A Lasting Love Affair
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| Lieutenant (Bandleader) James Reese Europe. |
The Great War changed many things in France. The French lost
more than four percent of their population in the meat grinder of combat, and
their towns and cities still bear the scars to this very day. But in the midst
of all the carnage, a love affair developed. A love affair that grows stronger
as each year passes, and it was all thanks to a group of African Americans.
Lieutenant James Reese Europe, and the soldiers of the all-black,
15th New York National Guard Regiment, shipped out of New York on
December 27th 1917, destined for the bloody trenches of France. Packed
away alongside all the usual stuff a soldier would carry were the tools of
their other trade; trombones, trumpets, saxophones and a whole variety of
musical instruments. These men were on their way to start another French Revolution,
the revolution of Jazz.
It took a while before the men of the 15th New York got
to do any soldiering. The commanders of The American Expeditionary Force just
didn’t want to place black soldiers alongside their white American brothers, so
Europe and his men dug trenches, laid railroad track, and unloaded supplies.
But all the while they mesmerized their French hosts with this new and intoxicating
jazz, and the love affair began.
The French Army was colorblind. They didn’t have a problem with
these black sons of America, so they twisted the arms of a few U.S generals and
finally got permission to incorporate the 15th New York into their
ranks.
Now called the 369th Infantry Regiment, this group of
musicians fought with real élan,
earning the nickname, The Harlem
Hell-Fighters.
We will tell the story of this band
of musical warriors in our new, four-part public television series, Over There. Doughboys in The Great War, and
we are going to re-build the Hell-Fighters band.
By drawing young African American
musicians from across the Carolinas and Georgia, the Hell-Fighters band of
James Reese Europe will come alive.
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