"Throughout the long battle, Specialist Joel never lost sight of his mission as a Medical Aidman and continued to comfort and treat the wounded until his own evacuation was ordered."

The latest to win the Medal of Honor, SGT Donald R. Long, was awarded the decoration posthumously for actions during a reconnaissance mission near Srok Dong, Republic of Vietnam, on 31 June 1966. The citation reads in part: "When an emeny grenade was hurled onto the deck of his Armored Personel Carrier he immediately shouted a warning and pushed to safety a man who had not heard. Realizing that these actions would not fully protect the exposed crewmen, SGT Long threw himself over the grenade to absorb the blast and thereby saved the lives of eight of his comrades at the expense of his own life."

Regarding the role of the Negro in the U.S. Army, Secretary of the Army Stanley R. Resor said recently:

"In 1948 President Truman issued an Executive Order prohibiting racial segregation in the Armed Forces. Since then, the Army, along with the other Services, has led the way for the rest of our Nation.

"The policy of equal treatment and opportunity, in addition to being a just one, has paid dividends to the Army. Today we have 5,500 Negro Army officers. Among infantry sergeants-the backbone of our combat forces in Vietnam-24 percent are Negro."

The American Negro over the years has overcome the opposition of those who would frustrate his attempts to serve as a co-equal comrade in arms. The record of recent years indicates that he has gained substantial ground in this struggle.

NEGRO CADETS AT U.S. MILITARY ACADEMY

Nine Negro cadets were graduated in June from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Making up the largest group to be graduated from the Academy in its history, they are Ernest Flowers, Jr., Victor F. Garcia, James T. Howard, Larry R. Jordon, Leroy B. Outlaw, Benny L. Robinson, Wilson L. Rorie, Ralph B. Tildon, Jr. and John T. Martin, III.

Negros have been admitted to the Military Academy since 1870, with the first being appointed from Tennessee. During the period 1870 through 1967, comprising the Classes of 1874 through 1971, a total of 125 Negroes have been admitted, of whom fifty-six have been graduated. Forty-one failed to graduate and twenty-nine are presently members of the Corps of Cadets.

The first Negro graduate was Henry O. Flipper, Class of 1877.

The highest-ranking Negro graduate (Class of 1936) is LTG (USAF) Benjamin O. Davis, Jr., who in 1967 became Commander of the 13th Air Force, Clark Air Force Base, Republic of the Philippines.

Latest figures available (as of 21 June 1967) show that of the fifty-three Negro graduates of the Military Academy, forty-one are on active duty-thirty-three in the Army and eight in the Air Force.

ATTACHMENT C

DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY,

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY, Washington, D.C., August 1, 1968.

Memorandum for: The Assistant Secretary of Defense (Manpower and Reserve Affairs).

Subject: Senate Inquiry on Programs which Create or are Capable of Creating a Better Understanding of Negro History and Culture. Reference: (a) Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (Civil Rights and Industrial Relations) memorandum of 18 July 1968 (with attachment). Enclosure: (1) The Navy Challenge . . . Future of the Negro in the United States Navy.

This is in response to reference (a) which requests information on Navy's educational programs and efforts contributing to better understanding of Negro history and culture.

Within the Department of the Navy, there are no programs under the cognizance of the Commandant of the Marine Corps or Chief of Naval Personnel which are oriented toward the teaching of Negro history and culture. However, courses of instruction at various Navy indoctrination centers, including officer and enlisted, are involved in teaching some form of history or orientation about

the American people as a whole. Examples of programs which could include, without legislative action, aspects of Negro history and culture as part of a more general curriculum, with special emphasis on Negro service in the Navy since the revolution include:

a. Units of major courses in history at the Naval Academy. This would be at the expense of other subject matter in a crowded curriculum.

b. NROTC students could be encouraged to elect courses which include aspects of Negro history and culture. The Navy could not require the teaching of Negro history and culture by any of the individual colleges involved in the NROTC program.

The Department of the Navy's Office of Information, although not a repository of historical data does, however, collect and disseminate through its information programs data on current Negro history as it relates to the accomplishments of Negroes in the Navy. The comparatively small number of Negroes in both enlisted and officer programs is of continuing concern to the Navy. A primary obstacle to recruiting is the prevailing opinion among some Negroes that their race and color prevent full and just participation and advancement in the Naval Service. Renewed efforts are being made by the Office of Information to reverse this opinion. To accomplish this, attempts are being made to show that a Navy man's ability, not his race, is the criteria for advancement. The attached material, distributed by the Chief of Naval Personnel, is representative of literature portraying Negro contributions to Navy activities. A press kit is currently being prepared by Headquarters, Marine Corps which is designed to portray the history of the Negro in the Marine Corps.

From 1948 until about 1963, personnel records maintained by the Navy did not reflect racial backgrounds. Consequently, specific Negro achievements during this period are not readily available. The Office of Information attempts to recognize the achievements of all Navy personnel regardless of race. Any other approach would be devisive and not in the best interest of the Navy.

Since 1963, the Office of Information has operated under SECNAV Instruction 5350.1, stipulating minority personnel ratios of one-to-nine in the presentation of pictorial material, still and motion picture. Pictorial releases are reviewed to ensure that this ratio is observed. BUPERS Instruction 5350.2 further stipulates similar ratios for internal publications throughout the Navy.

Navy Commander Dennis D. Nelson, because of his interest in documenting the history of the Negro in the Navy, wrote his Master of Arts thesis in Sociology entitled "The Integration of the Negro in the U.S. Navy". The thesis is filed in the archives of the Howard University library. There is no record in the Office of Information of the use of this paper by persons interested in the subject. Since 1944, various articles and documents have been published at the request of interested groups, reflecting the Navy's acceptance and integration of the Negro within its entire structure. Requesting organizations have included the NAACP and Johnson Publishing Company-publishers of Jet and Ebony magazines. The frequency of such requests has established within the Office of Information a requirement for maintaining such information in a special file. This file, however, is scant and consists primarily of news accounts and releases on the accomplishments of Negroes in the Naval Service.

The organizational structure of the Navy's Office of Information has the potential of significantly contributing to the understanding and knowledge of Negro accomplishments. It is believed that the following efforts can be made, and without additional legislation, to ensure that Negro contribution to American life, both past and present, receives recognition :

a. Provide current bulletins, messages and memos to our Public Affairs Officers in the field to ensure coordination of efforts throughout the Navy to recognize achievement of minority groups.

b. To solicit and generate more news stories and feature releases on the activities and participation of minority members of the Navy.

c. To ensure the presence in still and motion picture photography of minority group members.

d. To concentrate on the production of films and radio tapes highlighting our minority members for use in the Armed Forces radio/TV networks.

e. Advise and monitor our field offices' activities in placing minority members of the Navy on national and local live TV and radio programs.

f. Concentrate Fleet Home Town News Center efforts in highlighting minority members in news stories for local consumption.

g. Encourage artists of our Combat Art Program to include subjects featuring minority members.

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h. Include activities of minority members of the Navy in exhibits for exposure throughout the United States.

i. Extend invitations to executives of minority groups in our cities to participate in SECNAV Cruises and visits to our Naval installations.

j. Make full use of Navy internal publications to highlight the activities of our minority groups.

k. Provide station newspapers and publications with photos and news stories on the activities of our minority groups.

1. Employ the professional and capable talent of members of our Naval Reserve Public Relations Companies to assist in these efforts.

m. Arrange for Navy Negro speakers to appear at various institutions.

A beginning has already been made within the Office of Information to establish a task force to monitor and coordinate Navy-wide efforts in improving information programs as related to minority groups. Lieutenant Commander Melvin E. Patridge, a Negro, has recently been assigned to the Office of Information to conduct studies and recommend guidelines to establish a program for recognizing the contributions of Negroes and members of other ethnic minority groups in the Navy. He is well qualified for this task-having served for six years as a teacher at a predominantly Negro college, five years in intensive study in mass communications at UCLA leading to Master of Arts degree, two years as a motion picture news cameraman at a major television station, and is the recipient of three financial fellowships from organizations recognizing his potential in competition with others.

In the area of civilian employment, several aspects of the Equal Employment Opportunity Program may be considered as contributive to a better understanding of Negro history and culture. For example, in connection with advancement of employment opportunities for minority group employees a Department of the Navy Supervisory Training Handbook was developed as a guide for all Naval activities employing civilians. This handbook, including a personal statement by the Secretary of the Navy required that training courses be given at all Naval activities and that, preferably, these courses should include contributions made by various Negro leaders today as well as those of the past. It encouraged inviting local prominent community or educational leaders, who were knowledgeable and forceful, to speak at training courses. Most Naval activities have compiled with these suggestions.

In addition to in-house supervisory training, several Naval activities in various Districts have cooperated with community groups or public school systems and Naval employees have attended courses in Negro history provided by the community. Further, the Office of Civilian Manpower Management has distributed to all Naval activities a booklet entitled "Epitaph for Jim Crow" by Thomas Pettigrew. The booklet, also available in film form (series of 5), was produced by a television station in Boston under the auspices of Harvard University. The films, and others in the Equal Employment Opportunity Program dealing with some Negro history, have been loaned to numerous Naval activities for use in the Equal Employment Training program.

R. S. DRIVER,

Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Manpower and Reserve Affairs).