With One Tied Hand - The Buffalo Soldiers of World War II
Season 1
by Joe and Dayle Hartnett, Director & Producer of With One Tied Hand
Ivan reads Flavio's Letter and the audience learns of the great love and respect held by the Italian people, especially the Tuscans for these Black Warriors who liberated their villages, towns, and cities in 1944 and 1945. A Question and Answer session follows.
Ivan J. Houston tells the tragic story of Lt. John Fox, who sacrificed his life for his country and the villagers of Sommocolonia. Ivan visits the Florence-American Cemetery to honor his fallen comrades, some of whom he played cards with on the ship to Italy.
Ivan J. Houston and the 92nd Infantry "Buffalo Division" march North freeing thousands of starving Tuscan villagers. Ivan meets Mattea at the 500-year-old Villa La Dogana, where he also experiences first-hand the lasting gratitude of the Italian people for the "Buffalo Soldiers."
Ivan J. Houston joins the Army in 1944, and from the moment of his arrival at Ft. MacArthur, San Pedro, California he is Segregated into the Negro (or Colored) sections of the U.S. Army. On his way East for training and deployment overseas, he increasingly encounters the overt Racism of America prevalent during that time...a "WHITE ONLY" drinking fountain, which was much newer, cleaner, and taller than the "COLORED" drinking fountain.