Vintage All-Black U.S. Military Basketball Teams: Unknown Soldiers I
Part 5 in a series of posts honoring vintage all-black U.S. military basketball teams. Back to Part 4 | Skip to Part 6)
Organized competitive team sports were a vital part of the United States military during World War II. Every military installation in America had its own leagues and teams as did many that were overseas.
There were a large number of all-black teams, since the military was still racially segregated. Many of these were well-known and well-documented at the time.
However, few records of most of these teams remain.
For example, the identity of these W.W. II era soldiers and their basketball team is unknown:
An unknown all-black U.S. military basketball team.
All we have to go on here is the partial insignia visible on the unit’s colors (i.e., its flag).
The unit colors of an unknown W.W. II era all-black U.S. military basketball team.
If you believe you know anything about this team, this unit, its insignia, or the identity of any of its players, please contact us. Thank you.
[…] « Vintage All-Black U.S. Military Basketball Teams: Unknown Soldiers I 26 05 2009 […]
I assume you know Earl Lloyd. You might send the photo to him and see if he can identify anyone. These players were a few years older than he was, but I know the West Virginia State team he played on had a lot of WWII vets so he played with and against guys from that era. You’re doing great work!
The brass on their collars may reveal which branch of the Army they were in. This seems to be a Company Team rather than a platoon because the First Sergeant and the Commander are in the picture and the guidon (flag) is only displayed when the Commander is present. I would like to be able to take a closer look at the guidon’s center piece because that may reveal which Corps this unit represented also.
Thats great news . Is there any record of games these guy played in? Did the Air force or the other branches have basketball teams?
Thanks Claude u did it again!
The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) was the military aviation arm of the United States of America during and immediately after World War II and the direct precursor to the United States Air Force. The U.S. Army Aviation Branch insignia which was a silver propeller in a vertical position between two gold wings in a horizontal position, 1 1/8 inches in width is on the left collar brass disc of the enlisted soldiers, and on both colors without a disk on the officer’s collar. The unit’s guidon (colors) also has the vertical propeller between two wings in the center and was probably Golden Orange on a field of Ultramarine Blue. The USAAF was active from 20 June 1941 to 17 September, 1947.
During WWII, there was not much distinction between the dress uniform and the field uniform because they were one and the same until President Harry S Truman’s note on lack of dress uniform in 1947. The main service uniforms in WWII were in various khaki and brown color schemes. The most commonly-worn service uniform was a four-button chocolate-colored belted coat or tunic, with tan slacks, tan or chocolate shirt, and tan necktie. The fact that the uniformed soldiers in this picture are wearing either the tan or the chocolate shirt is an indication that the uniform was in transition during which time; certain uniform items (such as the shirt) have pre-determined phase-out dates.
The left shoulder patch on the staff sergeant’s sleeve most closely looks like the patch worn from 24 July 1947 to 1 July 1956 by the United States (Army) Air Forces in Europe. The winged star is the traditional air force symbol. A flaming sword taken from the patch of the United States Forces European Theater shows the relationship of the two commands established near Paris in 1945. The shoulder patch was gleaned from the Illustrated Encyclopedia of Cloth Unit Insignia of U.S. Army Patches, Flashes and Ovals by Barry Jason Stein. This encyclopedia was autographed by Barry for, Claude Johnson.
The numeral three (3) on the bottom of the guidon would typically be a letter for the designation of the unit’s company, i.e., HQ, A, B, C, D, etc. But since the numeral 3 is present, and slightly to the left of center to the propeller and wings, there should be another character (letter or number unidentified) following it. The top of the guidon (above the propeller and wings) looks like it could be the letter D for Delta Company (or the number zero). The top of the guidon is typically reserved for the number identifying the unit’s brigade. The letter D (or number zero) is slightly to the right of center to the propeller and wings, so there should be a letter or a number preceding it. The unit’s battalion designator is typically a number to the left of the propeller and wings. The guidon would be the item in this picture that would most closely identify the exact unit and location of this basketball team. It is really unfortunate that these colors were so thoroughly wrapped around its guidon staff when this photo was taken.
So, I would say that this basketball team played for an Army Aviation unit in Germany between 1947 and 1956. The brown and tan military uniform was worn until phased out entirely circa 1956 by the green “Class A” service uniform which has remained virtually unchanged since its official adoption in 1954.