Eager to fight, hailed as heroesĪssigned to the infantry under General John J. Roughly 10 percent of the 380,000 African-Americans who served in the war actually fought, according the U.S. military’s all-white leadership questioned whether black soldiers had the intelligence or courage to fight, so most were relegated to support roles. In the heyday of Jim Crow discrimination, the U.S. They landed on the Atlantic coast of France the following month.įrom the time the Hellfighters arrived in France late in December 1917, it was unclear if they would ever see combat at all.
That November, during training, he earned his corporal stripes. entered the war, Pippen volunteered for the 15th New York National Guard, later christened the 369th regiment and nicknamed the Harlem Hellfighters.
