Marines playing baseball on Saipan 1944

[AstroJake09]

Hi all,

My passion in school is history so I'm always researching and seeing what I can find. I recently came across this photo from a WWII photo album from the invasion and occupation of Saipan. Until 1944 no African-American Marines had seen combat, this changed however in June of 1944 when the United States invaded Saipan. The attached photo shows, what I believe to be some of these first African-American Marines playing baseball on the island. Notice the makeshift screen and backstop, the batter mid-swing as well as a white Marine on third with them. It shows that in the middle of a war you can find a little time to un-wind and bring the comforts of home with you and that the color of our skin does not define us, because for these men, the only thing that mattered was that each man had the other's back when they needed them and that they all wore the same uniform.

Thanks