Many years before "black pride" became a popular slogan, a small group of black American soldiers gave life and meaning to those words. Born within an army that had traditionally relegated Blacks to menial jobs and programmed them for failure, the 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion, or "Triple Nickles," succeeded in becoming the nation's first all-Black parachute infantry battalion.
In the frosty Georgia winter of 1943-44, soldiers and officer candidates traveling to and from Fort Benning often saw the sky filled with white parachutes. Most of them assumed that the faces beneath the chutes were also White. The Black soldiers they knew drove their trucks, waited on them in mess halls, or hauled their ammunition; they rode in the back of the bus to and from Columbus; they gathered at their own separate clubs on the fort.
Some of the faces beneath those chutes, however, were Black. As such they were also pioneers, blazing new trails for countless Black soldiers to follow. It wasn't easy. A proud Black lieutenant, sergeant, or private, with polished boots and paratrooper wings, still had to use the "colored" toilets and drinking fountains in the railroad stations, sit in segregated sections of theaters, and go out of his way to avoid confrontations with racist police. Black officers continued to find post officers' club closed to them. But they endured, and proved themselves as airborne troopers.
These Black pioneers were exceptional men, specially selected for the task. They were former university students and professional athletes, top-notch and veteran soldiers. A major element in their success was that, unlike other Black infantry units officered by whites, they were entirely Black, from commanding officer down to the newest private.
The 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion was an all-Black airborne unit of the U.S. Army during World War II. The battalion did not serve overseas during World War II. However, in May 1945 it was sent to the west coast of the United States to combat forest fires ignited by Japanese balloons carrying incendiary bombs. The population of the west coast would have been seriously alarmed by the knowledge that these weapons, launched in Japan, were landing on their shores. This mission was to be known as, “The Fire-Fly Project.” The 555th approached Operation Fire Fly committed to absolute secrecy. They realized that any slip on their part, any breach of security, could bring chaos to the west coast and damage the nation's morale. Fear, hatred, and prejudice had been vented on Japanese-American citizens in the western states by stripping them of their rights and property and placing them in concentration camps. That Americans of German and Italian descent were spared this treatment did not escape these Black GIs attention.
Although this potentially serious threat did not materialize, the 555th fought numerous other forest fires. Stationed at Pendleton Field, Oregon, with a detachment in Chico, California, unit members courageously participated in dangerous fire-fighting missions throughout the Pacific Northwest during the summer and fall of 1945, earning the nickname "Smoke Jumpers" in addition to "Triple Nickles."
Soon after returning to Camp Mackall in October 1945, the 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion was transferred to Fort Bragg, North Carolina, its home for the next two years. During this period the unit was attached to the elite 82d Airborne Division. When the battalion was inactivated on December 15, 1947, most of its personnel were reassigned to the division's organic 3d Battalion, 505th Airborne Infantry Regiment.
On August 22, 1950 the 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion was disbanded. Many of its former members later fought in the Korean War, in other units. Harry Sutton, one of the battalion's former officers, died leading a rearguard action during the Hungnam Evacuation and was decorated posthumously with the Silver Star.
