Reservist Magazine is the award-winning official publication of the United States Coast Guard Reserve. Quarterly issues include news and feature articles about the men and women who comprise America's premier national maritime safety and security
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The Story of Charles Walter David, Jr: African-American Hero of the Greenland Patrol's Cutter COMANCHE Story by William H. Thiesen, Ph.D., Atlantic Area Historian, United States Coast Guard For many individuals it takes a lifetime to learn the skills of leadership, while others come to it naturally. African-American Coast Guardsman Charles Walter David, Jr., served in the Coast Guard early in World War II, at a time when African-Americans were generally restricted to service in only a few enlisted ratings. However, David knew instinctively how to lead others despite barriers imposed by the segregated American society of the mid- twentieth century. Charles David was a unique Coast Guardsmen in every way. Mess Attendant 1/c David reached the ripe old age of twenty- six during his time on board the cutter COMANCHE in the Coast Guard's Greenland Patrol, making him one of the ship's older enlisted crewmembers. He already had a family at home in New York City when many of his shipmates had just learned how to shave. At well over six feet tall and 220 pounds, David's stature could intimidate men; however, David counted many friends among the cutter's crew of sixty. He had a natural talent for music, playing the blues harmonica in jam sessions with his white shipmate, friend and saxophone player Storekeeper 1/c Richard Swanson. The characteristic that distinguished David was his loyalty to the crew and natural inclination to the service's core values of "honor, respect and devotion to duty." This last fact seems even more astonishing given the second-class status African-Americans held in the military at that time. David demonstrated his devotion to duty and concern for fellow shipmates in February of 1943, while COMANCHE served as a Coast Guard escort for the three-ship Convoy SG-19, bound from St. Johns, Newfoundland, to southwest Greenland. Weather conditions during the convoy's first few days proved horrendous as they usually did in wintertime in the North Atlantic. The average temperature remained well below freezing, the seas were heavy and the wind-driven spray formed a heavy layer of ice on virtually every exposed surface of COMANCHE's deck, guns and superstructure. Coast Guard cutters not only fought the elements, they fought an ever-present enemy lurking in the frigid waters as German U-boats hunted the convoys bound for Greenland. A little after midnight in the cold morning of February 3, 1943, German submarine U-223 attacked one of the convoy's vessels. The u-boat torpedoed the U.S. Army Transport DORCHESTER, which carried over 900 troops, civilian contractors and crew. Two hours later, the escort commander ordered COMANCHE to the scene of the disaster to screen rescue efforts by the other Coast Guard escorts. By this time, DORCHESTER had slipped Rear Adm. Parker (right) presents the Navy and Marine Corps Medal to Charles W. david Jr.'s widow Kathleen, and their son, Neil, at Coast Guard Headquarters. david, a mess attendant aboard the CGC COMMaNCHE, gave his life to rescue his executive offcer, Lt. R. W. Anderson (left), and others from the North Atlantic Ocean in Feb. 1943. Issue 2 • 2015 � RESERVIST 39