A WINNER IN WAR AND PEACE

By Frederick A. Hurst

When he was five years old, W. Robert McDonald (Bob) moved to Springfield with his divorced mother, who worked as a domestic all of her life except for a brief period working at the Armory during wartime. Bob started his education in Springfield at Eastern Avenue School (now Bridge Academy). Life was not static. The McDonalds were forced to move so many times that Bob cannot recall all of the schools he attended, but they were many: Hooker, Brookings, Buckingham and finally, Trade High where Bob dropped out of the tenth grade. With such an inauspicious start, who would have thought that Bob eventually would become a registered accountant, working for a reputable company that he eventually bought out to become the first Black person in modern times to own and operate a business in downtown Springfield.

In November of 1942, Bob joined the army and went to war in the Pacific theatre against Japan. At the time, Black soldiers’ combat role was limited. They were much more likely to be in supply, maintenance and transportation roles. Bob served with the famous, all-Black 93rd Infantry Division, which was the successor to the all Black 10^th, 11^th and 12^th cavalry “Buffalo Soldiers.” (The Buffalo Soldiers earned a reputation for protecting White settlers from the Indians out west and they remain alive and well in Iraq, where soldiers of the 93rd are now distinguishing themselves in fully integrated units.) Bob’s division was split in half. One half was sent to work moving supplies and the other half became an all-Black combat unit. Bob was awarded a Bronze Star for heroic and meritorious service and three bronze combat medals for his participation in three battles.

The constant struggle for respect from his White counterparts taught Bob to hate discrimination and segregation as much as he detested the blood and guts of war. He especially recalls the riot at Fort McClelland, Alabama, where White officers were particularly tough on Black soldiers. The riot started when one Black soldier rebelled against the harassment and refused to say “Yes, Sir” to an abusive White officer. The White officer began a public harassment campaign against the Black soldier, including making him eat off the floor and march endlessly with five full packs on his back. Bob and his fellow Black soldiers ripped the packs off and the riot started.

Another incident occurred on a plateau in Mindanao in the Philippines as soldiers were preparing for the invasion of Japan. Only one vehicle could move on the narrow road leading up to the plateau. One would go up. When it arrived, another would come down. When it came time for a member of the 93rd to go up, the White soldiers saw him driving up and drove down and ran him off the road and another of many riots began with Black and White soldiers fighting and firing their weapons at each other.

Bob’s best experience during the war took place in the United States. While in the Philippines he found a catalogue with wedding rings on sale in New York. He paid for the ring and arranged for his mother and sister to take his future wife to dinner in New York, where they presented her with the ring and asked her to marry him, which, of course, she agreed to do. He returned home from the Army in January of 1946 and in May of that year, he and the lovely Alice McDonald (They had known each other since she was 11 and he was 13.) were married and have remained married for the last 58 years. Many years and three kids after they married, they finally had a honeymoon in Niagara Falls, New York that included Bob, Alice and all three kids.

Bob’s post-army career began to quickly take form. He worked on his GED while working for nine months as a clerk at Westover Air Force Base and then took a job as an inspector for Westinghouse that he hated. In 1948, he quit. Taking advantage of the G.I. Bill, he enrolled in American International College for one year, transferred to Hilliard College (now the University of Hartford), and graduated in 1952 with a degree in accounting. Bob was hired as a junior accountant by Truck Leasing Company, and, in 1966, he bought out the company’s equipment leasing unit. Operating out of 31 Elm Street in downtown Springfield with five employees, Bob leased equipment to companies throughout New England and worked with all of the major banks financing leases. He decided to close his business in 1981 after the banks, themselves, entered the leasing business and became his competitors.

But it didn’t end there. Bob was elected to the City Council in 1961. He is active in veterans’ affairs and was instrumental in starting Carl Talbot Post # 6189 of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. He has remained active in the NAACP and had a role in bringing Bob Hughes to town to run Northern Educational Services. He has worked with the Chamber of Commerce since 1970 and was the first Black Chairman of the Springfield Redevelopment Authority. He has worked with the Boys Club, Girls Club Family Center, Springfield Partners for Community Action and was instrumental in bringing St John’s dynamic young minister, Rev. Howard John-Wesley, to Springfield.

Bob is also active in SCORE, a seniors group that advises start-up businesses, a role that underscores his consistent efforts to give others a chance to experience the success that he enjoyed. But his most personally rewarding experience was as a mentor for eleven years to a seven year old young man who is now a pre-law student at Western New England College. In recent years, Bob was diagnosed with prostate cancer, which was successfully treated. He has since counseled many others through their own fears about the readily curable disease. His motto is: “Service is the rent we pay for living on this planet.”

Bob is a humble, unassuming, powerful man who has been making Black History all of his life, first, as a Black combat hero in World War II; second, as the first Black businessman to operate in downtown Springfield; and, finally, as a caring, giving person who continues to help so many others improve their lives. n