A Distant Shore: African Americans of D-Day

A Distant Shore: African Americans of D-Day is a television documentary program that was produced for The History Channel by Flight 33 Productions in 2007. Executive Producers were Douglas Cohen (Flight 33), Louis Tarantino (Flight 33) and Dolores Gavin (The History Channel). The program was written by Douglas Cohen and produced by Samuel K. Dolan.

A one-hour special, A Distant Shore: African Americans of D-Day told the story of African American soldiers in World War II, who went ashore in France during the 1944 Invasion of Normandy. Among the interviewees were veterans from Barrage Balloon Battalions, Quartermaster and Transportation Companies, and Engineers, as well as Coast Guard veteran, John Roberts, from USS LCI(L)-93, who lost a leg during the landings at Omaha Beach. Author/Historian Yvonne Latty was also interviewed for the program.

In the decades leading up to World War II, the United States Army was segregated between white and "colored" units. Before the American Civil War, the Army had very few African American enlisted-men (though many former slaves did serve in the American Revolution), until 1863 when regiments of black soldiers, led by white officers, began taking the field. The system of segregated regiments with white officers continued through the American Indian Wars of the late 19th century, the Spanish American War, and World War I. Among the more famous segregated units during this period were the 9th and 10th Cavalry Regiments, also known as The Buffalo Soldiers, who along with segregated infantry regiments, engaged the Comanches and Apaches during the Indian Wars of the Southwestern United States.

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