Personal Narrative Film, Video Manuscript/Mixed Material Photo, Print, Drawing Roscoe Tyson Spann Collection
Veterans History Project Service Summary:
- War or Conflict: World War, 1939-1945
- Branch of Service: Army
- Unit of Service: 92nd Infantry Division; 93rd Infantry Division; Army Reserve
- Location of Service: Fort Huachuca, Arizona
- Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
- Collection Number: AFC/2001/001/54076
Roscoe Spann was in medical school in 1941 when his local draft board notified him. Feeling that his education to be a doctor was more important, he managed for six months to ignore the notice, but the FBI finally caught up to him. He decided to make the most of his service and attended Officer Candidate School at Ft. Benning, Georgia, where he confronted segregated conditions. Assigned to Ft. Huachuca to train troops of the 92nd and 93rd Divisions, Spann was told he was too good a trainer to be assigned overseas. He spent most of the war in the Arizona desert, where a cold war between black and white officers never thawed. Spann was court-martialed for striking a white officer, and though he was found guilty, he was given a promotion several months later. A request by him and his fellow officers to meet with General Benjamin O. Davis, the highest ranking black officer in the Army, failed to ease the tensions.
Interview / Recording
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PlayAt Ft. Benning for OCS, he and two other black men staying in former CCC barracks, just to be apart from the white soldiers; having their own waiters and a busboy; whites not wanting them there; they were 3 out of 258; taking two years of West Point courses in one year; proud of his ability to stick it out. 00:06:12.4 - 00:09:50.2
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PlayTraining black troops at Huachuca; one of his fellow soldiers was Coleman Young, future mayor of Detroit; maneuvering by the fort's administration so that they didn't come in contact with white soldiers; was company commander who did special training for mountain and desert warfare; hearing that Patton did not want any black troops sent over to him; lauding Truman for desegregating the armed forces. 00:14:35.6 - 00:21:20.9
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PlayNever went overseas; told that he was too valuable as a trainer to be sent away from Huachuca; training Buffalo Soldiers (92nd) and the Blue Helmet (93rd), the only black officer to serve with both; doing a monthly forced march of 26 miles to Tombstone and "attacking" the town; spending the night and getting trucked back to camp; difficult transition from studying medicine to teaching men how to kill; maneuvers in Louisiana with the 93rd under tough conditions; sent back to Arizona to train the 92nd ; never saw the men he trained after they left. 00:23:33.2 - 00:28:40.3
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PlayCourt martialed for insubordination; dealing with prejudiced white Southern officers who were in some cases not as well trained as he; hitting a white superior officer; sent on a train to Kentucky for court martial; humorous story of a sign in Texas he saw from the train; convicted and sent back to Arizona; several months later, promoted to First Lieutenant; dissatisfied black officers at Huachuca asking for a meeting with only black general in the army, Benjamin O. Davis; did not go well when Davis referred to the officers as "boys." 00:29:00.1 - 00:42:07.8
More Resources
About this Item
Title
- Roscoe Tyson Spann Collection
Names
- Chapman, Mimi
- Spann, Roscoe Tyson
- Ypsilanti District Library and Ypsilanti Rotary
- Vollano, William J.
Home State
- Michigan
Headings
- - Spann, Roscoe Tyson
- - World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal Narratives
- - United States. Army.
Repository
- Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress
Gender
- Male
Race
- Black or African American
Status
- veteran
Service History
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World War, 1939-1945
- Branch of Service: Army
- Unit of Service: 92nd Infantry Division; 93rd Infantry Division; Army Reserve
- Location of Service: Fort Huachuca, Arizona
- Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
- Dates of Service: 1941-1947
- Entrance into Service: Drafted
- Military Status: veteran
Materials
- Photograph: Duplicate [6 items] -- Photograph (collected 1943-2005)
- Video: DVD [1 item] -- Reference copy (collected 2005-11-29; 2005-11-29)
- Video: DVD [1 item] -- Oral history interview (collected 2005-11-29; 2004-12-08)
- Manuscript: Biographical information [2 items] -- Typewritten document (collected 2005)
- Manuscript: Clippings [2 items] -- Typewritten document (collected 2001)
- Photograph: Mixed (Multiple types of photographs) [8 items] -- Photograph (collected 1943-2005)
Collection Number
- AFC/2001/001/54076
Cite as
- Roscoe Tyson Spann Collection (AFC/2001/001/54076), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress
Online Format
- image
- video