AN141 Forgotten: The Untold Story of D-Day's Black Heroes

Linda Hervieux discusses her book Forgotten: The Untold Story of D-Day's Black Heroes, and the seven years it took her to research and write it. The injustices of 1940s Jim Crow America are brought to life in this extraordinary blend of military and social history that Tom Brokaw called "utterly compelling." It is a story that pays tribute to the valor of D-Day's only all-black combat battalion whose crucial contributions on the Normandy beaches have gone unrecognized to this day. In the early hours of June 6, 1944, the 320th Barrage Balloon Battalion landed in France charged with a top-secret mission. One soldier would be nominated for the Medal of Honor, an award he would never receive. The nation’s highest decoration was not given to black soldiers in World War II. Hervieux traces their journey through segregated America to their first taste of freedom in Britain and, finally, to war.

Guest Speaker: Linda Hervieux is a journalist and photographer whose work has appeared in publications including the New York Times, NBC News, the Daily Beast and the New York Daily News. A native of Lowell, Massachusetts, she lives in Paris, France, with her husband. Forgotten, The Untold Story of D-Day's Black Heroes is her first book. Historian Douglas Brinkley said of Forgotten, "All Americans should read this."