| There was only one black recruit in Platoon 288. Like the other boots on Parris Island, he did everything he
was told to do, and he did it well. He was a quiet man who caused no problems. As a result, there was no racial
tension because of his presence in the platoon. Cooper was his name. In spite of the fact that he had proven
himself worthy to be called a United States Marine, when everyone else got orders that they were going to
Pendleton, Cooper got orders to Baltimore. Sarno recalled, "I said to the DI, Baltimore? There are no Marines in
Baltimore.’ The DI replied, ‘You’re right. He’s going to be a steward in an officer’s mess. That’s the way we do
it." In 1951, there were no blacks in combat outfits. For Sarno, this didn’t seem like anything unreasonable. He
had grown up in an all-white neighborhood where different races did not mingle. "They were black and we were
white, so we didn’t socialize with them," he explained. When Sarno entered the Marine Corps, the segregation that
still existed didn’t seem out of the ordinary to him. "Even going through training and replacement command in
California," he recalled, "there were all whites. I didn’t think anything of it—why Pendleton was nearly all
white. That was just the Navy. They weren’t listening to President Truman in 1948 when he desegregated the Armed
Forces. Sure he did it publicly and he signed a law, but it wasn’t implemented. The Navy was very hesitant to put
any black in a combat billet, whether in the Navy or Marine Corps." Growing up in a white community, Sarno said
blacks weren’t in his life. "They were the comical guys," he explained. "They were seen, but not taken seriously." |
