Can I hear an AMEN?
In the current era, a story like this jumps off the page and makes me weep for the injustices committed against men like Mr James! Sir, I thank you for your service and please accept my apology for the actions of my fellow Americans!
Entitlement and white nationalism are hideous emotional diseases that have delayed honest racial healing in the US!
13
Thank you for your service sir. I'm sorry for the ignorance that allowed this country to deny your achievement. Props to your daughter for righting a wrong.
My grandfather was a WWII vet and I grew up hearing stories about his service. He used his GI Bill to build a house and business lifting him and his family out of poverty. Not until I was an adult and learned more about our history of racism did I discover that those opportunities were denied to those veterans who were not white. That knowledge tainted the pride I had in my country.
We as a nation should research the records and right more of these wrongs. These men served a nation that treated them as second class citizens because of their color. If a private university can undertake such a task there's no reason why the US can't get it's house in order and resolve the sins of the past. Its time we face our history and quit pretending it never happened.
51
Hopefully Lieutenant James will also get back pay. Won't be much but is just as symbolic in my opinion.
93
Congratulations SIR for your service and for this long overdue recognition of your skill, education and contribution to our country.
57
Congratulation to Lt James on finally receiving his just due. I am glad his daughter persevered on her father's behalf.
Please note that DD 214s can be found on Ancestry c o m and can be used to complete a request for the official DD 214 if a veteran is deceased or the requestor does not otherwise know a veteran's service number, date of discharge or the other information that is part of the request for the official form.
25
Congratulations! A daughter never forgets!
19
After serving 3 years as a commissioned officer, he probably should be a Captain, but I'm glad his daughter and Senator Casey got this done, at last
35
Redemption in a week of tough news.
Thanks
34
Congratulations, Mr. James and thank you for your service. I'm sorry this was so long in coming. We salute you!
37
Congratulations, Lieutenant!
Somebody in personnel has already contacted you about back pay, benefits and retirement, right?
62
It was common for white officers, usually from the deep south, to deny earned honors to black troops. That included combat honors. This past March, Rep Gottheimer, unearthed two Bronze Stars earned by my father, Sgt William Witherspoon, battling Germans in Italy which he never knew about. They were presented to my mother, now 94, 74 years after they were earned. https://njersy.co/2EbbdpA
66
Congratulations to Lt. James. I hope there’s some back pay coming his way!
It would be interesting to know how many students graduated from that integrated OCS class in 1942, how many from all ethnic groups were denied commissions, and how many other black OCS candidates were denied, if any (or was it just Lt. James?).
20
Assuming a 2% compound interest over 73 years on the difference in pay between a second lieutenant and a corporal during WW2, Mr. James is entitled to $13,000. I think.
50
Someone needs to take his compass and map away now that he's a 2LT.
8
After all these years, a 2nd looey. Not much. But still. Mr./Lt. James, thank you so much for staying in there all these years. You could have (deservedly) been bitter or angry, but, no, you did your Army job, you put your children through higher education, and worked diligently, making this country just that bit greater. That is a beautiful thing.
This what makes the United States great. Spirit in spite of it. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
28
Thank you, President Trump, fo righting this wrong.
11
Bravo. Well deserved update to this shameful episode. My father told me the following similar story: In 1946 he was a 19 year old PFC assistant to the Colonel in charge of Army supplies in occupied Frankfurt. Dad was proud both that he qualified as a marksman and that the the Army IQ test marked him for a complicated logistics assignment. The Colonel was a drunk, so Dad and a very efficient female German secretary ran the whole operation for months, his boss slacking off the whole time. So, the Colonel wanted him to re-up and Dad agreed, but only if he would get a promotion to sergeant. The Colonel said yes (my Dad was doing all his work). However, the old sergeant in the outfit, a lifer from the South, took my father aside and in the most vile and graphic terms, told him how he would never allow a Jew to be his equal in the group, and that that Jews were even worse than Negros because you couldn't always tell right away who they were. Dad had the drunk Colonel sign a 3 week R&R in Rome for him. When he got back, the Colonel had been shipped out for incompetence, and Dad left the Army soon after.
53
My deepest respect to all black servicemen and women who took part in American wars, fighting for a country that never fought for you.
61
I hope the NY Times follows up with this story. There is so little good news these days. What a remarkable man. Congratulations!
35
I love this story. We cannot forget our past. Second Lieutenant James is so lucky to have a daughter who fights for his place and deserved honor longggg overdue! Congratulations, proud to have had your service.
27
I just left Mr. James’ ceremony, and it brought me and many others to tears. He is the essence of a true patriot. He was so dignified and happy. To see a proud African American man at age 98 get his just deserts was a heartwarming thrill. As a friend of his daughter, Marion, I couldn’t be more proud of her persistence on behalf of her father. I will never forget seeing him getting his commission and salute from General Jumper and seeing his two daughters pin his bars on him. We must never stop fighting to right wrongs!
110
This is the kind of story that we need to talk about as Americans - it brings in our history of injustice but it also brings in a story of justice. On the one hand, I feel shame that someone was treated this way but, on the other hand, I feel pride that Second Lt. James was finally awarded properly. It is important for us all to feel both pride and shame beause thescombination of these emotions can lead us to making our country a better place.
24
What a wonderful man, congratulations on your long-awaited honor.
13
Well done, Mr. James - well done. My grandfather - a WWII and Korean War veteran - would have been exceedingly proud to serve with you.
And good job, Senator Casey, for helping to put this to rights.
23
Better late than never, but I wonder why it took so long and now that we know there was issues they should be found and corrected without having a congress person involved. Perhaps the president needs to become involved, every individual in the same circumstances should be promoted, even if currently deceased.
10
Thanks to his daughter, Marion Lane, John James will be given his rightful rank he earned in 1942. To you Sir, thank you for your great service our nation and for your life well lived. We salute you LT John E. James Jr.
25
I hope there is an NCO present to give the first salute.
17
We sure as heck know how to pick our second lieutenants in America, even if it takes a while! Congratulations to Second Lieutenant James (Ret)!
What a country!
12
What a travesty! And then to have to fight for it! The military has a huge black eye that won't go away soon.
11
That black eye happened a long time ago, not recently.
1
Yes and no. The black eye happened during WWII, but the military didn't cover itself in glory when reviewing and processing the request--i.e. the records didn't burn in a 1973 fire. His daughter's persistence and congressional involvement gave the story a happy ending.
3
SIR, Congratulations. SIR
20
Great to see that an injustice can be addressed, even though it should have been done long before.
8
I grew up the son of two parents with campaign ribbons from the Pacific theater. Between movies, books and even comic books I always knew the answer to "What did you do in the war?". Every movie, TV show about WW2 made it clear too. I know Americans of all races made contributions to that effort. Whether African-American troops, or Nisei troops or Native American Code Talkers their contributions, especially in light of how they were treated by society at large was truly extraordinary. The incipient racism of our society effectively denied a generation of kids the ability to know, beyond a shadow of doubt the answer to the question I asked above. We're now trying to make up for it, slowly. But a whole generation of my boomer peers never got to see this recognition until almost all of their parents were gone. Even then, the numbers are few and far between, you can count all movies on one hand with fingers left over. This really struck me a few years ago when I watched Red Tails. It was in many ways just like every other WW2 movie - except - it honestly portrayed a group of extraordinary men that had largely been forgotten and never truly recognized. We owe not only recognition, however belated, but also an apology for effectively writing them all out of the history of that war and depriving their children of the public pride that I had for my Mom and Dad.
32
They should retroactively date his commission to 1942, and provide regular promotions up to at least Lt. Colonel (the usual retirement point for officers), along with back pay, with interest, and pension he should have gotten, also with interest, up to the day of restoration. He earned it!
And it's better money spent than on Trump's "Star Fleet" fiasco.
44
I enlisted during the Viet Nam conflict. I counted 52 salutes that I had to make to officers, most of whom did not merit a salute. However, I would definitely salute 2LT James. He should be promoted to general and get back pay!
31
2LT James hung around long enough to see a wrong righted. The process shows, I think, that the military records review process may have become part of the institutional problem and NOT part of the solution. The hoops the board put Ms. Lane through show bias and unwillingness to step up and do the right thing without having to have a Senator's office beat them over the head.
25
Bewildering why case with so much evidence met so many obstacles. Is there some directive to slow walk such cases? What would be the bureaucratic pressure for doing so-- avoiding effects on budget if admitted wrongdoing? Would have thought Army members involved in decision making would be predisposed to righting wrongs toward fellow servicepersons.
Very glad for the 2nd Lt. to finally be recognized and glad for the article celebrating his happiness, but consider perhaps following up by exploring this process and why this case went how it did. This story of rectification was made all the more bittersweet by the contemporary burdens heaped upon this officer.
28
And most of it did not occur under this president, think on that.
1
I doubt it matters to Mr. James but wouldn’t his pay rate been higher if he had received his rightful commission? I hope he receives the difference with interest.
51
The difference in pay between a corporal and a second lieutenant during WW2 was $84 a month so assuming he was deprived of 3 years of pay, he is entitled to $3,024. What does everyone think an appropriate interest rate would be for the past 73 years?
32
At a minimum, rate of inflation, which would peg the 1942 dollar value to about $48K today. Interest is another question: you could argue that most soldiers would have spent the 1942 dollars in 1942.
1
Putting aside the rate of inflation and the possibility of having spent the money sooner, if we assume a compounded 2% investment rate I believe that gets him to $13,000.
Ask the IRS. They are experts at calculating debt interest.
This article shows all that is wrong in this country and all that is right.. sadly that it takes so much time to rectify, heartwarming when wrongs are righted.
31
I loved this story! Here's an anecdote from our family.
Ten years ago, when my father-in-law passed away, my husband's DD214 disappeared.
Since then, my husband has made dozens of attempts to get a copy of the document that recognizes his service. He's contacted everyone from eVetrecs, every portion of the National Archives, all of the military records centers across the country, and every element of the USCG, up to and including the Office of the Commandant. None could find his records.
Finally he got a telephone number for a young yeoman in the records office in New London from an adjutant to the Commandant. This Y1M was great, she jumped right on the problem, and a couple of hours later my husband got the document in an encrypted e-mail. Yet another example of the level of responsibility our young men and women in uniform take for their jobs.
Perseverance, most of the time it pays off.
Congratulations 2nd Lt. It's about time! Every veteran deserves to have their service recognized, it's the least we can do for you.
44
SIR,
Thank you for your service. I am so sorry for the lack of respect our country showed you. I wish I could be at the ceremony to shake your hand!
I hope the NYT prints a picture of the commissioning ceremony.
With respect
Gail Hignight
89
The GI bill was one of the largest pieces of government welfare support that lifted millions of people into the working class. There are troves of careful economic research documenting the numerous benefits this program had. This man and his family were systematically denied that support because he was black. Despite his willingness to fight for a country in which segregation was rampant.
Take this example and multiply it by hundreds of thousands of people of color who were looking for a fair way to work themselves out of poverty in Jim Crow America. Either people were denied access to the military or, having served, the racist administration of the bill ensured it was rarely offered to black soldiers.
But we have to swallow the lie that welfare "unfairly" helps people of color and that people of color are poor because they are lazy and just want a handout. It has always been the other way around. Nobody spits in the eye of all those WW2 vets who rightful got this assistance. All black Americans wanted was to be given the same chance. Handing him a pin at 98 is nice, but the decades of deprived economic opportunity live with him and his descendants with or without the pin.
126
It was earned not welfare. And yes it made a massive difference in our country as their impact is still being felt.
4
Now the whole world will know what you family does. Lt. James EARNED those bars.
28
Thank you for your service, which is magnified in its importance by the fact that you served in the face of such ignorance and hatred, but you did not waiver.
50
Bravo Zulu, Lieutenant James. Wear your bars with pride.
24
Congratulations to Second Lieutenant James and his family!
12
Had this gentleman remained in the non-discriminatory Army, he would have been promoted to at least a "full-bird" colonel. Take that rank from 1942, compound the interest, and 2LT James would still not get the respect and decency that he deserves. I hope that bone-spurs trump doesn't sully this man's honor by trying to pin lieutenant's bars on him. trump does not deserve to stand in the same room with 2LT James.
11
How about we retroactively pay him what he deserved to be paid as an officer, adjusted for inflation. In another world the President would be pinning on his bars.
Thank you for your service, sir.
113
Justice delayed is still justice denied.
29
Congratulations Sir! The story says you didn't challenge this injustice and apparently you never told your family about it until recently. You just did what you could to improve the lives of your children. I have to say, I disagree with that course of action profoundly. But of course, I wasn't there. I didn't see and feel what you did. It's easy to say I would've stood up and protested. Many of those who did I'm sure are in the ground pushing up daisy's. You served your country well and because of soldiers like you America is better off. Air Assault Sir. God bless you and keep you and yours.
17
Hi, Jack. I'm the journalist who wrote this story. I thought about that, too. He said we have to remember the times that he lived in. Segregation was the law of the land that he lived in. People routinely suffered racial indignities and there was very little recourse. I'm very grateful that we live in different times now.
10
Overdue happy ending of a long denied recognition, but what about the officer's pension that he might have earned had he been duly commissioned back then? Had he been commissioned, he might have made the Army his career. I believe he's owed some financial reparation also.
39
He should also be compensated for the proper pay grade commensurate with the ranking with interest.
58
www.prhome.defence.gov
OUSO/P&R/MPP/Compensation - Director - Ms Jeri Busch.
3
This is such a touching story! I salute Lt. James and look forward to the NYT follow-up. Truly, justice is served this day for an American who served his country.
17
Bless Marion Lane for her persistence in correcting this injustice. Her father faced this prejudice and moved forward with tremendous honor and integrity. John E. James, Jr. had to carry this dissapointment for most of his life and it was shameful to read about the number of appeals needed to work past the bureaucracy. This retired CMSgt would be proud to salute Second Lieutenant James.
33
What a story!! As a veteran I salute you.....Sir!! You also have a very persistent daughter but you know that!
66
Awesome story. Congratulations sir.
27
A dream deferred. So glad that Mr. James lived long enough to receive his stripes.
27
Stripes?
2
Congratulations, SIR. I'm so sorry for the great injustice, and delay. But you knew the truth, now we ALL do. My sincere best wishes.
31
Thank you for your service Lt James.
You deserve back pay with interest sir.
116
Great work by his daughter.
Congrats, Lt. James.
26
This article brought tears to my eyes!!
Amidst the surreal state of affairs our country is undergoing, this story renews my faith that there is more good in this world than bad. I have to sometimes remind myself!
28
Although almost 75 years late, the Army corrected its mistake. A day to celebrate 2nd Lt. James.
Congratulations.
2
This actually brought me to tears. I can remember how proud I was when my gold bars were pinned on me. I can't imagine the pain, anger and humilation he must have felt when his earned commission was denied because of his race.
66
Bravo to the daughter! I was particularly taken with her statement that “We live in a country where, yes, there are injustices that can happen. We are blessed to be in a country where injustice can also be rectified.”
46
Congratulations, Second Lieutenant James! Even more so for your 98th birthday. My guess is your own character is reflected in the fine daughter(s) you raised.
40
Nice but not good enough. If Lt. James had served in the Army until retirement, he could have possibly made bird colonel. To split the difference, he should at least be commissioned as a major and be given the back pay and pension commensurate with that rank.
87
Thank you President Trump for righting this wrong. Should have been done during the previous Adminstration.
1
The article doesn't mention Trump at all. He wasn't personally involved in any way. Nor was President Obama personally involved and he was likely unaware given that the request was winding it's way through the Army in 2016 just before his term ended. Instead, the article makes it very clear that this wonderful correction happened because of the perseverance of the office of Senator Bob Casey, a Pennsylvania Democrat. His office should receive credit, not Trump.
I agree, however, with other comments here that this honorable man, John E. James, Jr., should also receive back pay. It would be a final, positive aspect of recognizing his service.
49
Nowhere in this article does it say President Trump or President Obama had anything to do with this. What are you talking about? What is wrong with you?
28
Nice try! No where in this article does it say that Trump had anything to do with this.
27
It's 5.30 in the afternoon now in Ireland - I hope that Mr James is already 'Second Lieutenant James,' or will be very soon. His loyalty, and his stalwart and dignified outlook, are humbling.
55
In my opinion, in addition to his long overdue promotion, he is due back pay, pension, interest and reparations. For those who say these past injustices happened too long ago to repay, consider that art stolen by Germans in WW2 is still being returned to families of survivors. France forced Haiti to pay "reparations" for it's independence for over a hundred years, ending only in 1948! So white people seem to have a really long memory when it comes to collecting reparations, but they want the people they cheated to have a really short memory.
112
@A.S.: Thank you for your comment. All of what you state is correct. I am also glade to see you reference Haiti's *purchase* of its freedom from France. I too am hopeful the military will see fit to compensate Mr. James retroactively at the officer rate he is so- entitled.
17