Slideshow: The Golden Thirteen

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The Golden Thirteen

The Golden Thirteen at the time of their commissioning in March 1944. Top row: John W. Reagan, Jesse W. Arbor, Dalton L. Baugh, Frank E. Sublett. Middle row: Graham E. Martin, Charles B. Lear, Phillip G. Barnes, Reginald E. Goodwin. Bottom row: James E.

Camp Robert Smalls

A chief petty officer marches at the head of a company of black recruits at Camp Robert Smalls at the Great Lakes Naval Training Center during World War II. The training center at Great Lakes later named their in-processing building in honor of the Golden

9 As Enlisted

Nine members of the Golden Thirteen posed together in their enlisted uniforms prior to their commissioning.

Lear, Sublett, White and Hair

Four men of the Golden Thirteen, all rated petty officer first class, pose together during the course of their officer training in early 1944. Charles Lear and Frank Sublett in the front row, Syl White and James hair in the back.

Sublett and Reagan

Commander E. Hall Downes of the Hampton Naval training School congratulates Frank Sublett and John Reagan upon their return to the school following officer training at Great Lakes.

Nelson, Sublett, Martin and Smith

Because Navy policy prevented them from being assigned to combatant ships, early black officers wound up being detailed to run labor gangs ashore. Gathered here at Eniwetok in the Marshall Islands are Dennis Nelson, Frank Sublett, Graham Martin, and Sidne

Jesse W. Arbor

As an officer in charge of shore patrol during duty on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, in the summer of 1944, Arbor wears a .45-caliber automatic pistol on his hip as a badge of authority.

Barnes as Ensign

Phillip George Barnes as an Ensign

Samuel E. Barnes and Father

Newly commissioned Samuel Barnes poses with his father, James, who worked for many years as a chef at Oberlin College. Margaret S. Barnes, mother of the naval officer, was active in church work and Republican Party politics.

Baugh as Ensign

Dalton Baugh went to college in Arkansas with Arbor, then went through officer training with him in 1944.

George C. Cooper

Future Naval Officer, George C. Cooper when he was about 5 years old

Cooper as CPO

George C. Cooper as a Chief Petty Officer, prior to his commissioning.

Goodwin as Ensign

Ensign Reginald Goodwin is shown at the time of his commissioning in 1944. While the Golden Thirteen were going through officer training, Goodwin was the communications conduit with Commander Daniel Armstrong, officer in charge of Camp Robert Smalls.

James E. Hair

James Hair at his graduation from Bethune-Cookman College, Daytona Beach, Florida, in 1938 where he got to know Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune, an outstanding educator and civil rights leader who was consultant to three presidents of the United States.

Hair as Ensign

Ensign James E. Hair in his uniform.

Charles Lear

Warrant Boatswain Charles Lear talks with a sailor during the course of his duty in Hawaii in 1944.

Graham and Alma Martin

Graham and Alma Martin in downtown Chicago.

LCDR Dennis D. Nelson

Here, members of a labor gang perform stevedore duties under the watchful eye of Dennis Nelson, a member of the Golden Thirteen.

Nelson as Ensign

Ensign Dennis D. Nelson in his uniform.

John W. Reagan

John W. Reagan, a member of the Golden Thirteen, is shown as a halfback on the Montana State University football team around 1946. It has since been renamed the University of Montana.

John W. Reagan as Ensign

Ensign John W.Reagan at the time of his commissioning, March 1944.

Frank E. Sublett, Jr.

Ensign Frank E. Sublett, Jr. as a newly commissioned officer in March 1944.

William Sylvester White and Family

Ensign William Sylvester White in his Chicago apartment in early 1945 with his father, William S. White, Sr.; wife, George; and twin daughters, Marilyn and Carolyn.

Justice William S. White

Former member of the Golden Thirteen, William S. White served as a justice of the Illinois Appellate Court until his retirement in 1991.

1982 Reunion

The Golden Thirteen reunion that drew the most publicity, by far, was the one on board the guided-missile destroyer Kidd in April 1982. Front row, left to right, are Syl White, Dalton Baugh, George Cooper, and Sam Barnes. Standing are Jesse Arbor, James