World War II Daily Podcast · WorldWarII_Daily

Episode 15 – VE Day 80th Anniversary Special: WW2 Veteran: Ted R. Britton Jr.

·1 hr 53 min·5 clips

Britton says the Marine Corps planned for 900 Black recruits, then had to expand as numbers and assignments changed.

1. World War II Daily Podcast features Theodore Roosevelt Britton Jr. reflecting on his Marine Corps service and later diplomatic career. 2. Pietro Deserchi hosts the interview, Samuel DeCourty joins later, and Britton matters as a World War II veteran and later ambassador. 3. The episode asks how a Black Marine from South Carolina moved through segregation, war, and public service into diplomacy. 4. Britton says he was born in South Carolina and came to New York in 1936 at age 10. 5. He describes New York as a place with free access to libraries, museums, and art galleries after growing up with racial restrictions in the South. 6. He says a man in New York urged him to be “a gentleman and a scholar” during high school. 7. Britton explains that the Marine Corps introduced him to cannons, howitzers, mortars, rifles, bayonets, close order drill, discipline, three meals a day, and medical treatment. 8. He recalls a 33-day trip from Norfolk, Virginia, to the British Solomon Islands through Espiritu Santo and New Hebrides. 9. He says he learned of President Roosevelt’s death while at sea and later spent two years, four months, and 16 days in the Marine Corps before discharge. 10. He also says he rejoined in 1948 and was recalled to active duty in October 1950 during the Korean War. 11. Britton describes Camp Lejeune as land purchased in southeastern North Carolina in 1940 for amphibious warfare training. 12. He says one part of Camp Lejeune was set aside for African American recruits because segregation and Jim Crow were legal in the United States. 13. He argues that the term “segregated” implied inferiority, which he rejects when comparing black and white training camps. 14. He says his unit trained on close order drill for nearly three months and then moved into school company instruction. 15. Britton says he was drafted, offered the Army or Navy, and chose the Marine Corps after a recruiter returned and told him “you’re in.” 16. He recalls being placed in the 51st and then the 52nd Defense Battalion, then later serving in the 27th Marine Depot Company. 17. He says the Marine Corps needed ammunition companies and depot companies because island warfare required moving supplies, treating wounds on shore, and supporting men at the front. 18. He notes that he worked in administration, typed monthly muster rolls, and relied on books, the Armed Forces Institute, and wartime reading material. 19. People interested in Black military history, Camp Lejeune, and Marine Corps segregation would want this episode. 20. Listeners wanting a short, action-heavy combat story may skip this one.

As heard by us

Britton's wartime memory is plainspoken and vivid, with a few loose turns that fit the way recollection moves.

This episode follows Theodore Roosevelt Britton Jr. through memory that stays close to the ground: service with a depot company, old comrades, and friendships that kept circling back to Europe. The strongest parts are the plain, human details.

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Why you'd press play

You want a veteran's firsthand memory of service in Europe and the people he kept meeting there afterward.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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