Honored to serve
Tullahoma veteran, son recall Eleanor Roosevelt’s effort to help African Americans
As a young black man in a small Southern town, James Elligan Sr. didn’t think differently about his country, even when his country felt differently about him. It was 1943 in Tullahoma, Tennessee, and Elligan had just graduated high school.
Most of the South was still under Jim Crow law and the American military was racially segregated.
Throughout the country’s history, the U.S. Navy had allowed African Americans to work only in general services like kitchen duty or serve in the messmans and stewards branches, which included duties such as setting tables and serving food.
That didn’t deter Elligan, who like everyone he grew up with, was proud to serve his country and honored to be drafted.
At the time, the young men he was surrounded by felt a desire to defend
their country, he remembered.
In 1941, under pressure from First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed an executive order prohibiting racial discrimination by any government agency.
James Elligan Jr., son of the 98-yearold Elligan Sr., said that if it weren’t for Eleanor Roosevelt’s pioneering vision and civil rights activism, his father might not have lived the illustrious life he did.
“These guys, they took a bite out of history. They went and served their country because they felt that that was their duty.”
– JAMES ELLIGAN JR.,
SON OF JAMES ELLIGAN SR.
In 1944, Eleanor Roosevelt and Assistant Secretary of the Navy Adlai Stevenson started an accelerated officer training program at the Great Lakes Naval Training Station in Illinois.
The training center was home to the famous Golden Thirteen, the first African American commissioned and warrant officers in the U.S. Navy.
Elligan was right behind them.
“My dad rubbed elbows with the Golden Thirteen,” James Elligan Jr. said. “They were Dad’s peers.”
The elder Elligan completed his basic training at Camp Moffett at the Great Lakes Naval Station.
He finished training in Newport News, Virginia, before being deployed to Guam.
He was a protector of Guam after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. He was part of a team that helped keep the peace after Japan attempted to invade the island.
“They were in a hot zone,” his son said. “He saw enemy planes going over when they were going from Hawaii to Guam.”
James Elligan Sr. suffered a stroke recently, so some of his memory of his time in the service is a bit foggy. That’s where his son helps to fill in the blanks.
But he does remember the flurry of fighter pilots on their way to battle over the Pacific as the United States entered World War II.
Being in the Navy offered James Elligan Sr. a way to see parts of the world he might have never been able to. Most importantly, it gave him a roadmap on how to make a difference as an African American in a country where the deck was stacked against him.
When he returned to Tennessee, he gave back to his community, using the technical and leadership skills he learned in the service.
One of the things James Elligan Sr. is most proud of was being a troop leader for an Explorer Scout pack in Chattanooga. In the military he learned to work on vehicles, so he passed that knowledge on to a younger generation.
“He took it upon himself to give back to the community,” James Elligan Jr. said.
He also attended the former Zion College in Chattanooga, one of the first black colleges in the state. By elevating himself in college, he was able to get a job at the Read House hotel downtown.
“He made a pretty good living for his fledgling young family,” his son said. “His military service gave him that wherewithal to make a good life and buy into the American Dream.”
James Elligan Jr. is a veteran himself, serving in the Army during the Vietnam War. He said it’s important to him and his father for Americans to honor the veterans of the country who put their lives on the line to protect the freedoms that come with being a citizen.
“These guys, they took a bite out of history. They went and served their country because they felt that that was their duty,” he said. “Those that did accept that duty went in and saw parts of the United States that allowed them to grow. Once they defended the nation, it gave them a better sense of belonging.”