‘The highest praise’ - Veteran served overseas with African American stevedore regiment in WWI

Oscar Lee Smith of St. Joseph, Missouri, served in the U.S. Army during World War I as a member of the segregated 303rd Stevedore Regiment. Assigned to critical supply operations in France, he helped ensure the steady movement of troops and materials supporting the American Expeditionary Forces. After the war, Smith returned home, where he became a respected community member and helped establish a local American Legion post. Courtesy of Jeremy P. Amick

The United States World War I Centennial Commission has noted that during World War I, thousands of African Americans answered the nation’s call to arms despite being “assigned menial support roles, due to American society’s deep fears and prejudices.” Yet, even in the face of discrimination, the commission emphasized that “tens of thousands of black soldiers served courageously and capably in combat.”
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That legacy of service includes men like Oscar Lee Smith, whose wartime contributions reflect a broader, often overlooked story of sacrifice and duty.

Smith was born March 18, 1895, in Norborne, Missouri, a small community in Carroll County. Raised during an era when opportunities for African Americans were limited, he later moved to St. Joseph, where he was living when the United States entered World War I. At the age of 22, he was drafted into military service and reported to Jefferson Barracks in St. Louis, where he was inducted into the U.S. Army on Nov. 25, 1917.

In her article “True Sons of Freedom” for The American Legion Magazine, historian Jennifer Keene explained that when the United States declared war in April 1917, existing Black National Guard regiments quickly filled with volunteers.

She further noted that this surge of volunteers contributed to the fact that more than “96 percent of the 367,710 African-Americans who served during the war were conscripted…” Ultimately, African Americans comprised roughly 13 percent of the wartime Army, despite representing about 10 percent of the civilian population.

Smith was assigned to Company I of the 303rd Stevedore Regiment, a unit organized at Camp Hill, Virginia. Like other stevedore regiments, the 303rd was tasked with one of the most essential—but least visible—jobs in modern warfare: moving supplies.

These regiments played a critical role in supporting the American Expeditionary Forces overseas, ensuring that food, ammunition, equipment and personnel flowed efficiently through European ports and toward the front lines. Without their labor, the fighting forces could not have sustained operations.

The importance of such work was clearly articulated in Emmett J. Scott’s 1919 volume, Scott’s Official History of the American Negro in the World War. In describing the role of labor units, Scott wrote: “For every soldier who gets even a glimpse of the enemy or risks his life within range of shellfire, there must, in all modern warfare, be from twenty to thirty men working at such common place and routine tasks as loading and unloading ships, building piers, laying railroad tracks, making roads, in a thousand other ways making it possible for the fighting men to get to the front, and for the necessary food, ammunition and other supplies to reach them.”

Smith and his fellow soldiers soon found themselves part of that essential logistical chain. After completing training, the regiment moved to a port of embarkation in late 1917 and deployed to France, where stevedore units operated along major supply hubs such as Brest, St. Nazaire, Bordeaux, Le Havre and Marseille.
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While in France, Smith’s duties largely involved working as a dock laborer—unloading ships as they arrived and ensuring that vital cargo was transferred quickly and efficiently. It was physically demanding work, often carried out under difficult conditions and tight deadlines, yet it was indispensable to the Allied war effort.

An article by Col. Richard Goldenberg on the U.S. Department of Defense website reinforces the scale of this contribution, noting that of the nearly 380,000 African Americans who served in the Army during World War I, close to 200,000 were deployed overseas. Of those, more than half were assigned to labor and stevedore battalions, which were roles that many Army leaders of the time deemed most appropriate due to prevailing racial attitudes.

Despite the lack of recognition often given to such units, the performance of these soldiers did not go unnoticed by those who depended on their work. Stevedore regiments developed a reputation for efficiency, reliability and endurance.

When the fighting ended in November 1918, the work of the stevedore units did not cease. Instead, soldiers like Smith remained in France for several months, continuing to load and unload ships as the United States began the massive process of demobilizing its forces and returning personnel and equipment home. Eventually, Smith departed France on July 30, 1919, sailing from Brest aboard the transport ship Saxonia as part of the 849th Transportation Corps.

Following his return to the United States, Smith resumed civilian life in Missouri. He married and became the father of a daughter, a stepdaughter and two stepsons. Records indicate that he was active in his community, including involvement with the Boy Scouts, and later worked as a night watchman for Swift & Company in St. Joseph.

Like many African American veterans, Smith returned to a nation that still grappled with segregation and inequality. One of the most visible examples of this divide occurred within veterans’ organizations. Many Black veterans were not welcomed into existing American Legion posts, prompting them to form their own.

In 1920, Smith helped establish Roy Curd Post 51 of the American Legion in St. Joseph, a post named in honor of a local Black soldier who died during the war. He later served as commander, demonstrating a continued commitment to service and leadership within his community.
Smith remained a respected figure in St. Joseph throughout his life. He died June 24, 1962, at the age of 67 and was laid to rest in Ashland Cemetery.

The legacy of soldiers like Smith was perhaps best captured by Emmett J. Scott, who recognized the indispensable contributions of labor and stevedore units during the war. Reflecting on their service, he wrote: “The work of the Negro Stevedore Regiments and Labor Battalions, and their unremitting toil at the French ports—Brest, St. Nazaire, Bordeaux, Havre, Marseilles—won the highest praise from all who had the opportunity to judge of the efficiency of their work.”

He added: “Every man who served his country in one of these organizations was as truly fighting to save his country as though he had carried a rifle and killed Germans.”
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Smith’s story stands as a reminder that the history of war extends far beyond the battlefield. Victory depended not only on those who fought in the trenches, but also on those who labored behind the lines by loading ships, building infrastructure and sustaining an army far from home.

In that essential work, men like Oscar Lee Smith earned exactly what Scott described more than a century ago: the highest praise.
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Jeremy P. Ämick is a military historian and author who has written numerous books on veterans and military history.