My Uncles in World War II

This is a historical and brief documentary of the contribution of African American in war.

UNCLE EDWARD AND UNCLE SHERRY
AS A WORLD WAR 2 SOLDIER AND SAILOR

During my years of extensive slave research, I learned that some families can lose their family connection by the spelling of the surnames or not having the original name at all. In this short write-up, I'll explain how my cousins, Louis Sherry GAILES and his wife Helen Louise WASHINGTON-GAILES, both deceased, were actually from the same ancestor. Louis was born about 1927 in Opelousas, Louisiana to Odell Edward GAILES and Ethel GUIDRY. Helen was born about 1937 in Washington, Louisiana to Aaron WASHINGTON, Sr. and Letha NESBIT. Louis is the great-grandson of Washington GALES, a former quadroon slave of Joseph GRADENIGO, a free man of color, who purchased himself out of bondage. While Washington was enslaved, he had two known children, one named Emile, Helen's grandpa, who he had with a Negro slave named Arthemise, and another named James William GALES who he had with a slave named Louisa. Emile took on his father's forename as a surname. Also, he used his father's former owner's surname as shown in his second marriage: GRADENI, Emile Washington (Washington & Artemise THOMAS) m. 5 Feb. 1883 Irene THOMAS, wid. of Gustin LEDE (Wash. Ch.: v. 1, p. 83)WASHINGTON, Emile m. 29 Jan. 1883 Irene THOMAS, wid. of Justin LEDE (Opel. Ct. Hse.: Mar. #12683).





My uncle: Edward Odell Gailes Jr.
Technician fifth grade
The T/5 insignia of a letter "T" below two chevrons. Name Edward O Gailes
Gender Male
Birth Date 8 Jan 1922
Death Date 28 Apr 1986
SSN 439164367
Enlistment Branch ARMY
Enlistment Date 21 May 1941
Discharge Date 3 Mar 1947
Page number 1
Country United States


Service branch United States Army
Abbreviation T/5 or Tec 5
Rank group Enlisted
Pay grade 5th Grade
Formation 26 January 1942
Abolished 1 August 1948
Next higher rank Technician fourth grade
Next lower rank Private first class
Equivalent ranks Corporal






My Uncle 'Sherry" Louis Gailes



Service On board vessel during World War 2


Louis Sherry Gailes
in the U.S., World War II Navy Muster Rolls, 1938-1949
Name Louis Sherry Gailes
Record Type Enlistment
Enlistment Date 1 Jun 1946
Description Receiving Station, New Orleans, La. 30 Apr 1931 to 1 Nov 1946 Part14, 2 Apr 1946 /1 Jul 1946
Detail Source
Name Louis Sherry Gailes
Record Type Military

This is not the same Comfort Class Medical Ship Uncle Sherry was on, but it is the same ship number!
Military Date 1 Apr 1946
Ship, Station or Activity Comfort
Ship Number or Designation T-Ah 20
Series MLR Number A1 135 Service Number: 276 03 13
Receiving Station: San Francisco, Ca. 1/1/1939 to 1/1/1949 Part 48, 2 Mar-1 May 1946

I would like to give an anaysis on the emphasis of African Americans in earlier conficts in American history. One big issue was racial
profiling on African American troops during the period between the Spanish American War and the World Wars.

In Jim Crow Texas, black Regular Army units returning victoriously from Cuba and the Philippines collided head-on with local segregation and bigotry. As the soldiers' expectations of dignity and respect met with racial restrictions and indignities from civilian communities, a series of violent episodes erupted.

Although confrontations also occurred elsewhere, the most notorious were in Texas, beginning with an 1899 clash between white lawmen in Texarkana and black soldiers riding a troop train west after returning from Cuba. The first truly violent episode came in 1906, when troops were accused of attacking Brownsville after civilian provocations. In 1917 a full-scale battle in Houston resulted in fifteen dead and twenty-one injured. Between 1899 and 1917, a series of other face-offs—some involving the complex relationships of blacks with local Hispanic populations—occurred when black soldiers stood up for their rights or their lives in San Antonio, Laredo, El Paso, Rio Grande City, Del Rio, and Waco.

This little-known story, never before told in full, illuminates the collision of racial discrimination with racial pride and reveals once again the petty biases, institutionalized racism, and mutual suspicions that have divided American society. But it is also a story of lofty aspirations too long delayed, of the transformation of a downtrodden race into a self-confident people, and of the noble attempt, however dangerous its means, to realize full citizenship.

Clearly written and impressively researched, Black Soldiers in Jim Crow Texas traces the relationship of the four black military regiments—the 24th and 25th Infantries and the 9th and 10th Cavalries—with white civilian communities in the period between the Spanish-American War and World War I. Drawn from previously unexploited sources, it fills a void in the increasing body of research on the black military and illuminates the magnitude of racial intolerance in early twentieth-century America. No other work has explored these issues in such depth and with such skill.