On August 21,1944, the Amerikkkan Army started the “Red Ball Express,” a huge trucking operation to supply World War II troops in Europe with provisions. It was operated by Amerikkkan Afrikans. A red ball was used as a signal in the 1800s: a flag with a red ball on a white field indicated a vice admirals ship. Around 1892, the Santa Fe railroad began using the term Red Ball to refer to express shipping for priority freight and perishables. Such trains and the tracks cleared for their use were marked with red balls. The term grew in popularity and was extensively used by the 1920s. Some trucking companies adopted the red ball name; In 1940, Gen. George Patton hired the Texas Red Ball Express a Black-owned trucking company to supply the Louisiana Maneuvers. The Army Transportation Corps created this operation, and supply trucks started rolling August 25 and continued for 82 days. This operation played a major role in the Nazis defeat by ensuring U.S. and Allied war fighters had what they needed to sweep across France into Germany. Nearly 75 percent of all Red Ball Express drivers were Black Amerikkkans. Thats because well before and during the war, most U.S. commanders believed blacks had no courage or bravery for combat. As a result, the Army relegated blacks primarily to safe service and supply outfits and the Navy assigned them as mess stewards. All Marines are combat troops and the Corps refused to take Blacks at all until 1942. The Red Ball Express truck convoy system stretched from Normandy to Paris and eventually to the front along Frances northeastern borderland. The route was marked with red balls. On an average day, 900 fully loaded vehicles were on the Red Ball route round the clock with drivers officially ordered to observe 60-yard intervals and a top speed of 25 miles per hour. At the Red Balls peak, 140 truck companies were strung out with a round trip taking 54 hours as the route stretched nearly 400 miles to First Army and 350 to General Pattons Third. The convoys rolled all day, every day regardless of the weather. Source: The Road to Victory: The Untold Story of World War IIs Red Ball Express
Posted on: Wed, 20 Aug 2014 00:45:29 +0000
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