Major General George Patton and Rear Admiral John Hall, US Navy (behind Patton – and, Yes, the Admiral has his helmet on backward) prepare to go ashore at Fedhala, Morocco during the North African operation, 9 November 1942.
The African-American Soldier with the Thompson gun in the center is MSG William George Meeks. Of note, Meeks, born in 1896, joined the U.S. Cavalry in 1916 and served in the Mexican Intervention chasing Villa, as well as both the Great War and, of course, WWII. He was a longtime orderly of Patton’s and later one of the General’s pallbearers on the military honors casket team that buried him.
It was Meeks that presented his widow Beatrice with Patton’s flag.
The Tommy gun bearing SCNO died in 1965 and is buried in Arlington, Sec: 43, Site: 369.