UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II

Special Studies

THE EMPLOYMENT OF NEGRO TROOPS

by Ulysses Lee

CENTER OF MILITARY HISTORY UNITED STATES ARMY WASHINGTON, D. C., 2000 Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 66-60003 First Printed 1966-CMH Pub 11-4 

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Washington, D.C. 20402

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UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II
Stetson Conn, General Editor

Advisory Committee (As of 15 June 1965)

Fred C. Cole
Washington and Lee University

Lt. Gen. August Schomburg
Industrial College of the Armed Forces
James A. Field, Jr.
Swarthmore College
Maj. Gen. David W. Gray
U.S. Continental Army Command
Ernest R. May
Harvard University
Brig. Gen. Jaroslav T. Folda
U.S. Army War College
Earl Pomeroy
University of Oregon
Brig. Gen. Elias C. Townsend
U.S. Army Command and General Staff College
Charles P. Roland
Tulane University
Lt. Col. Thomas E. Griess
United States Military Academy

Theodore Ropp
Duke University

Office of the Chief of Military History

 Brig. Gen. Hal C. Pattison, Chief  of Military History

Chief Historian Stetson Conn
Chief, Histories Division Col. Paul P. Hinkley
Chief, Editorial and Graphics Division Col. Joseph S. Coulter
Editor-in-Chief Joseph R. Friedman

. . . to Those Who Served

Foreword

The principal problem in the employment of Negro Americans as soldiers in World War II was that the civilian backgrounds of Negroes made them generally less well prepared than white Americans to become soldiers or leaders of men. This problem was greatly complicated by contemporary attitudes and practices in American society that tended further to inhibit the most efficient use of Negroes in military service. Despite these handicaps Negro soldiers played a larger role in the most recent great war than in any previous American conflict. While the bulk of the more than half a million of them who were overseas by early 1945 were serving in supply and construction units, many were directly engaged with the enemy on the ground and in the air. If proportionately fewer Negroes became combat troops than the Army had contemplated in its prewar mobilization plans, this was true for white soldiers as well. Global war generated a need for service troops far greater than anyone visualized before Pearl Harbor, as well as a need to use all able-bodied Americans regardless of color or other distinction in military or civilian support of the war effort.

The integration of whites and Negroes in the armed forces of the United States in the early 1950's and the continued rapid advance of Negroes in the American economic and social order have substantially altered the circumstances governing their use as soldiers a quarter century ago. Nevertheless another full mobilization of American manpower for national defense would again bring to the fore many of the problems described in this volume. Dr. Lee's work embodies a record of service of which Americans generally can be proud, and for which the country is grateful.

Washington, D. C. 
18 June 1965

HAL C. PATTISON 
Brigadier General, U. S. A. 
Chief of Military History

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The Author

Ulysses Lee, now Professor of English at Morgan State College, Baltimore, was a member of the Office of the Chief of Military History from 1946 to 1952, concluding a decade of active Army officer service in ranks from first lieutenant to major. In World War II he served as an Education Officer and Editorial Analyst in the field and in the headquarters of Army Service Forces; for seven years thereafter he was the military history specialist on Negroes in the Army and prepared this volume.

A graduate of Howard University, Dr. Lee taught at Lincoln University, Pennsylvania, and attended the University of Chicago as a Rosenwald Fellow between 1936 and his entry into military service in 1942. He received his doctorate in the history of culture from the University of Chicago in 1953, and from then until going to Morgan in 1956 he taught at Lincoln University, Missouri. Co-editor of The Negro Caravan, an anthology of writings by American Negroes published in 1941, he was author-editor of the Army Service Forces manual, Leadership and the Negro Soldier, published in 1944, and has been the author of many reviews and articles published before and since. Dr. Lee has also been associate editor of The Midwest Journal of the College Language Association and a member of the editorial board of The Journal of Negro History.

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Preface

Recognizing that the story of Negro participation in military service during World War II was of national interest as well as of great value for future military planning, the Assistant Secretary of War in February 1944 recommended preparation of a book on this subject. The opportunity to undertake it came two years later with the assignment to the Army's Historical Division of the author, then a captain and a man highly qualified by training and experience to write such a work. After careful examination of the sources and reflection Captain Lee concluded that it would be impracticable to write a comprehensive and balanced history about Negro soldiers in a single volume. His plan, formally approved in August 1946, was to focus his own work on the development of Army policies in the use of Negroes in military service and on the problems associated with the execution of these policies at home and abroad, leaving to the authors of other volumes in the Army's World War II series, then taking shape, the responsibility for covering activities of Negroes in particular topical areas.

This definition of the author's objective is needed in order to understand why he has described his work "in no sense a history of Negro troops in World War II." Writing some years ago, he explained: "The purpose of the present volume is to bring together the significant experience of the Army in dealing with an important national question: the full use of the human resources represented by that 10 percent of national population that is Negro. It does not attempt to follow, in narrative form, the participation of Negro troops in the many branches, commands, and units of the Army . . . . A fully descriptive title for the present volume, in the nineteenth century manner, would read: `The U.S. Army and Its Use of Negro Troops in World War II: Problems in the Development and Application of Policy with Some Attention to the Results, Public and Military.' " Thus, in accordance with his objective, the author gives considerably more attention to the employment of Negroes as combat soldiers than to their use as service troops overseas. Even though a large majority of the Negroes sent overseas saw duty in service rather than in combat units, their employment in service forces did not present the same number or degree of problems.

The volume opens with background chapters recalling the experience of Negroes in the Army in World War I, the position of Negroes in the Army between wars, and Army planning for their use in another great war, as well 

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as the clash of public and private views over employment of Negroes as soldiers. It continues with chapters on the particular problems associated with absorbing large numbers of Negroes into the Army-the provision of separate facilities for them, their leadership and training difficulties, their physical fitness for service, morale factors influencing their eagerness to serve, and the disorders that attracted so much attention to the problems of their, service. The concluding eight chapters are concerned principally with the employment of Negro soldiers overseas, in ground and air combat units and in service units.

The author wrote most of this volume between 1947 and 1951, and the University of Chicago accepted its opening chapters as a doctoral dissertation. After Dr. Lee left the Army to return to teaching, he revised his work in the light of comments and criticisms received from the many reviewers of his original draft. As revised by Dr. Lee, the work was still too long for publication as a single volume; and in my capacity of General Editor I have reduced the revised manuscript considerably in length and reorganized and consolidated certain of the original chapters. The changes made by me were along lines agreed to in conferences with Dr. Lee and in consonance with his expressed wishes, or at least with my interpretation of them.

Certain other volumes of this series, as planned in 1946, gave particular I attention to the Army's use of Negroes, notably The Procurement and Training of Ground Combat Troops, by Robert R. Palmer, Bell I. Wiley, and William R. Keast; The Women's Army Cords, by Mattie E. Treadwell; and The Army and Industrial Manpower, by Byron Fairchild and Jonathan Grossman. Bell I. Whey's Army Ground Forces Study No. 36, "The Training of Negro Troops," offers an interesting comparative treatment of that topic. Dennis D. Nelson's study, "The Integration of the Negro into the United States Navy, 1776-1947," deals mostly with the Navy's policies and practices during World War II, and the monograph by Jean Byers, "A Study of the Negro in Military Service," describes policies and practices in both services during the war. The volume by Charles E. Francis, Tuskegee Airmen: The Story of the Negro in the U.S. Air Force (Boston, 1956), and the one by Lee Nichols, Breakthrough on the Color Front (New York, 1954) , offer useful insight into the military service of Negroes during and after the war. The reader is also referred, for more detailed maps of the p, many theaters of war in which Negroes served, to the theater volumes of the Army's World War II series.

In its planning, this work owes much to the Army's first Chief Historian, Dr. Walter L. Wright, Jr. The original draft, less the two concluding chapters, was carefully reviewed and criticized by a panel under the chairmanship of his successor, Dr. Kent Roberts Greenfield, which met on 4 January 1952. Panel critics in addition to Dr. Greenfield were Dr. John Hope Franklin, then Professor of History at Howard University; General 

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Wade H. Haislip (USA Ret.), then Chief of the General Staff's Personnel Division; Lt. Gen. Arthur G. Trudeau (USA Ret.), then Commandant of the Army War College; Dr. William T. Hutchinson, Professor of History at the University of Chicago; Col. (now Brig. Gen.) George C. O'Connor, then Chief, Histories Division, OCMH; and Dr. Donald R. Young of the Russell Sage Foundation. Paralleling this panel review all or parts of the author's work went to a large number of knowledgeable critics, many of them the leaders of Negro troops during the war, and the work as revised for publication has also been reviewed by several individuals qualified to do so. To all of these, named and unnamed, who have read and criticized this work, the author and the Office of the Chief of Military History owe a debt of gratitude.

Acknowledgment is due also to those who have contributed materially in preparing this work for publication: Mrs. Loretto C. Stevens, assistant editor; Miss Barbara J. Harris, editorial clerk; Mrs. Norma B. Sherris, photographic editor; and Billy C. Mossman, map compiler. Mrs. Dorothy Neill McCabe prepared the index.

Prefaces usually conclude not only with acknowledgments of assistance but also with a statement of the author's sole responsibility for any errors of fact or flaws of interpretation. Since Dr. Lee has not been able to participate fully in the final revision and editing of his work, it would be improper to hold him responsible for the contents of the work as printed. I accept this responsibility.

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Washington, D. C. 
18 June 1965

STETSON CONN
Chief Historian and
General Editor 

Contents

Chapter
Page
I. AFTER WORLD WAR I 3
The Military orientation of The Negro Public 3
Praise in the Press 6
Under the Surface 8
An Army Postwar View 15
II. PEACETIME PRACTICES AND PLANS 21
"There Is Not Enough Army to Go Around" 23
The Civilian Components 29
The Planning Problem 30
The 1922 Plan 32
Modifications and Developments, 1923-33 35
The 1937 Plan 37
The New Mobilization Regulations 39
Percentages and Types 41
The Revisions of 1940 46
On The Threshold of Mobilization 48
III. THE NEGRO POSITIONS DEFINED 51
Beginning Campaigns 52
The Air Corps and Public Law 18 55
Subversives and Patriots 65
New Bills and units 68
The Selective Training and Service Act 71
Announcements and Appointments 74
The Lines Form 82
IV. EXPANDING NEGRO STRENGTH 88
Initial Expansion 88
Housing 97
Camp Locations 100
Cadres for Units 107
V. UNITS: THE QUOTA PHASE 111
The Distribution Problem 111
Ground Units for the Air Forces 113
Flying Units 116
Nondivisional Ground Combat Units 119
The Traditional Arms: Divisions 122
Services units 128
Miscellaneous Units and Minor Problems 133
VI. PROPOSALS AND COUNTERPROPOSALS 136
The Hastie Survey 136
The Editor's Conference and Its Aftermath 141
Action on the Hastie Proposals 147
A War Plans Approach 150
The Chamberlain Plan 152
The Advisory Committee 157
Air Forces proposals and Hastie's Resignation 162
Gibson and Aide's Office 174
VII. OFFICERS FOR NEGRO TROOPS 179
Initial Procurements Policies 180
White Officers and Their Leadership Dilemma 182
White Officers: The Search for Standards 188
Plans for Mobilizing Negro Officers 191
The Policy in Operation 195
Command Problems in the Negro Regiments 198
Officer Candidates 202
VIII. THE QUEST FOR LEADERSHIP CONTINUES 205
Plans After Pearl Harbor 205
The Negro Officer Troop Basis 208
The Negro Officer Candidate Supply 211
Assignment Difficulties 212
Low Proficiency and Other Limitations 213
Mechanics of Assignment 216
Negro Officer's Leadership Dilemma 219
Mixed Staff and Their Problems 220
Men of the Spirit 225
"Weeding Out": Rotation and Reclassification 231
Unending Quest 237
IX. UNITS: MEN AND TRAINING 239
Standards and Inductions 239
Classifications Tests 241
Scores and Units 243
Screening Proposals 248
Special Training Plans 257
The Plan in Operations 261
Service Command Special Training Units 263
Instructional Problems 265
Barriers to Advanced Training 270
X. PHYSICAL FITNESS 275
Health and Inductions 275
The Venereal Disease Problem 276
The Antivenereal Disease Campaign 278
The Fly Problem 281
The Tuskegee Program 286
General Fitness for Full Duty 291
XI. MORALE 300
Recreational Facilities 302
Camp Towns 309
The All-Negro Posts 312
Transportation 315
The impact of Intangibles 324
Symbols and Apprehensions 331
Esprit 332
Mission and Morale 339
XII. HARVEST OF DISORDER 348
The March of Violence 349
First Correctives 357
Reactions and Resolutions 359
Public Approaches 363
Renewal and Reassessment 366
Individual Violence 374
Civilian Disorders 376
XIII. TOWARD AN OBJECTIVE 380
Advice to Commanders 381
The Bureau of Public Relations and the Press 383
Films 387
Instruction in Leadership 389
New Instructions on Facilities 397
Developments in ASF 401
XIV. MANPOWER AND READJUSTMENTS 405
Military Manpower for 1943-45 405
Selective Service Shortages and Quotas 408
General Trends, 1943 414
Flexible Organization and Negro Units 417
Shifting Manpower Allocations 419
Women and Manpower 421
Conversions and Inactivations 424
The End of proportional Representation 425
XV. OVERSEAS DEPLOYMENT AND THE NATURE OF UNITS 428
Establishing a policy 428
Developing Practices 431
Staff Approaches and Surveys 434
Problems Overseas 437
Deployment and the Future of Units 441
Unit Shortages and Shipment Policies 445
Public Concern 448
XVI. INTRODUCTION TO COMBAT: AIR AND AFTERMATH 450
The Fighter Program 451
Chill Upon the Future 452
The 99th: Catalyst 456
A Closer view 458
Expansion in the Air Program 461
The 99th Shakes Off a Chill 466
XVII. CONVERSIONS AND  COMMITMENTS 468
State of the Units 468
Infantry Deployment 471
Reactions to conversions 474
The McCloy Committee Faces the Issue 481
Readiness for Overseas Movement 485
XVIII. GROUND, AIR, AND THE ASSET SIDE 497
The 24th Infantry 497
The 93d Division 500
The 24th Infantry on Bougainville 502
The 25th Regimental Combat Team 504
After Bougainville 515
The Fighter Units 517
The "Asset Side" 523
The Asset Side? 529
XIX. MOUNTAIN AND PLAIN 536
The 370th Regimental Combat Team: The First Six Weeks 539
Shift to the Sea 544
Bowed Before Massa 547
The Full Division Arrives 553
A Fourth Hand 557
First Reports 560
Serchio Valley Counterattack 562
Winter Defense 567
February Attack 568
Reorganized Again 572
The Gibson Visit 575
SECOND WIND 579
New Winds Blowing 588
XX. SERVICE UNITS AROUND THE WORLD 591
The First Units Out 594
Road Builders 609
Liberia Force 619
Rear Area Employment 622
Service Units in the Combat Zone 636
XXI. ARTILLERY AND ARMORED UNITS IN THE ETO 644
Artillery 644
Tanks and Tank Destroyers 660
XXII. VOLUNTEER INFANTRY REPLACEMENTS 688
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE 707
GLOSSARY 709
BASIC MILITARY MAP SYMBOLS 715

Tables

1. Negro Units in Protective Mobilization Plan, 1940 (Continental United States) 43
2. Racial Distribution by of Service (Enlisted Only), 31 December 1942 134
3. Negro National Guard Officers, 24 September 1940 192
4. Negro Reserve Officers Eligible for active Duty, 30 June 1940 193
5. Distribution of Army General Classification  Test Scores, March 1941-December 1942 244
6. Mechanical Aptitude Test Score Distributions for Men Processed at Reception Center, September-December 1942  245
7. Army General Classification Test Score of Enlisted Personnel, 46th Field Artillery Brigade, Camp Livingston, Alabama, 30 April 1942 247
8. Separations of Negro Enlisted Men by Selected Causes, December 1941-May 1945 299
9. Racial Distribution, Troop Basis, 1943 (Enlisted Strengths) 406
10.Accessions of  Enlisted Men by Source, July 1940-August 1945 414
11.Quarterly Negro Strength and Total Strength of the Army, December 1941-December 1945 415
12. Quarterly Negro Strength of the Army, by Category, December 1941-December 1945 416

Maps

1. The Area of Operations, 1 September 1944-24 April 1945 536
2. The Massa Area 546
3. The Serchio Valley 563

Illustrations

Col. Charles Young as a Captain 9
2d Lt. John H. Alexander 12
Brig. Gen. Benjamin O. Davis 78
Maj. Gen. Walter R Weaver at Tuskegee 120
The Lonely Eagles 121
Cavalrymen Leaving West Riding Hall, Fort Riley 124
Military Police Unit, Columbus, Georgia 132
Paratrooper Trainees 161
99th Fighter Squadron Trainees 253
Watching a Boxing Match at Camp Claiborne, 1943 301
ANP War Correspondent Interviewing Signalmen 386
Hospitality at a British Pub 442
Air Base Security Troops, North Africa 444
Lt. Col. Benjamin O. Davis, Jr., at Press Conference 454
24th Infantrymen Plotting Defensive Positions, Bougainville 503
Knee-Deep in Mud 510
332d Fighter Group Pilots Being Briefed 519
Unloading Supplies at Hollandia 522
105-mm. Howitzers of 598th Field Artillery Firing Across the Arno 540
Unit of 370th RCT Crossing the Serchio 541
365th Infantrymen Pinned Down by Enemy Fire 568
758th Tank Battalion Supporting Advance, Mount Belvedere 585
Steel Bridge Over The Laloki River 603
Operating Heavy Equipment on the Alaska Highway 610
Engineer Troops on the Ledo Road 612
12-ton Pneumatic Float Bridge, Burma 614
Overnight Stop Along the Ledo Road 620
Baseball Game 621
Transferring D-Day Casualties at Southampton 628
Red Ball Express 632
Smoke Screen for Third Army 635
General Dwight D. Eisenhower at Cherbourg 641
Field Piece in the Periers Sector 645
Artillerymen Firing 8-inch Howitzer 655
Volunteers for Combat Infantry Replacement 692
47th Reinforcement Battalion in Training 694

All illustrations are from Department of Defense files.


page created 15 January 2002


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