JAMES and MAMIE CRAWFORD in their apt in Buffalo. They are mid-thirty, African American couple trying to stay warm under the sheets and sharing a romantic mood. Duke Ellington music plays in the background. The romantic mood is ruined by a bill collector's call. His rudeness& harshness is matched by the scene of what's going on outside the window. The bleakness and ugliness of the ghetto in a snowstorm. "Damn money problems, good Tuskegee eduacation and crappy job. What to do?"

After the call, his whole mood changed. Sad., depressed. Trys to explain bad luck in job search. She understands & is kind but he's still upset. "Damn Racism", goes to corner bar.

The bar is swinging and high-charged music blasts people onto the dancefloor. The people's dress, cars and hair reflect the early forties Buffalo city life. Jim joins his crazy crew of five guys. They pick up his spirit right away; joking & laughing.

The saloon has a mix of all sorts of Black people. Some are well polished city boys with fancy threads. Some patrons are wild eyed country boys that just arrived from the south who look very out of place. One of Jimmy's friends brings up that Marines are now recruiting Blacks. Some joke that it's another plantation, bigots, won't let the Black Marines succeed. Want us to fail, justify shitty treatment. Jimmy and a few others agree to try.

They all go down to the recruiter the next day, take tests. All rejected except Jimmy, he had the most education among his group & the Marines had a quota for Blacks from that region, two and no more.

Talks with Mamie back at the apartment. "Nothing happening in Buffalo. Big chance for myself and race. We can build a future, pay our bills, buy a decent house." She finally agrees and lets him go. Some people are happy for him, some jealous. Inducted in Buffalo ceremony, says goodbyes. His induction speech mentions, "... show the world the greatness of Blackmen and that we are not a joke".

The train sits impatiently at the Seneca Street Station. Clouds of smoke and bellow from the trains and from filtered cigarettes. All around are tears stained lapels, hankies, and cheeks. Hundreds and hundreds of tear stained cheeks.

On the women and girls, the tears run naked and proud like a jungle warrior, they do not hide themselves. The men. Not the men. The fathers, the brothers, the sons are much too brave to cry. But, by some strange coinsidence, a renegade breeze, blew dust in their eyes, all at the same time.

A moisture deposit in an Blackman's eye, fights a losing battle to stay away from public display.

" I'm sorry babe, something in my eye." He swipes it away quickly, discreetly turns to see is anyone was watching, and looks back at his beautiful wife. He has to smile, the sight overwhelms his spirit.

Mamie, his wife, is crying too. Only now, she starts laughing through her tears, watching her husband Jimmy try to 'be the man'. She hugs his muscular, thirty-five year old frame. Hugs it as tight as her slender brown arms are capable of. "Jimmy, you better not let one single thing harm you over there, or so help me, I'll never forgive myself for going along with this idea."

"They are a long way from allowing Negros any where near the battlefield sugar." He kisses her briefly but with a calming intention. "Just look at me. I'm the first wave of Black Marines since that lying dog Teddy Roosevelt told the world that the Buffalo Soldiers were cowards. He said this 'after' they saved that white devil's ass on San Juan Hill. They should have let them Cubans make worm food out of him and saved Mount Rushmore the burden of housing that ugly racist face."

"JIMMY", Mamie's warning system made her blurt out his name. With that one word and the tone that it was said in was to remind him that he was not at home talking to her. He was not at the bar talking to jitterbugs and he was not at a family barbecue chowing down on ribs and pontificating on what he learned at Tuskegee Institute. He is in a Buffalo train station in 1942 and every eye that lands on the couple from a white face is tinged with hostility and revulsion.

Mamie snatches him tighter to her shapely body. She whispers to him, "Baby, you gotta watch what you say from now on, especially where you're going. Jim Crow don't want to hear about no Buffalo Soldiers. Please be careful of what you say honey. Ha ha ha, I don't know if I'm more afraid of the nazis and Japs getting you, or the rednecks and the ku klux klan getting you. Jimmy, remember, you can only fight one war at a time."

Jimmy says goodbye to Mamie. On the ride down south by train he is joined by a Black guy from Rochester named ELI LEWISTON. He had never seen "jim crow" before.

Jimmy was born in Alabama and moved to N.Y. in his 20's. Tho' he had been thru 'it' before, it still sucked and it made the train ride less than fun. Worse was seeing the effect it had on the once proud Eli. In DC they had to switch trains and move to the crappy section reserved for Blacks. Worst incident was when captured nazi prisoners were given better treatment that Black US soldiers.

Boot camp is tough, age makes it tougher. Physically draining. Very, very mean drill sgt.. Jimmy finds some C.O.s are ok but some are KKK. The bad C.O.s would try to break the Black Marines will. They would impose unfair rules, manufacture run-ins and subject them to the worse types of name calling.

The big events during boot camp are:

1.the 1st day(break you down, break you in, meet strange people who are your fellow soldiers, fall into roles) 2.hand to hand combat(outstanding plays and bloopers) 3.negative speech by the General who tells Black troops he is sorry to see this day that niggers share his uniform, 4.permission to start remedial school, help brothers

5.Joe Louis visits the base, meets Jimmy

6.and finally graduation.

From there, transferred to Marine base in Hawaii. Beautiful scenery and great weather there but racism persisted. Native islanders taught to fear, distrust, and discriminate against Blacks by the whites there. So bad that light skinned Blacks would try to pass as Hawaiians so that they would bypass 'jim crow'. Makes Jimmy bitter that these sick white people would poison the minds of these innocent 'brown' people against the victimized Black people.

In spite of the apartheid, he likes his job and crazy Black people from across America he works with in mess hall , even gets promotion to be C.O.. Blacks still not allowed to fight. Often felt like a second class slave. Questions why is he there? Hated by his own country, career restricted, misses wife. Jimmy is ready to go AWOL.

Finally word comes thru that segregated units are ok to fight. Jimmy not sure he wants to risk life for this country of bigots. Brothers discuss it but decide to go and do their best.

They get sent to Iwo Jima for support. Battle had been raging there for weeks. Iwo Jima was an armed fortress island that the Japanese had built as one of their last and best defenses.

When they arrive they see the devastation of the battle. Body parts and blood everywhere. Disfigurement, burn victims and body bags. Grown men weeping like babies. Some of the same white soldiers who hassled him where now dead, wounded, or insane.

Hidden snipers continue to claim American lives. One funny Black soldier gets hit while getting Japanese souveniers off a dead enemy.

Some who where cruel to him now shared dinner with him, humbly and in silence. Black soldiers and White soldiers intergrate in the foxholes and afterwards, voluntarily. A brotherhood comes out of the senseless violence of war and the preciousness of life.

Jimmy feels hope that eventually racial problems will work out at home. He is there to see the raising of the flag on top of the island and finally, a feeling of pride of what this country should really stand for.

Back on the Battleship, a smart ass white officer says something racist to Jimmy in the presence of the people that he was just on the island with. Jimmy kicks his ass and the white soildiers are on Jimmy's side and even get in a few shots too.

World war II would end soon after this battle. On Iwo Jima, Jimmy won the war to have enough faith to love his country again. In the belief that one day, soon, 'jim crow' would end, and this nation will live up to what it says it stands for, especially for Black people.