(Candlewick, 160 pp.)
The Triple Nickles, America鈥檚 first black paratroopers, trained at Fort Benning, Ga., during World War II, hoping to see combat action like their white counterparts, and although segregation prevented that, they did pioneer the field of smoke jumping to fight forest fires.
Here's an excerpt from "Courage Has No Color":
鈥淲hen the officers took their first jump, the mood was serious. 鈥業 slept very little the night before our first jump..... The usual banter was missing. Each of us knew that we were about to do something no other black officers in military history had ever done before,鈥� [Lt Bradley] Biggs said.
鈥淓ach of the two groups going through training 鈥� the twenty enlisted men and the six officers who followed just after them 鈥� had to complete four daylight jumps and one night jump in order to earn their wings.
鈥淭hat first jump into the dark black night, counting on their skills, their instincts, their guts, is the turning point for paratroopers. Once that was under their belts, they knew they had what it took.鈥�
