"I think the most important thing I learned [in the Navy] is that I'm as good as anybody." (Video Interview, 16:53)

Augustus Prince

Augustus Prince, 1944 War: World War II, 1939-1946 Branch: Navy Unit: USS Santee Service Location: Hawaii; Guam (Mariana Islands); Philippines; Saipan (Northern Mariana Islands); Okinawa Island (Ryukyu Islands); Formosa; Japan; Pacific Theater Rank: Petty Officer Second Class Place of Birth: Philadelphia, PA

It was a small moment in a brief military career in a world war filled with large and momentous events. But sixty years after it happened, Gus Prince clearly recalled his being accepted as a radar man aboard the USS Santee, knowing in retrospect what that acceptance meant to him, a young black man struggling for respect in a largely segregated Navy.