Not an Unforgotten Hero, but an Unrecognized Hero
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Can you imagine living in a country where every single person looked down on you and treated you unfairly for the color of your skin? Even though you get treated like crap in that country you are still required to serve in the military where you put your own life at risk. No matter what courageous act you do or how many lives you save, you will only be seen on what color your skin is. In a New York Times article, an African-American man got his recognition as a hero 66 years later. This article demonstrates how African-Americans had unfair rights even during the time of war, and we fail to recognize accomplishments of African-Americans that made America a great place to live.
Even though African-Americans were treated like crap, they were required to serve our country in the military. Throughout all the major wars in American history, we made black people go into war even though they didnt have the right to vote and segregation was taking place. During the time of war, black people were usually put in the front lines ahead of the white people so that they would get killed first if they were under attack. The article that I chose is about Carl E. Clark. Clark is an African American who served in the Navy in the 1940s. On May 3, 1945, the U.S.S. Aaron Ward got attacked by six Japanese kamikaze planes. Clark, who sustained a broken collarbone from the attacks, single-handedly grabbed a hose that is usually handled by several men put out the fires that almost reached the ammunition locker (“66 Years”). If that fire would have reached the ammunition locker, the entire ship would have exploded. This is a man who grew up in a tough time where almost every white person believed that colored people couldnt do anything of brilliancy. One of the saddest things about this article is the fact that after Clark saved the ship, Clark suffered racism throughout his entire 22 years of service to the Navy (“66 Years”). To me, I am embarrassed that racism was going in during a time where the entire country came together to fight a common goal. Even though blacks and whites fought together, white people strategizing ways that would put the black people in the most dangerous parts. The worst part for African-American was that after the war, they were not known as heroes. Instead, they went back home to a society that was still racist towards them.
When African-Americans served in the military, our society failed to recognize that they contributed a lot during combat. When African-Americans did something as courageous as what Clark did, it was never marked down in history because the white society thought blacks were cowards when it came to war. Clark was unrecognized for his heroic act for 66 years. At the age of 95, he was finally awarded with a medal that should have been awarded to him much earlier (“66 Years”). I believe that white people in America at that time thought that the typical white American