November 1944. But not every senior official in Washington accepted the negative views of the 25th Infantry’s performance. Upon learning of the 25th Infantry’s action under fire at Bougainville, John J. McCloy (March 31, 1895 – March 11, 1989) stated: “Although they show some important limitations, on the whole I feel that the report is not so bad as to discourage us. The general tone of these reports reminds me of the first reports we got of the Ninety-Ninth Fighter Squadron. You remember that they were not very good, but that the Squadron has now taken its place in the line and has performed very well. It will take more time and effort to make good combat units out of them, but in the end, I think they can be brought over to the asset side.” Clark enlisted in the United States Army on May 27, 1941, and was discharged on January 3, 1946. Shaw enlisted on January 22, 1942, and was discharged on November 6, 1945. United States Army 1st Lieutenant Charles A. “Charlie” Schuman (November 16, 1914 – May 23, 2002), of the Bronx, New York, graduated from the University of Missouri School of Journalism before enlisting on January 14, 1943. He was wounded twice. He was discharged on January 10, 1946. Schuman worked for the Daily News, United Press, and the American Broadcasting Company. He covered Presidential campaigns from 1952 to 1976. In 1959, he spent 3 weeks in the mountains of Cuba with Fidel Castro (August 13, 1926 – November 25, 2016). After his retirement in 1980, he was director of public relations for Bard College. | |
| Image Filename | wwii1547.jpg |
| Image Size | 863.03 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 2916 x 2284 |
| Photographer | |
| Photographer Title | United States Army Signal Corps |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | April 6, 1944 |
| Location | |
| City | |
| State or Province | Bougainville |
| Country | Solomons |
| Archive | National Archives and Records Administration |
| Record Number | NWDNS-111-SC-364565 |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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