When the Red Ball Express Came Home

When the Red Ball Express Came Home

by Rev. Cleven L. Jones, Sr. (B. DIV. '76)

“Science has proven that Blacks are lazy, can’t lead, lowly educated, not very intelligent, don’t reason well, prone to criminality, and clownish,” Brigadier General Travis Clark declared, his voice raised high enough to be heard over the distant sounds of firefights between allied soldiers and German Nazis as they traveled along a bumpy French road frequently bombed by the German Nazis during World War II.

As the Black Tuskegee Airmen were tough in the skies, the Black soldiers of the Red Ball Express were tough on the ground. It was said that “Some supermen wore capes, others drove trucks." RBE is historical fiction based on World War II mostly Black infantry, gunnery, combat soldiers, and truck drivers who played a major role in the victory over Hitler and the German Wehrmacht on the Normandy Peninsula in France. Their fierce battles with racist stereotypes before they left for the war, while they were at war, and when they returned home from war are an issue. But, who amongst the optimistic and pessimistic Black soldiers would be right in their open and sometimes subtle discussions about America progressing in race relations as a result of the patriotism of men and women of color? When the action unfolds at various levels of war and emotion between home, basic training, and the Red Ball Highway, breakthrough moments seem to win the day, or did they?

Find the book here.