Silly Little Country

The Battle of Oxford?

I certainly remember the inspiration of watching James Meredith enter Ole Miss back during the civil rights movement. But I do not remember ever hearing about this.

Forty years ago ..., in the early morning, a force of nearly 30,000 American combat troops raced toward Oxford in a colossal armada of helicopters, transport planes, Jeeps and Army trucks.
Their mission was to save Oxford, the University of Mississippi and a small force of federal marshals from being destroyed by over 2,000 white civilians who were rioting after James Meredith, a black Air Force veteran, arrived to integrate the school.
The troops were National Guardsmen from little towns all over Mississippi, regular Army men from across the United States and paratroopers from the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions.

I do recall federal forces were sent to Oxford, but had no conception really of how many.
And watch politics enter the discussion of reward for merit. Perhaps slightly compensated for 47 years later!

What the troops did in Oxford was so courageous that their commanders nominated them for scores of medals. But an internal Army memo from May 1963 states: "The focus of additional attention on this incident would not be in the best interest of the US Army or the nation. . . . decorations should not be awarded for actions involving conflict between US Army units and other Americans." Memories of what the troops did then faded away.
On Tuesday, there will be an epilogue to this dramatic battle. Oxford's mayor, Richard Howorth, and the city council of Oxford have tracked down as many of the troops of 1962 as they could and invited them to the city to be honored as heroes. They will march back through Oxford's Courthouse Square to receive the official thanks of the community they saved from destruction two generations ago.

There is clearly some courage and mettle in Kennedy's decision to act so forcefully, and then a rather weasely behavior in the aftermath.
h/t Instapundit

posted by Alan Adamson @ 9:05 AM