What I want people to know is make peace with all the nations, despite race and nationality. All things will be gone and We will all meet in spirit.

 

Veterans History Project

James Haynes

 

Mr. James was riding his cart into the Recreation Room. Ron sees the WW II Veteran cap on his head and says, “WW II”. Mr. James begins to tell his story of his WW II service. His brother Albert comes to visit him and adds information from time to time.

James H. was born in Dorchester County, South Carolina on December 1, 1923.  His father was Peter H. and his mother was Ann Green Haynes  .  they worked for Middleton Gardens, my father was a care taker and my mother worked with him too. I started working early. I only had a 5thgrade education. I also worked for the hospital transporting   prisoners from a prison to the hospital.

 He was drafted into the Army in 1943. He trained at  __Ft Belvoir, VA___________. And was trained to function as part of an engineering battalion. He said the Battalion trained to construct pontoon bridges and destroy bridges that were across rivers.

Them.

His brother Albert said, “tell her about the race riot on the base in PA”. James said, “It wasn’t a race riot. “They argued. James said he knew the right story There was difficulty at the PX (base store). There were segregated lines. A woman on the white line was holding a baby. The baby started to slip from her hands. A colored soldier caught the baby. A fight ensued between the white and colored soldiers. The Senior officers on the base expedited the overseas assignments of both groups. 

 

James was ill and in the base hospital at the time. His Engineering Battalion shipped without him. James was assigned to the 1398 the Quartermasters Battalion. James was sent to France to guard Germany Prisoners of War (POW’s). The group he guarded were officers. “they would come to the fence and we would speak. They were just people like all people. They worried about their families and wanted to go home, which was what everyone wanted. They knew more about the US than I did. Many of them had family in the US We were the same thing, they fought for their country and we fought for ours.  One prisoner escaped and three of us were sent out to find him. He was hiding in the wood and said he wanted to go to e his family’s. By this time the war was over and I told him, “don’t do it this way. Do it the right way and he came back with us.  This  was in Verdune France. When the war was won, we transferred to Nancy, France.  “When we got there we found that POW’s were working in a shoe factory repairing shoes.

The French are nice people. We used to go with them to movies and dances with them when we had leave. When the war ended there was dancing, everyone was happy. We could see the US planes flying overhead and knew it was over.

 

We learned a lot in the war, some good, some bad. We got to see other places and how other people lived in different parts of the world. You do learn special things like all people are the same-human.

There was one soldier older than me who kind of put me under his wing. He would say make sure you write to your mother. He was from Cincinnati; J. F. was his name. I visited him in Cincinnati and he visited me. (James teared up). He’s passed now. I never joined any veteran’s groups.

James said he did not have any medals but his brother Albert said he received a Medal from France, The Legion of Honor, for fighting and liberating the country. Also a campaign ribbon and a Good Conduct Medal.

There was one

James reenlisted for one more year and was sent to the Philippines. When he returned home, he went to school to learn to be a cook and a baker. Four years after the war he went to work at The Charleston Naval Shipyard, working on Nuclear Submarines. He started as a laborer and worked his way up to Supervisor. “There were 10 people in my gang”.

What I want people to know is make peace with all the nations, despite race and nationality. All things will be gone and We will all meet in spirit.

As Mr. Haynes was leaving the room where we conducted the inter view, Mr. Samuel Belton was coming into the room. They struck up a conversation and realized they were cousins on Mr. Haynes mother’s side of the family.