AAPA member Linda Hervieux talks to us about the forgotten combat soldiers of D-Day, the all-Black 320th Barrage Balloon Battalion, among the first to land on Omaha Beach on June 6, 1944. Published in 2015, it is an episode in the upcoming National Geographic/Disney+ documentary series Erased: WW’s Heroes of Color. The book’s theme of racism in America, particularly in the armed services, is especially relevant in this year’s 80th anniversary of D-Day, a time when racial tensions are again mounting.
Linda interviewed the 12 still surviving members of the Battalion when she began researching her book in 2009, and was captivated by the shocking inequality she discovered, extending all the way to lack of official recognition of documented heroism. Today, she is working with the family of the 320’s hero medic who is, once again, a candidate for the Medal of Honor.