PARKVILLE — The 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion, known as the Triple Nickles, made history during World War II as the nation's first African American paratroopers.
Their brave efforts opened doors for future generations of Black paratroopers.
WMAR-2 News spoke to three African American military veterans who served as paratroopers.
They say the Triple Nickles paved the way.
In 1944, during World War II, White men were being trained as paratroopers to invade France.
First Sergeant Walter Morris witnessed this firsthand.
"He would see these White paratroopers training, and he liked the way that they trained and he said why can't we do that," said Martin Thompson, a military veteran.
When White paratroopers finished, Morris took Black soldiers to the same field where they'd do the same exercises, catching the base commander's eye.
"And he called Sergeant Morris into his office. And he knew, Morris knew that he was in trouble, but instead of being in trouble, the commander said I like that. I'm going to give you permission to keep doing that," said Thompson.
That led to the formation of a Black test platoon, which became the 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion, also known as the Triple Nickles.
"There was a lot of racism, discrimination. They felt that Black people couldn't jump out of airplanes, they didn't have the courage to jump out the door, they weren't smart enough to control their parachutes," said Thompson.
Their hard work proved them wrong.
The triple Nickles were the first Black paratroopers, but not the last.
Thompson served in the military for 34 years as a paratrooper, retiring as a Master Sergeant.
"They opened the doors, so that we could show that Afro Americans, men and women, could jump out of airplanes and do everything that the service members that were White in World War II did," said Thompson.
Andrew Boston was a paratrooper in the Army during Vietnam.
He didn't learn about the Triple Nickles, until 30 years after he'd left the Army.
"Didn't get no history in school or even when I was in the military, even when I was a paratrooper," said Boston.
He found out about the group reading an article in the paper about the 555th Parachute Infantry Association paying tribute to the Triple Nickles.
The association has chapters throughout the country, including in Baltimore and Washington D.C.
"I reached out. It was almost two years before I finally decided to go down and sign up for the Baltimore chapter."
Boston also connected with the D.C chapter, where he met some of the original Triple Nickles.
"But even at that time, I didn't know how much of an impact, like I know to this day, that some of them meant. But, we had a lot more relaxing atmosphere because they was veterans and I was a veteran," said Boston.
Like Boston and Thompson, Darren Purnell also served as a paratrooper in the military.
"Standing in the door and jumping out, it was like a rush," said Purnell
Purnell is a member of the Triple Nickles Baltimore chapter.
He hopes their stories are told for generations to come.
"Getting or having younger people or younger soldiers to develop an understanding of the history and keep it going. That would be our key. Well, that is our objective right now," said Purnell.