Dan Fleming, white and Ben West, black were born in 1943. Ben's mother, Rebecca, was "Nanny" to Dan while Dan's mother worked as a welder in the shipyards of Savannah, Georgia during World War II. Rebecca brought Ben with her each day, crossing busy Bay street which separated the two government housing projects in segregated Savannah. Dan and Ben became best friends as young children, realizing that they had one thing in common which separated them from the other children....God-given foot speed.