Shaping History: 101st Soldiers have big impact on ‘Little Rock 9’
By Jakki Williams
From
http://www4.army.mil/ocpa/read.php?story_id_key=7967
African-American high school students exit a station wagon escorted by two gun-mounted 101st Airborne Division jeeps in September 1957.
Photo courtesy Pratt Museum
FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. (Army News Service, Sept. 23, 2005) A group of Fort Campbell Soldiers helped shape history in Little Rock, Ark., 48 years ago.
In 1954, the U.S. Supreme court ruled in Brown vs. Board of Education that segregation in schools was unconstitutional.
Three years later, nine African-American students tried to make the ruling a reality by attending Little Rock Central High School.
The Little Rock School Board had offered the chance to attend the all-white high school to the African-American students in the district. However, only the “Little Rock Nine,” as they would come to be known, accepted.
On Sept. 23, the students tried to go to school, but Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus had the Arkansas National Guard stationed at the school to prevent the students from entering.
President Eisenhower federalized Arkansas National GuardÂ’s 153rd Infantry and deployed the 1st Airborne Battle Group, 327th Infantry, 101st Airborne Division to escort the students to school.
In September 1957, 15-year-old Elizabeth Eckford was part of the group of African-American students.
“On the 25th, we gathered at the home of the state president of the NAACP,” Eckford said. “We were picked up there by the 101st. They had gun-mounted jeeps and a military station wagon. They transported us [to school] for about a week. And they dispersed the mob. That was the most important thing they did -- allowed us the opportunity to get in school.”
Some protestors rioted when the students entered the school, but the 101st allowed the students to get past them and into the school.
After a short deployment, the 101st went back to Fort Campbell.
Photographs showing Eckford and the other students escorted by the 101st past angry crowds became part of the history of segregation.
Notably missing from the photos were African American Soldiers from the 101st. Although the Army was fully integrated, leaders determined that the presence of African American Soldiers might further incite the angry crowds and additionally endanger the students.
The emotional images told the story of the tense 3-week deployment to an entire nation.
When they left, the 101st turned the guard duty over to the Arkansas National Guard.
“When they first turned the guard duty over to the National Guard, they students laughed at them,” Eckford said. “So the 101st provided some training to the people who were to be our guards.”
Even at her young age, Eckford noticed the professionalism of the men who had been her guards.
“I could see the difference between professional Soldiers and those who, at that time, did not have very much training. You could see the pride in the 101st with their starched uniforms and shiny boots.”
That impression stayed with Eckford, and she later joined the Army herself. She was in the Army for five years, with her first two years as a military pay clerk. She then reenlisted to become an information specialist. In that position, she wrote for the Fort McClellan, Ala., and Fort Benjamin Harrison, Ind., newspapers.
She now works as a probation officer for Pulaski County Courts in Arkansas.
The only one of the nine living in Little Rock, Eckford speaks to students about her experiences in integration and life.
“Education is always my point,” she said. “When I speak to students, it is my opportunity to teach.”
At the Pratt Museum on Fort Campbell, school children take tours through the museum.
“Do you ever wonder why in your class you have blacks, whites, all races?” asks John Foley, museum technician. “Thank the 101st.”
The 101st played a vital role in the enforcement of a court ruling made years prior to the Little Rock Central High School integration.
“It is easy for a court to issue a proclamation, but who carries it out?” Foley asked. “The executive branch carries them out. But who carries out the executive branch orders? The military does.”
When the military carries out those orders, people for generations can benefit.
“Some debts can never be repaid -- when I say that I am talking about the 101st,” Eckford said.
