Prior to the bombing of Pearl Harbor by Japan, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued the 1940 selective service draft. According to his draft card A.D Luckett had signed up when he was 20 years old in the year of 1941. He enlisted at a station in Camp Shelby, Mississippi where he was employed under W.J Ewing. His enlistment details that he signed up for the duration of the War and was in duty after 6 months after the war under the President’s discretion.
92nd Infantry Division A.D Luckett was a part of two Infantry Division with one of them being the 92nd Infantry Division, also known as the “Buffalo Soldiers”. It was a Black Division and was the only Black Division to have had any infantry combat in Europe. Though it was coined a Black Division, most of its high-level officers were white men. The division was created during WWI and was not used again till 1942. The reason why as the Division is called the “Buffalo Soldiers” was because their mascot was the buffalo and of the story of an Indian tribe which entails the Native Americans coined the term “Buffalo Soldiers” out of respect of the might of the Black Soldiers.
On D-Day, the Buffalo Soldiers oversaw the IV Corps of the U.S. Fifth Army where they faced two major obstacles in their way. One of them was the hurdles such as the mountains they had to get past and the other was forces from the German Army in which they had to fight. Throughout their time in the beginning of WWII to the end of the war the 92nd Infantry Division had captured approximately 20,000 German troops and had advanced a total of 3000 square miles. From their combat against the Germain Army from August 1944- May 1945, their mortality count was in the 1000s range. Though unlike other divisions they were one of the Divisions that had major implications. During their travels, many of the soldiers would drop out leading them to be unable to hold forts or centers because of their lack of men. Also due to the fact they trained separately for a long time, cohesion on the battlefront was quite rough for them to handle.
370th Infantry Regiment The 370th Infantry Regiment was another Regiment that had high racial prejudice. Though they had Black officers, many thought they did not deserve their position and believed that those officers and those Black army members were better suited as laborers. The Regiment consisted of Black men who lived in Springfield or Chicago, Illinois.
The 370th Infantry Regiment would also fight in WWI. During the war, the Regiment fought with the French against the Germans. The 370th Infantry Regiment was dubbed the “Black Devils” from the opposite forces of the German army whenever they fought.
They were given an armory at Bronzville to commemorate their service to WWI. This marked and was the first armory built for an African American unit in the war which held high significance. Some of their more notable awards from participating in WWI would be their 23 Distinguished Service Crosses, one Distinguished Service Medal, and 71 Croix de Guerre.