Tanya Lee Stone: Hi, this is Tonya Lee Stone and I'm the author of "Courage Has No Color - The True Story of the Triple Nickles: America's First Black Paratroopers". I'm going to tell you a bit about how I came to write this book, and then I'll read and excerpt to you.

I am often attracted to stories about extraordinary people that have not been told; missing pieces of history, really. After I first heard the Triple Nickel's name, I found a few mentions of there here and there, but there was very little information available. It bothered me. Here was a group of men who had taken part of pushing down the boundaries of discrimination and racism during World War II, and no one really knew who they were. I wanted to see if I could help change that. My research took many years to be able to put all of the pieces of the story together. I used articles, oral histories, bits of documentaries, conducted my own interviews, and searched for family members in order to learn all I could, as well as find as many photographs as I could to help me tell their story.

Now I would like to read you part of chapter one.

What did it take to be a paratrooper in World War II? Specialized training, extreme physical fitness, courage, and until the 555th parachute infantry battalion, the Triple Nickel's was formed. White skin. It is 1943, American's are overseas fighting World War II to help keep the world safe from Adolf Hitler's tyranny, safe for injustice, safe from discrimination, yet right here at home with white skin have rights that people with black skin do not. What is courage? What is strength? Perhaps it is being ready to fight for your nation even when your nation isn't ready to fight for you.