Black paratroopers saved the United States from Japan's fire bombs in the WWII

Black paratroopers saved the United States from Japan's fire bombs in the WWII

A plane from the time of World War II will fly over the funeral of a veteran on Saturday. Eighty years ago, elite paratroopers from similar machines jumped into a secret mission called "Operation Firefly".

The Operation Firefly

The soldiers jumped into burning forest fires and often ended up in trees from which they had to abseil with ropes. If the ropes were too short, they plunged to the ground and learned to protect their body as best as possible. Their task was to extinguish the flames that were sparked by balloon bombs that Japan sent over the Pacific Ocean - the first documented intercontinental weapons .

an impressive inheritance

The paratroopers were highly trained and extremely effective, kept 1,200 jumps and lost only one man. All of them were African -American.

Staff Sergeant Joe Harris, who is buried on Saturday, was one of these brave men. He died last month in Los Angeles at the age of 108 and may have been one of the last members of the 555th paratrooper battalion, known as "Triple Nickles". "He broke barriers, he exceeded borders and proved that bravery knows no color," Harris ’grandson Ashton Pittman told Cnn.

a fight against another enemy

Although the Second World War was already in full swing, black soldiers were often banished in inferior, non-combined positions. Robert Bartlett, a veteran, emeritus professor and historian of Triple Nickles, reports that they cooked, repaired streets, washes and guard military goals.

sixteen soldiers from the segregated 555. Parachute hunter battalion finally became the first black men who the Airborne school the Army in Fort Benning, Georgia, successfully completed. Her unit received the nickname "Triple Nickles", referring to the earlier role as "Buffalo Soldiers" of the 92nd Infantry Division and the "Buffalo" nickel coin of that time, with an unusual spelling.

The secret mission

When the triple nickles were finally commissioned for a secret mission, they thought they were sent to Europe to fight, said Bartlett. Instead, their now 300 -man group was ordered to the Pendleton Army Airfield in Oregon, where they learned that they were dealing with another enemy - fire.

The army was determined to keep "Operation Firefly" secret. "They did not want the American people to panic because it was bombed by the Japanese, and they didn't want the Japanese to find out that they were successful," added Bartlett. "It was a secret war that the United States waged."

the training and the challenges

While the US Army trained the triple nickles in mitigating bombs, the men were also trained by the forestry forests in order to become the first military paratroopers. "The army will teach you how to deal with these bombs, but we will teach you how to jump into the mountains to extinguish fires with pimples and shovels," Bartlett recalled the words of the forest service.

Instead of the usual military uniform, the triple nickles were given modified, fire -proof uniforms, helmets with wire cages to protect against the dense scrub and ropes to let go of trees.

an unknown hero

The black heroes of the 555. Battalion even took part in the 1946 in New York City with their white comrades in New York City before the army and the rest of the military were destroyed. Nevertheless, they still had to sit on the back of the bus and endure other forms of discrimination.

"It was as if you said, 'We don't really respect you, but we need you'," said Pittman about his grandfather's experiences and others. Historian Bartlett explained that the patriotism of the Triple Nickles is undeniable: "These men loved their country. They loved their country, but they didn't love their country," he said.

growing respect for the legacy

After leaving the army, Joe Harris worked as a border guard official for decades, as Pittman reports. "I have gained a greater appreciation for the things my grandfather left me, like his patch of Triple Nickles and his jacket from World War II," said the younger Pittman.

To honor his grandfather, he started training for paratroopers in October, although he is not in the military. "I felt that I had to do it to pay respect to him and those who served, especially the triple nickles," said Pittman.

The non -profit organization Beyond the Call honored Harris's life and realized that "Joe Harris’s bravery and selflessness embody the spirit of the triple nickle paratrooper". His remarkable curriculum vitae is to be recognized on Saturday with a complete military berry and a overflight.