Belmont Village Heros John Jackson

John Jackson

Corporal, U.S. Army
1943-1945
Resident, Belmont Village Hollywood, Los Angeles, CA

“I was assigned to the 780th Military Police Battalion, which was all black, except for the officers. Our battalion landed in Casablanca, went onto Algiers and later onto France. Initially, black soldiers were not allowed to engage in actual fighting, but it was my duty to observe everything that took place at the entrance gate to the OSS (now called the CIA), making sure that no one entered without proper clearance.”