76 years ago today, the 320th Barrage Balloon Battalion, an all African American unit, were part of the first waves of soldiers on Omaha and Utah beaches on D-Day. They brought barrage balloons ashore to help protect the soldiers that would follow. s.si.edu/377kGOJ 
The photograph to the left shows the barrage balloons flying above the beaches of Normandy, protecting those below.
The photograph to the right shows members of the 320th pulling a barrage balloon through a partly cleared mine field to a new site in France, 22 August 1944.
The photograph to the right shows members of the 320th pulling a barrage balloon through a partly cleared mine field to a new site in France, 22 August 1944.
On June 6, 1944, D-Day, thousands of Allied naval vessels and planes streamed toward Nazi-occupied France to break through Hitler's coastal defenses. Robert Capa captured this image of American troops landing in Normandy. More about D-Day: americanhistory.si.edu/blog/dday
D-Day was the 320th’s first assignment. Master Sergeant Wallace B. Jackson, a member of the battalion, retrieved these stones and bandages from the Normandy beaches and sent it Hattye T. Yarbrough, an educator and wife of a veteran. Today the objects are in @NMAAHC’s collection.
African Americans fought for both victory against enemies abroad and against discrimination at home—a Double V. The Double V campaign swept the country, where African Americans faced segregated and unequal treatment and facilities, including in the military itself.
African Americans soldiers came home to a country that was still fraught with racism and segregation. Soldier Paul Bland shared his experiences at war and his feelings about his return with us: s.si.edu/3ccJgiW
