9 December 1947: The 555th Parachute Infantry Company was inactivated and its colors folded. Its new designation was the 3d Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82d Airborne Division. This was the Army’s first integration of a black unit into an all-white unit.
26 July 1948: President Harry S. Truman issued Executive Order 9981 dated 26 July 1948, which officially desegregated the U.S. military.
25 June 1950: North Korean Army crossed the 38th parallel and invaded South Korea; thus the Korean Conflict erupted. The 38th parallel separated North and South Korea.
29 September 19: 504th Ranger Infantry Company (Airborne) was designated at Ft. Benning, GA. 1st, 2d, 3d, and 4th Companies were assigned to the Ranger Training Center.
September-December 1950: Members of the 2d Rangers were recruited, assigned, trained, and prepared for deployment to Korea. [The change of designation of 4th Company to 2d Ranger Company occurred in November 1950 when the Department of the Army changed all units from Army Special Unit (ASU) to Table of Organization and Equipment (TO&E) units (part of the Regular Army).] Personnel were taken from the 3d Battalion (a parent unit), 505th Airborne Infantry Regiment, and the 80th Anti-aircraft Artillery Battalion of the 82d Airborne Division. The parent organization of this unit was Company A, 2d Ranger Battalion, which had been inactivated after World War II. Characterized as the “best of the elite” unit, the 2d Ranger Company was the first, last, and only all-black Ranger unit in the history of the United States Army. The Company’s first commander was 1st Lieutenant Warren E. Allen of Los Angeles, CA.
28 October 1950: 2d Ranger Infantry Company (Airborne) was activated at Fort Benning, GA.
November 1950: The 2d Rangers were sent to the Ranger Training Center at Fort Benning, GA, for special, rigorous, advanced training.
3 December 1950: 2d Ranger Company departed Fort Benning, GA, by train for Camp Stoneman in CA, along with the 4th Rangers. At that time the 2d Ranger Company had 5 officers and 116 enlisted men, and the 4th Rangers had 4 officers and 118 enlisted men.
7 December 1950: 2d Rangers arrived at Port of Embarkation to ship out, nine years to the day after the Pearl Harbor attack.
9 December 1950: 2d Ranger Company left San Francisco, CA, for Korea aboard the USS General H.W. Butner, stopping at Pearl Harbor en route.
23 December 1950: 2d Ranger Infantry Company met African American women serving in the U.S. Women’s Army Corps aboard the USS General H.W. Butner en route to Yokohoma Engineer Depot, Yokohoma, Japan.
24 December 1950: 2d Rangers arrived in Yokohama, Japan, on Christmas Eve. The Company entrained at pierside for movement to Camp Zama, Japan.
30 December 1950: The 2d Ranger Company was airlifted from Tachikawa Air Force Base, Japan, to Taegu Air Force Base, Korea. The unit was assigned to the Eighth United States Army and attached to the 7th Infantry Division.
31 December 1950: The 2d Ranger Company closed into the 7th Division area on New Year’s Eve. 2d Ranger Company arrived in Korea at a critical time in the war: the United Nations faced staggering odds. The CCF Intervention had been in progress since 3 November.
5 January 1951: 2d Rangers arrived in Wonju via Tanyang with the mission of blocking enemy threats from the northeast. They traveled 103 miles from Yongchon to Changnim-ni via Andong.
7 January 1951: 2d Ranger Company’s first combat action in Korea began outside Tanyang Pass. The 2d Ranger Company was assigned to protect an important rail line running through central Korea at Tanyang Pass. This rail line allowed essential supplies to travel to the UN units further north that were fighting to halt the Chinese Communist forces that were attempting to push the UN forces off the peninsula and bring South Korea under Communist domination. A large North Korean unit, while attempting to infiltrate Tanyang and disrupt the flow of supplies to the front, engaged the 2d Rangers. Although outnumbered, 2d Rangers inflicted heavy casualties on and repelled the North Koreans. 2d Ranger SFC Isaac Baker was killed and Rangers Webb Paulding and Wheeler Small were wounded.
14 January 1951: 2d Ranger Company entered the village of Majori-ri with the mission of taking possession of the village and then continuing the assault with another unit. They drove the enemy from the town, but the Chinese ambushed the other American forces in a mountain counterattack. Eight 2d Rangers were killed and ten were wounded. This was the last enemy action the 2d Rangers engaged in during the CCF intervention.
21 January 1951: 2d Rangers established headquarters in Tanyang. Their mission was to search out enemy guerrillas.
24 January 1950: The Chinese/North Korean advance into South Korea was ground to a halt by UN forces, and the CCF Intervention Campaign officially ended.
25 January 1950: The first UN Counteroffensive officially began. 2d and 4th Ranger Companies were given a pivotal role: to accompany the 187th ARCT in an air assault on the city of Munsan-ni. Designed to curtail enemy units’ retreat from Seoul, Munsan-ni was the first combat jump a U.S. Ranger Company ever made. The 2d Rangers began prepara2tion for their first combat jump.
29 January 1951: 2d Rangers were attached to the 17th RCT.
20 February 1951: 2d Ranger Company captured Chuchon, 8 miles to the northeast. Received recognition for their attack in the International News Service “banzai.”
22 February 1951: 2d Rangers were attached to the 187th ARCT.
28 February 1951: 2d and 4th Rangers were en route to join the 187th Airborne RCT. Ground linkup was Task Force Growden, including the 6th Medium Tank Battalion, Infantry, and Artillery. Their mission was to attack from Seoul to Munsan-ni. The 2d and 4th Ranger Companies would be a part of the second serial to jump on Drop Zone (DZ) North, preceded by the 3d Battalion of the 187th.
23 March 1951: 2d Ranger Company participated in the First UN Counteroffensive via airborne assault, jumping from C-46 airplanes, with the 187th ARCT at Munsan-ni. The 2d Ranger Company became the first United States all-black unit to make a para2chute jump behind enemy lines. The 2d Rangers achieved their objectives the day of the air assault, while suffering relatively light casualties. The 2d Rangers moved through enemy gunfire across high terrain, killed many Communists, and captured 20 prisoners. 2d Ranger Company then participated in the assault on Hill 151. Its mission was to seize the hill, a key terrain feature in the zone of the 2d Battalion, 187th ARCT. The attack was supported by F-51 fighters and 81 mm mortar fire by the Company’s executive officer, then-LT James C. Queen. During this attack one Ranger was killed (PFC William Van Dunk) and two wounded (SFC Boatwright and Sgt Robertson). The unit was awarded the Bronze Arrowhead for the para2chute assault at Munsan-ni and its service throughout this dangerous and historic action.
4 April 1951: 2d and 4th Rangers received new assignments. The 2d Rangers spent the remainder of the campaign undergoing a period of training and reinforcement in the vicinity of Hangyee. 2d Rangers were to become a training unit for black soldiers assigned to the 7th Infantry Division. Their mission was to provide two weeks of training to 52 replacements.
21 April 1951: The First UN Counteroffensive ended.
22 April 1951: The CCF Spring Offensive began. 2d Rangers participated in the response.
29 April 1951: 2d Rangers were ordered to move a few miles northwest to occupy and hold a hill outside of the village of Chaun-ni.
30 April 1951: 2d Rangers had 125 men assigned and 282 attached.
8 May 1951: Extra attached soldiers were released to the 17th, 31st, and 32d regiments; the needs of war were beginning to break the color barrier.
Late April–early May 1951: Various operations: 2d Rangers performed combat patrols with the 3d Regiment, 7th ROK Division; about 123 men of the 2d Rangers occupied an outpost on Hill 258; 2d Rangers defended high ground near Chinon-ni.
19-21 May 1951: 2d Rangers led assault on Hill 581, killing 50 Chinese and wounding 90 in about 2 hours. Seventeen members of the 2d Rangers were awarded the Purple Heart, and 7 were cited for bravery.
1 June 1951: 2d Ranger Company occupied a position in the KANSAS Line in the vicinity of the Hwachon Reservoir.
11 June 1951: 2d Ranger Company assaulted and occupied Hill 545 in the vicinity of Yonochanga. Last engagement in which the Rangers would participate before the conclusion of the CCF Spring Offensive.
8 July 1951: 2d Ranger Company confronted its last enemies in a combat engagement during the Korean War.
9 July–27 November 1951: The UN Summer–Fall Offensive in progress; 2d Ranger Company was held in reserve. Its personnel were gradually reassigned. 1st, 2d, 3d, 4th, 5th, and 8th Ranger Companies were to be inactivated by the commanding generals of the divisions to which the Rangers were attached.
1 August 1951: 2d Ranger Infantry Company (Airborne) unit was officially inactivated.