19. Secret Military History

1944-0615, Adultery, GEN Dwight D Eisenhower Has an Affair.
The commander of Allied Forces in WWII, GEN (O10), Eisenhower had a steamy affair with his driver, SSG Kay Summersby.
Dwight D. Eisenhower is considered one of America’s most successful military leaders, serving as Supreme Commander of the Allied invasion of Europe during WW2. But the task of taking the fight to the Nazis meant long periods of separation from his wife, Mamie. Perhaps that’s why Ike began the affair that was soon being gossiped about all the way back in Washington.
Photos of Eisenhower often showed him accompanied by his lovely secretary and driver, Kay Summersby, often standing just a little too close. After years of falling in love emotionally, Kay and Ike consummated their affair in the spring of 1944. Or they tried to according to Summersby, Ike was impotent, confessing that marriage had “killed something” in him. As a result, she had to take the lead and teach him about sex during their trysts.
When the war ended, Ike sent a formal request to his superior officer, GEN Marshall, to be relieved of duty so he could divorce Mamie and marry Kay. An outraged Marshall refused, promising to force Eisenhower out of the army and ruin his life should the divorce happen. As a result, the relationship ended, only coming to light in 1975. With Kay dying and Eisenhower already deceased, she decided to publish a book about the relationship.

1944-0615, Gay, Gays in Concentration Camps Were Never Liberated.
When the Nazi concentration camps were liberated by the Allies, it was a time of great jubilation for the tens of thousands of people incarcerated in them. But an often-forgotten fact of this time is that prisoners who happened to be wearing the pink triangle (the Nazis’ way of marking and identifying homosexuals) were forced to serve out the rest of their sentence.
This was due to a part of German law simply known as “Paragraph 175” which criminalized homosexuality. The law wasn’t repealed until 1969.
2017-0324, Gay, Germany to Clear Gays Convicted by Nazis.
The German government approved plans to quash the convictions of 42,000 men, 5,000 who are still living, who were sentenced for homosexuality under a Nazi-era law Article 175. The law remained in force after the war.
The measure follows Britain's "Turing Law", which offered pardons to thousands of men convicted of homosexuality before its de-criminalization in 1967.
Germany's Article 175 dates to 1871. It outlawed sexual acts contrary to nature, be it homosexuality or bestiality. The sentence for violating the article was 10-years in prison.
In 2002, the German government introduced a new law which overturned their convictions. But that move didn't include those convicted after the war when Article 175 was still in force. It was finally dropped from the penal code in communist East Germany in 1968.
In West Germany, it reverted to the pre-Nazi era version in 1969 and was only fully repealed in 1994.
The compensation scheme under the new legislation includes a one-off payment of $3,200 (51,100-2022) for every man convicted and an additional 1,500 euros for each year spent in prison.
Germany has permitted gay couples to enter civil unions since 2001.

1944-0615, Gay, Number of Gays Rejected for the Military During WW2.
Of 18 million men examined during WW2, the Military rejected 4,500 for homosexuality. Another 9,000 Military members were discharged for homosexuality.
The 9,000 gays and lesbians who did serve were disqualified from obtaining G.I. benefits when they received section eight or “blue” discharges for homosexual habits or character traits. Many returned to port cities where they formed the nuclei of emerging Gay communities.


1944-0615, Gender, Officer’s Blanket:
During WW2, a common term for a female in the military.


1944-0615, VD, Punishment Banned.
US Public Law 439 bans the military from punishing soldiers with VD as a means of VD control.


1944-0717, Accident, Race, the Port Chicago Disaster.
An ammunition ship explodes while being loaded in Port Chicago, California, killing 332. Poor procedures and lack of training led to the disaster.
Port Chicago, 30-miles north of San Francisco, was a munitions facility. Port Chicago allowed for loading two ships at once around the clock. The Navy units were racially segregated.
The SS Quinault Victory and SS E.A. Bryan were being loaded. The holds held 4,600-tons of explosives. Another 400-tons of explosives were nearby on rail cars. 320-workers were on or near the pier when, at 10:18 p.m., a series of massive explosions over several seconds destroyed everything and everyone in the vicinity. The blasts were felt as far away as Nevada and the resulting damage extended as far as San Francisco. Every building in Port Chicago was damaged and people were literally knocked off their feet. Smoke and fire extended 2-miles into the air. The pilot of a plane flying at 9,000-feet in the area claimed that metal chunks from the explosion flew past him.
200-men killed were black, 15-percent of all African Americans killed during WW2.
1-Month later, 258-black sailors refused to load ships. 208-were drummed out of the Navy. 58-men were court martialed. They were sentenced to 8-years - 15 years of hard labor. Two years later all were given clemency.
2024-0717, UCMJ, Navy Exonerates 256 Coloreds Sailors.
On the 80th Anniversary the Navy cleared all sailors involved.


1944-1218, Accident, Typhoon Wipes Out the US Third Fleet.
Typhoon Cobra kills 788 men. Three destroyers sunk. 146 aircraft lost. Six months later another typhoon killed six men and destroyed 75 more planes.

1944-1225, Race, Riot in Guam.
During WW2, Guam was a staging area for operations all over the Pacific theater. Soldiers, ships, and airplanes constantly traveled through Guam. However, the effectiveness of the island was marred by a race riot that happened over Christmas in 1944.
The Marine 25th Depot Company (colored) arrived in Guam and was stationed near the major city of Agana. Distrustful of the black Marines, white Marines tried to prevent them from entering the city, especially if they were looking for hookers.
For months, tensions increased. Then, right before Christmas, a white Marine fatally shot a black Marine in a quarrel over a local hooker. Although the white Marine was court-martialed, the black Marines were still outraged.
On Christmas Eve, a group of nine black Marines used their leave passes to visit Agana. When they got into the city, white Marines stopped. Eight of the black Marines went back to base, but one got left in the city.
Rumors circulated that he was dead, so 40 black Marines stole some trucks and drove into the city. Alerted to the incoming trucks, the MP set up roadblocks. When the black Marines showed up, the MPs told them that the missing man was safe.
The black Marines returned to base. But even though they hadn’t engaged in violence, their barracks were attacked by white Marines in retaliation for what the blacks had planned to do. This led to fistfights throughout Christmas Day. White Marines killed four black Marines.
Eventually, the fights stopped and many of the people both white and black who were responsible for the violence received court-martials.