Did black soldiers fight on the Island of Iwo Jima?

Question

Did black soldiers fight along side white soldiers on the island of Iwo Jima during WW2? I ask because director Spike Lee is accusing the director of the movie (Flags of our Fathers) Clint Eastwood almost of racism for not showing black soldiers in this WW2 film. I know blacks fought honorably during WW2 but did they fight this particular battle that would make Spike Lee accusations true?

Additional Details

I didn't ask if blacks fought during WW2 babygirl i know they did. I asked if they fought along side whites in this particular battle. PS no need to scream at me.

Answer 1

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker

what the idiot spike lee isn't taking into consideration is that the movie was based on the book, which in turn was based on the lives of the six men that raised the flag on mount surabachi. the only "minority" that was among them was ira hayes, a pima indian. if lee would read the book, he would find this information out. eastwood is not a racist by any means. i'm sure that there were blacks on the island. the island itself is a little more than a rock, about 5,000 acres in area. the whole island was under the guns of the japanese. there were no front lines on the island. the marines that landed would often times find themselves being fired at from behind after the marines thought that they had neutralized the japanese. with that in mind, i'm sure that the blacks that were on the island, came under fire at some point while on the island.

Source(s):

us army, military police

Asker's Rating:

Asker's Comment:

Thanks that's what i thought.

Answer 2

YES THEY DID DO THE RESEARCH THEY FOUGHT IN MANY WARS FOR THIS COUNTRY AND GOT NO CREDIT FOR IT SPIKE LEE KNOWS HIS STUFF!! YOU CAN DO RESEARCH ON THIS AT THE LIBRARY!! I DID !

Answer 3

During WWII black soldiers fought bravely with honor; however, during that era the units were segregated into white and colored units. These units often fought in the same battles but not as mixed or integrated units as Spike Lee indicated. The D. Fool is trying to rewrite history.
Note: I make no racial or cultural judgments here about the 1940's just stating the facts prevalent then.

Answer 4

although the film is in the main about the raising of the flag and the 6 soldiers concerned there were in fact black soldiers fighting alongside whites in the 4th and 5th marine divisions,the battle lasted 37 days between Feb and march 1945 and cost the Japanese over 20,000 dead,there were also other native Americans in this battle as well as ira hays who along with 4 other marines and a photographer raised the flag.Clint Eastwood is no racist and as for spike lee ,well,any publicity is good publicity and maybe he should have done more research before opening his mouth.

Source(s):

ex-brit military

Answer 5

Yes they did. they were known as the Montford Point Marines. They received this title due to where they did their training.Only 1200 existed during this time, however due to personal racism many of them men stayed in the one unit. Although Franklin Roosevelt directed the de-segregation of the military, they didn't enforce it. this unit did land on almost every island in the Pacific and did play a huge part in the overall picture. Even after serving heroically during WWII, the Marines were still forced to train at a segregated camp. it was later closed on Sept 9 1949. the Montford point Marines were not used as main assault elements. they served as litter bearers, and as security for the rear elements. So it could only be logically said that blacks did fight along side whites on Iwo Jima, However they did not serve in the attack on Mount Suribachi. in fact the First Black Marine Corps Officer came from this unit.They're you go everyone the truth!!!

Source(s):

U.S. Marine Corps Special Operations, U.S. Army officer candidate.
USMC a complete history-marine Corps Association

Answer 6

Not only did black soldiers fight at Iwo Jima, mostly in amphibious units, but 14 black soldiers (DUKW drivers) were awarded silver stars for their actions at Iwo Jima (some were awarded posthumously). Their amphibious units were attached to Marine units.

The army commissioned a study called "The Exclusion of Black Soldiers from the Medal of Honor in World War II", published by MacFarland in 1997, which documents as a case example the actions of one of these black DUKW drivers at Iwo Jima which earned him the silver star.

As an aside, the results of this study led President Clinton to award seven Medals of Honor to unrecognized black veterans of WWII in 1997.

Source(s):

The Exclusion of Black Soldiers from the Medal of Honor in World War II, by Converse, E.V., III, Gibram, D.K., Cash, J.A., Griffith, R.K., Jr., Kohn, R.H., published by MacFarland, 1997, pp. 152-53.

http://books.google.com/books?id=u3XcvSC9vFkC&pg=PA163&lpg=PA163&dq=black+%22some+posthumously%22+Iwo+Jima+%22silver+star%22&source=web&ots=QDh_me2Wp4&sig=JroWnfmhsdlv9eaAyebKp28JxR4&hl=en