Blues March

The world-famous Black American jazz musician Jon Hendricks decides to face a part of his past.
After France awarded him the Legion d’Honneur in 2001, he sets out again in the summer of 2007 to revisit the places of his first encounter with France – after landing in Normandy.

During the Second World War, the 22-year-old Jon Hendricks fought on two fronts: against Hitler and the Nazis, and, as a Black GI in the U.S. Army, against racism within his own ranks. In 1944, at the age of 22, Hendricks had already been there as a soldier in a U.S. Army supply unit. Hendricks and his fellow Black soldiers were very popular with French women, which aroused the jealousy of the white GIs and led to violent confrontations. After a shooting – without any chance to defend himself – Hendricks decided to desert. As an important organizer familiar with internal administration, he took stacks of application forms and, together with four other Black soldiers and a white Frenchman disguised as a U.S. captain, founded a phantom unit. They engaged in black market activities and also helped with the reconstruction of France. Eventually, the scheme was discovered, and all the Black men involved faced the threat of a death sentence. After rejecting an initial racist defense lawyer and with the help of a new Jewish attorney, he avoided this fate.

Instead, he was sentenced to forced labor, later released – but shipped back to America in chains. On that ship, he heard the song “Salt Peanuts” by Dizzy Gillespie – and was thrilled. Back home, he resumed his singing career and founded the trio “Lambert, Hendricks & Ross” – soon the hottest group in town and in the USA. A jazz star was born. Even today, Hendricks continues to tour; he lives in Toledo, Ohio, where he held a professorship in jazz. After his war experiences, he had sworn never again to live as a second- or third-class citizen.