The legacy of Philadelphia’s African American 644th Engineer Battalion

Discover the inspiring history and legacy of the African-American 644th Engineer Battalion in Philadelphia, and their contributions to the military.

By Aaron Heft

The Pennsylvania National Guard has a long history of African American service, from Polydore Redman, a formerly enslaved African American who served during the Revolutionary War, to modern day Black Guardsman who serve in every military occupational specialty and leadership position across the force.

For nearly 50 years, however, segregationist policies in the Army prevented patriotic Black Pennsylvanians from wearing the uniform and serving the commonwealth. In the aftermath of World War II, Pennsylvania’s black communities pressured for the inclusion of African American units in the state’s National Guard, reviving the legacy of militia service in their community.

Today, the history of these units lives on in the lineage and honors of the Pennsylvania Army National Guard.

In the post-World War II era, the National Guard saw a re-birth, as returning combat veterans swelled their ranks and provided much-needed real-life experience to the training of recruits.

Many returning African American veterans hoped to continue their service in the National Guard part-time. However, the Pennsylvania National Guard, still segregated, had not had a unit open to Black Guardsmen since 1900.

Starting in 1946, Brig. Gen. Frank Weber, State Adjutant General, worked with leaders in the Black community to create four such organizations within the Pennsylvania National Guard to support African American enlistment.

One of these units, the 644th Engineer Battalion, first organized in July 1948, would break the color barrier in the state’s military department with the authorization for 31 officers, 3 warrant officers and 499 enlisted men.

The 644th quickly attracted many returning Black World War II veterans in Philadelphia. Staff Sgt. Cornelius Baker, a proven military leader looking to continue his service after deploying to the Pacific theater, enlisted in the 644th at their Ogantz Avenue Armory and was soon commissioned as a platoon leader.

Those who enlisted in the 644th were not just Soldiers; many had served in groundbreaking military organizations that challenged the role of African Americans during the war and were continuing to push for equal rights back home.

Former Montford Point Marine Cleophas Wilson joined the unit after breaking racial barriers in the Marines and the Philadelphia Fire Department in the early 1940s, as did Philadelphian John Spann, who had served as an enlisted man with the famous Tuskegee Airmen.

Once recruited to strength, the 644th Engineer Combat Battalion was assigned as a non-divisional unit of the Pennsylvania National Guard. Alongside other organizations like the 111th Infantry and 104th Cavalry, which did not serve in the state’s 28th Infantry Division, the unit provided a mobile engineering asset to the state in times of war and peace.

The Engineers were regularly seen in training areas around the city, like Wissahickon Park, and conducted annual training at Fort Indiantown Gap. When the 28th Division was mobilized for service in Europe during the Korean War, the 644th became one of the few units left to fill the critical role of the guard in domestic operations within the state.

When the Pennsylvania National Guard desegregated officially in 1952, the 644th remained primarily filled with African American officers, NCOs and lower enlisted but quickly began to integrate. With the Pennsylvania National Guard restructuring under the Pentomic Army design in 1959, the integrated 644th Engineer Battalion consolidated with the Philadelphia-based 1st Battalion, 111th Infantry.

Though the unit was no longer in service, the veterans of the 644th impacted units and leadership across the state. Cornelious Baker, the World War II veteran who commissioned as a young platoon leader in the battalion post-war, would go on to serve in critical leadership roles across the 28th Division and Army Reserve, and in 1977, he would become the first African American general in the history of the Pennsylvania National Guard.

Many other members would serve long 20 to 30-year careers in the Guard, and following their service founded the “Men of the 644th Engineer Battalion” in 1968. The club served as a civic extension of the 644th, and veterans provided financial awards and recognition to schools, students, and businesses in the city that lived up to the organization’s ideals.

Though the 644th Engineer Battalion ended its service in the Pennsylvania Army National Guard in the 1950s, its legacy lives on in the Lineage and Honors of the 111th Infantry and in the deeds and actions of its trailblazing members.

(Editor’s note: Aaron Heft is a former platoon sergeant with 1st Battalion, 111th Infantry Regiment, 56th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 28th Infantry Division, Pennsylvania Army National Guard. He is currently a historian at the U.S. Army Center of Military History at Fort McNair, D.C.)

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