Julius Ellsberry
Julius Ellsberry (born 1922 in Birmingham - died December 7, 1941 at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii) was the first American to die in the Pacific during World War II.
Elsberry was a graduate of Parker High School and enlisted in the United States Navy in 1940. He was serving aboard the USS Oklahoma (BB-37) as a Mess Attendant First Class when it was bombed by Japanese fighter planes in a surprise attack. He and 413 other crewmen were killed aboard the battleship. He was awarded a posthumous Purple Heart in honor of his sacrifice.
A Navy press release followed shortly after the announcement of Elsberry's death describing the heroism of another black seaman, then unidentified. Mess Attendant Second Class Dorie Miller assumed control of a deck gun on the USS West Virginia after the gunner was killed and helped defend the ship. Media reports at the time often credited Ellsberry with Miller's heroism and the misidentification still sometimes persists.
The Birmingham World labeled Ellsberry "the Crispus Attucks of World War II" (Cronenberg - 2003). Birmingham's Black community raised over $300,000 in war bond purchases toward the completion of a B-24 bomber named The Spirit of Ellsberry. (Bodnar - 1996)
Ellsberry Park off Finley Boulevard was dedicated in his honor in 1979. A marker honoring Elsberry's sacrifice has also been erected in Kelly Ingram Park, a park once only open to white citizens which is named for fellow Navy veteran Kelly Ingram, the first American killed in World War I.
References
- Miller, Richard E. (January 8, 2008) "Julius Ellsberry". The Historical Marker Database
- Cronenberg, Allen (2003) Forth to the Mighty Conflict: Alabama and World War II. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press. p. 12. ISBN 0817350276
- Bodnar, John E. (1996) Bonds of Affection: Americans Define Their Patriotism. Princeton University Press. p. 208 ISBN 0691043965