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When a U.S. Navy ship runs aground in Newfoundland, sailors scramble to abandon ship. But this man hesitates.
For a moment, he thinks he’s better off dying in the frigid Atlantic Ocean.
Why?
For a moment, he thinks he’s better off dying in the frigid Atlantic Ocean.
Why?
It's February, 1942. Nazis U-Boats patrol the Atlantic.
USS Truxtun and USS Wilkes are escorting USS Pollux through a treacherous winter storm and "Torpedo Alley."
When Truxtun slams into the rocks, Lanier Phillips thinks it’s an iceberg or a torpedo.
USS Truxtun and USS Wilkes are escorting USS Pollux through a treacherous winter storm and "Torpedo Alley."
When Truxtun slams into the rocks, Lanier Phillips thinks it’s an iceberg or a torpedo.
He scrambles to the upper deck.
"All I could see was snow and ice, the cliffs.”
He was told he’d be lynched by the locals if he made it ashore, that he should stay with the ship.
Fearing extreme racism on land, his Black and Filipino shipmates choose to stay.
"All I could see was snow and ice, the cliffs.”
He was told he’d be lynched by the locals if he made it ashore, that he should stay with the ship.
Fearing extreme racism on land, his Black and Filipino shipmates choose to stay.
Ena Farrell Edwards' brother was amongst the first men to see the ship wrecked on the rocks.
“What a frightful sight it must’ve been."
“What a frightful sight it must’ve been."
Facing death at sea, Lanier heads for shore.
On a raft, he makes it through the howling winds, oil-covered waves, and driving sleet to the foot of a towering cliff. When a local man finds him, he is frozen, covered in oil, and losing consciousness.
What would they do to him?
On a raft, he makes it through the howling winds, oil-covered waves, and driving sleet to the foot of a towering cliff. When a local man finds him, he is frozen, covered in oil, and losing consciousness.
What would they do to him?
His great-grandparents were slaves.
His parents were sharecroppers.
The Ku Klux Klan terrorized his childhood in Georgia.
Fear like that changes you.
Fear like that stays with you.
His parents were sharecroppers.
The Ku Klux Klan terrorized his childhood in Georgia.
Fear like that changes you.
Fear like that stays with you.
Imagine his fear when he regains consciousness and is lying naked before a white woman.
Imagine his fear when he realizes he is the only Black patient in a makeshift hospital where women are scrubbing oil from the survivors’ bodies.
Imagine his fear.
Imagine his fear when he realizes he is the only Black patient in a makeshift hospital where women are scrubbing oil from the survivors’ bodies.
Imagine his fear.
Violet Pike cannot scrub the black from Lanier’s skin.
She scrubs and scrubs and scrubs to no avail.
"The oil has gotten into his pores. It just won't come off.”
She scrubs and scrubs and scrubs to no avail.
"The oil has gotten into his pores. It just won't come off.”
Lanier knows what’s going to happen when they realize he’s Black. Finally, he tells her.
"It's the color of the skin, Ma’am. You can't get it off.”
He thinks this is the end.
"It's the color of the skin, Ma’am. You can't get it off.”
He thinks this is the end.
Violet had never seen a Black person.
She continues bathing him. She feeds him. She cares for him. She takes him into her home and sits him at the table to eat with her family. She treats him like family.
The experience changes Lanier Phillips forever.
She continues bathing him. She feeds him. She cares for him. She takes him into her home and sits him at the table to eat with her family. She treats him like family.
The experience changes Lanier Phillips forever.
203 American Sailors died that February morning.
Truxtun and Pollux both shipwrecked.
Lanier was the only Black survivor of the Truxtun’s crew.
Truxtun and Pollux both shipwrecked.
Lanier was the only Black survivor of the Truxtun’s crew.
When he returned home after the war, Lanier Phillips became a force for change.
He was the U.S. Navy's first Black sonar technician.
He collaborated with Jacques Cousteau.
He served his country and stood up for human rights.
He was the U.S. Navy's first Black sonar technician.
He collaborated with Jacques Cousteau.
He served his country and stood up for human rights.
When he saw that bloody Sunday unfold in Selma, he told his wife he had to go stand up for those beaten.
He had to stand up for them like the people of St. Lawrence saved him.
So when Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. led the march from Selma to Montgomery, Lanier Phillips was there.
He had to stand up for them like the people of St. Lawrence saved him.
So when Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. led the march from Selma to Montgomery, Lanier Phillips was there.
They named a playground after him.
They erected a statue to remember his shipmates.
They made him an honorary graduate.
When he washed ashore in Newfoundland, Lanier Phillips thought he would be killed because he was Black.
Instead, they made him family.
They erected a statue to remember his shipmates.
They made him an honorary graduate.
When he washed ashore in Newfoundland, Lanier Phillips thought he would be killed because he was Black.
Instead, they made him family.
“He was a very, very gracious man. When you’d meet him you’re were just sort of drawn to him.” https://www.ctvnews.ca/mobile/canada/twitter-thread-recounts-extraordinary-story-of-u-s-sailor-rescued-by-newfoundlanders-in-wwii-1.5271809?fbclid=IwAR2W0s0rbT_VXV1sYGtzYhaeFfeSlBlPHLDYag49CjS2kvsSBIitcl1aE4Q
