Transcript Quote - Remarks: Joe Biden Tours the African Americans in Service Corridor - February 10, 2021 | Factbase

Joe Biden

00:00:00 - 00:00:00 ()

Kamala Harris

00:00:00 - 00:00:11 ()

Joe Biden

00:00:11 - 00:00:14 ()

Am I standing in the wrong place here but --

Kamala Harris

00:00:14 - 00:00:16 ()

Maybe, [Inaudible], I don't know.

Joe Biden

00:00:16 - 00:00:20 ()

Kamala Harris

00:00:20 - 00:00:20 ()

Joe Biden

00:00:20 - 00:00:34 ()

It is amazing when you think about the willingness to -- I should tell you, the willingness to fight when [Inaudible] couldn't vote. Amazing.

Ski Waklatsi

00:00:34 - 00:00:55 ()

Good afternoon Mr President, Madam Vice President, Secretary Fitts Austin, General Milley. Uh, my name is Corporal Waklatsi from United States Marine Corps, I also represent The Pentagon tourist program. Uh, I'll be doing the second half of your tour today. With that said, I'll pass it off to Dr Tom.

Tom Lassman

00:00:55 - 00:01:15 ()

Good afternoon Mr President, Madam Vice President, Mr Secretary, General Milley, welcome to our newest exhibition, African Americans in Defense of our Nation. Um, my name is Tom Lassman. I'm a senior historian and curator in the Historical Office in the Office of the Secretary of Defense. Been here since the spring of 2019. This is the first exhibit that I worked on when I came here.

Tom Lassman

00:01:15 - 00:01:48 ()

Um, uh, this building is full of historical exhibits and they all have common themes. Um, of service, sacrifice, uh, commitment, duty -- This one does too, as you will see in the narratives, uh, that we present. There are many cases of bravery and service and valor. This exi -- exhibition also has another layer of narrative, of racism, of exclusion, not only on the battle field where they're fighting but at home in their own communities.

Tom Lassman

00:01:48 - 00:02:08 ()

Um, I'm not trained in African American history, I've learned a lot of it coming on board. I worked very closely with, uh, Dr Krewasky Salter who is the historian who wrote most of the text and produced most of the -- Selected most of the images. He wrote the military history narratives at the, um, Museum of African American History and Culture at the Smithsonian Institution.

Tom Lassman

00:02:08 - 00:02:32 ()

And as I worked closely with him, uh, I became enamored with this, uh, with this subject, and, uh, for me I became also, uh, uh -- There's, u -- uncomfortable, um, also troubled. Um, and those are good things because it forced me to step back and sort of lose my footing and take another look and to think differently.

Tom Lassman

00:02:32 - 00:02:39 ()

Um, and now coming back to the exhibit, and I hope that you will too, as you go through the, uh, uh, exhibition.

Tom Lassman

00:02:39 - 00:02:57 ()

So, I'd like to start, uh, Mr President with, um, a Delaware story. This is, uh, uh, something I hope you will appreciate. Um, what you're looking at here are two, uh, replicas of statues that were done by, uh, uh, ah, Delaware natives, uh, Charles Parks. Um --

Joe Biden

00:02:57 - 00:02:57 ()

Tom Lassman

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My understanding is that he uh, uh, did many sculptures at a war memorial in Bloomington.

Joe Biden

00:03:02 - 00:03:03 ()

Tom Lassman

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Um, and so here is a, uh, statue of William Carney who won, uh, the -- Received a Congressional Medal of Honor, uh, for, uh, service at, um, Fort Wagner in 1863. He, uh, picked up the colors after the soldier in front of him had been shot. And he charged the parapet and was severely wounded and received a Medal of Honor.

Tom Lassman

00:03:25 - 00:03:33 ()

Uh, over here, jump ahead a 100 years, uh, you will see, um -- Sorry the name is bright. Uh, um.

Joe Biden

00:03:33 - 00:03:34 ()

The lights kind of hard to see.

Tom Lassman

00:03:34 - 00:03:37 ()

Sorry, I had it.

Ski Waklatsi

00:03:37 - 00:03:37 ()

Tom Lassman

00:03:37 - 00:04:02 ()

Milton Olive, I'm sorry. Uh, Milton Olive, uh, in a search and destroy mission at Vietnam in 1965, he threw himself on a live hand grenade, to save his, uh, uh, other soldiers around him. He died of his wounds. He received, um, uh, the Medal of Honor in 1966 posthumously, uh, his family did. And I'd like to add very quickly just one additional Medal of Honor story.

Tom Lassman

00:04:02 - 00:04:19 ()

And that is of, uh, Henry Johnson, who is, uh -- Sergeant Henry Johnson. Uh, who was one of the Harlem Hellfighters. In World War I he went to France to fight, uh, in a, in a, in a, battle where he was outnumbered, uh, and the French awarded him the Croix de Guerre in 1919 for his service.

Tom Lassman

00:04:19 - 00:04:40 ()

In 1990 US Congress, uh, uh, asked the army to review his service record and, uh, citing a racial inequality in the evaluation process and for other African American soldiers and he was awarded, uh, the Medal of Honor posthumously in 2015 by President Obama, nearly a 100 years after that battle took place.

Tom Lassman

00:04:40 - 00:04:41 ()

Um, if you'll join me, uh for just a --

Joe Biden

00:04:41 - 00:04:48 ()

Wait, wait, wait. Speaking of Delaware, there was a big, there is a Vietnam Memorial and [Inaudible].

Unidentified

00:04:48 - 00:04:48 ()

Unidentified

00:04:48 - 00:05:05 ()

We're at an angle again, so somewhere, somewhere --

Unidentified

00:05:05 - 00:05:05 ()

Unidentified

00:05:05 - 00:05:09 ()

So, I'll show you. Please do not set up any closer.

Unidentified

00:05:09 - 00:05:09 ()

[Crosstalk]. Are you kidding me?

Ski Waklatsi

00:05:09 - 00:06:02 ()

As we get to the, uh, display you will be able to see the words, um, that are written, "To Fight for the Right to Fight." And that's exactly what World War II was. Prior to World War II, African Americans were only given support roles. They weren't, you know, trusted with modern weaponry. So to become a fighter pilot was, was, was out of the question.

Ski Waklatsi

00:06:02 - 00:07:30 ()

Um, however in 1939, um, President [Inaudible] would then allow African Americans to go civilian pilot schools. Uh, that key word was civilian. However, a year following, in 1940 the war department will be given 1 million dollars, uh, to build the Tuskegee Institution in Alabama. Four years later in 1943, The 99th, uh, African American Squadron was established.

Ski Waklatsi

00:07:30 - 00:07:39 ()

Uh, many years later after that in 1944 the 332nd, also known as the Tuskegee Airmen was born.

Ski Waklatsi

00:07:39 - 00:08:21 ()

Uh, by the wars end in 1945 the Tuskegee Airmen downed more than 108 enemy aircraft. They received 744 Air Medals, 150 Distinguished Flying Crosses, 14 Bronze Stars, and one Silver Star. However, these are more than a collection of numbers in a war. It was at a pivotal point in African American history as the Tuskegee Airmen in the beginning was deemed as an experiment.

Ski Waklatsi

00:08:21 - 00:08:43 ()

However, they will show they will be extremely successful, and have a sense of racial pride when they were able to accomplish. Just like the Tuskegee Airmen breaking the color barrier in the, uh, air, in the air force as we move along --

Kamala Harris

00:08:43 - 00:08:43 ()

Ski Waklatsi

00:08:43 - 00:09:14 ()

Or the army airport -- I apologize, [Inaudible], uh, the, Montford Point Marines will do something similar, uh, with the Marine Core. And I'd like to thank the Montford Point Marines for me standing up here today as African American wearing this uniform. Um, because starting in 1942 to 1948 over 20,000 African American would go to Montford Point, just across the rail road tracks in North Carolina, Camp Lejeune -- Uh, to do, to become marines.

Ski Waklatsi

00:09:14 - 00:09:19 ()

They wanted to serve their countries, they wanted to serve their families and they wanted to serve their nation.

Ski Waklatsi

00:09:19 - 00:10:01 ()

A year following this in 1949, President Truman would sign the Executive Order 9981, making the, um, armed forces officially desegregated. Um, it's fascinating to know as we're on the grounds our Department of Defense Pentagon today, uh, that this building was originally going to be segregated. Uh, when you're making around -- Your way around today, you might have noticed 284 restrooms and 691 drinking fountains that we have inside the building, that is because this was going to be segregated.

Ski Waklatsi

00:10:01 - 00:10:06 ()

However, this became the first desegregated building within the DOD.

Ski Waklatsi

00:10:06 - 00:10:09 ()

Uh, we are now making our way a little further down here.

Unidentified

00:10:09 - 00:10:16 ()

Come on guys, lets go guys. Let's go, come on.

Ski Waklatsi

00:10:16 - 00:10:40 ()

All right, as I was speaking about during the Vietnam War, about [Inaudible] today, uh, when I'm the presence of the first African American Secretary of Defense.

Ski Waklatsi

00:10:40 - 00:11:00 ()

Um, the whole purpose of this tour was to kind of show you progression. Where we started, and where we're headed today. Uh, and with that said, Mr President, Madam Vice President, Secretary of Defense, General Milley it's been an honor to give you this tour today. Um, I've been in the Pentagon Tourist program since April of 2019. Um, and this is actually my last tour.

Ski Waklatsi

00:11:00 - 00:11:02 ()

So, uh, before the tour --

Joe Biden

00:11:02 - 00:11:03 ()

Where you heading?

Ski Waklatsi

00:11:03 - 00:11:06 ()

I gave the White House [Inaudible] --