Most of America fought two different enemies in World War
Two. That was hard enough. But the men of the USS Mason- DE 529, a Destroyer
Escort, had the added burden of fighting a third enemy, Jim Crow.
At the outbreak of World War Two the Armed Forces were
segregated, just like half the country was. This would not change until after
the war was won, but during the war there were some courageous efforts on the
part of some, to integrate America's fighting force. The story of the USS Mason
is the story of one of those efforts.
Built in the Boston Navy Yard and launched in 1943, she
was commissioned in March of 1944 under the command of Lt. Commander William
Blackford, a white officer. He would command the Mason with a handful of white
officers and an all-black crew.
After a successful shakedown cruise off Bermuda in the
spring of 1944 the Mason headed into action. They escorted a convoy from
Charleston, SC to the Azores, arriving on July 6th. The ship then put into
Belfast; Northern Ireland, for Liberty
ashore. The crew was astonished at how well they were received by the locals.
Even in England they were denied access to many facilities, but the Irish,
albeit neutral in the war, welcomed these men as "Yanks" rather than
"Tan Yankees" as they were referred to by the British.
But her greatest story was yet to come. On September
19th, 1944 the USS Mason left New York City with Convoy NY 119. They were to
protect her from the German U-boats which had been sinking ships as close as 10
miles off the coast of the United States.
This convoy was done during one of the worst months of
severe weather that the North Atlantic would experience in the 2oth Century. In
less than a month the weather had claimed 16 of the convoys vessels. The only
way to prevent more loss was to send the smaller, faster ships ahead with an
escort. The USS Mason was the ship chosen for this duty.
Attempting to lead the ships into Bishop Rock, England
the ship was beaten by severe weather that actually split her deck and
collapsed main beams. The Mason was a step away from sinking.
Calls for assistance were ignored and the crew of the
Mason were left to their own devices to stay afloat. And stay afloat she did.
Within 2 hours the ship was repaired and leading the convoy safely into port.
She then turned around again and returned to the remaining ships. The two
British ships assigned to help in this endeavor turned back, leaving the Mason
to struggle alone to bring the convoy in. It would take three more days, and
nights, in harrowing weather to accomplish this task.
The ship and its crew were recommended for Unit and
Individual Commendations for these efforts by their Captain, Lt. Commander
Blackford, as well as Convoy Commander Alfred Lind. The crew would not learn of
these nominations for almost 50 years, during research for the book
"Proudly We Served."
As a result of the book the crew was awarded the
Citations in 2003. Former President Bill Clinton would present the awards on
the deck of the latest USS Mason in New York City.
A movie was made of this story with Ossie Davis as Signalman
First Class Lorenzo DuFau. The movie was riveting, especially the storm scenes.
The story is told from Mr. DuFau's perspective when his grandkids wake him up
late at night with some loud music. He tells them the story in a flashback that
encompasses not only the story of the Mason, but of the segregated makeup of
our nation, even as we were fighting to liberate the world at large.
The Mason story has been told in other books about the
war, but never so vividly as in the book and movie. And for a real quick look
at what these guys did you can drop in on them at their web site
www.ussmason.org/
That this crew, made up of city kids and farm boys, some
of whom had never seen an ocean, banded together in facing the Germans, as well
as the forces of the sea, and won, make this one of the greater sea stories
ever told. That they did it while under the thumb of Jim Crow is simply
incredible.
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