James, Willy Fredrick Jr.

James, Willy Fredrick Jr, born 18-03-1920 in Kansas City, Jackson County, Missouri, United States, and grew up there the only child of a widowed mother. Willy enlisted in the U.S. Army on 11-09-1942. He was also drafted into the Army in September 1942, but before he left Kansas City, he married, not even having time for a proper honeymoon with wife, Valcenie, born Jackson..

In April 1945, he was an infantry scout assigned to Company G, 413th Infantry Regiment,   104th Infantry Division (“Timberwolves”). under command of Major General Terry de la Mesa Allen Sr.    On April 7, he was lead scout during a maneuver to secure an enemy bridgehead near Lippoldsberg, Germany. As his regiment crossed the Weser River, he was pinned down for more than an hour by enemy machine gun fire. After James returned to his platoon with his scouting observations, he helped to develop a new assault plan, designating targets in the new attack. Platoon leader, Lieutenant A.J. Serabella was gravely wounded in the attack. Later, when James saw his platoon leader shot down by enemy snipers, he went to his lieutenant’s aid and was himself killed by machine gun fire as he was making his way across open ground. On 14-09-1945, Willy was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross posthumously for extraordinary heroism.

For the first two years of James’s service he, like many African Americans, worked in supply and service roles. These jobs included setting up supply depots, unloading ships, cooking, and serving food in mess halls. However, in December 1944, Lieutenant General Lee, John Clifford Hodges “Jesus Christ Himself”,

Deputy Commander of U.S. forces in the European theaters of operations, recognized that there were too many African Americans in supply positions but not enough soldiers on the front lines. Lee wanted to change this imbalance by integrating units in Europe on a one-for-one basis. Many Generals, including General Dwight David “Ike”. Eisenhower, oppose this one-for-one replacement of white soldiers with Black soldiers..

On 26-12-1944, the official call for Black volunteers in service units to transfer to white fighting units was released with Eisenhower’s approval. The response by men in service units was overwhelming. More than 4,500 African American men applied in the first two months of the program. Unable to accommodate everyone who requested the transfer, the Army accepted 2,500. James was one of the soldiers selected for combat replacement training. Like others completing this training, James was placed in an African American platoon and attached to an all-white regiment. These African Americans were known as the 5th Platoon.”All Black Fifth Platoon”

They were assigned to different companies within an infantry regiment, such as Company E of the 60th Infantry Regiment, Company F of the 47th Infantry Regiment and Company G of the 39th Infantry Regiment.

Medal of Honor

In the early 1990s, it was determined that Black soldiers had been denied consideration for the Medal of Honor (MOH) in World War II because of their race. In 1993, the U.S. Army had contracted Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina, to research and determine if there was racial disparity in the review process for recipients of the MOH. The study commissioned by the U.S. Army, described systematic racial discrimination in the criteria for awarding decorations during World War II. After an exhaustive review of files, the study recommended in 1996 that ten Black Americans who served in World War II be awarded the MOH. In October of that year, Congress passed legislation that would allow President Clinton to award the Medal of Honor to these former soldiers. Seven of the ten including Pfc. James were approved, and awarded the MOH (six had Distinguished Service Crosses revoked and upgraded to the MOH) on 12-01-1997. On 13-01-1997, President Clinton presented the MOH to the seven Black Americans; Pfc. James and five others were posthumously presented the MOH. Pfc. James’s widow accepted the MOH on his behalf during the ceremony. Vernon Baker was the only living recipient of the medal at the time

James and six other Black Americans who served in World War II were awarded the Medal of Honor on 12-01-1997. The Medal of Honor was posthumously presented to James by President Bill Clinton on 13-01-1997, during a Medals of Honor ceremony for the seven recipients at the White House in Washington, D.C. The seven recipients are the first and only Black Americans to be awarded the Medal of Honor for World War II.  In a 1997 White House ceremony, President Bill Clinton presented Valcenie James with her husband’s Medal of Honor, the US military’s highest decoration.

Willy F. James Jr. Date of birth: 18-03-1920, Robert Blake, Vernon Baker Date of birth: 17-12-1919,  Bruce Anderson, Date of birth: 19-06-1845, Charles L. Thomas, Date of birth: 17-04-1920 and James H. Bronson, Date of birth: 1838.

Pfc. Willy Fredrick Jr James, age 25, was buried in the Netherlands American Cemetery and Memorial in the Dutch town of Margraten. His grave can be found in Plot P, Row 9, Grave 9.

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