1 Army Broke Its Own Segregation Rule When It Ran Out Of Soldiers To Send

By December 1944, during the Battle of the Bulge, American forces in Europe faced a severe shortage of infantry replacements. General John C.H. Lee, with the approval of Eisenhower's headquarters, issued a call asking African American soldiers serving in segregated support and service units to volunteer for frontline combat duty, an unprecedented step given the Army's rigid segregation policy at the time. Over two thousand men volunteered, and some even accepted a reduction in rank in order to qualify, since infantry combat roles required specific ranks. They were organized into platoons attached to existing white companies, an early and largely unrecognized step toward the eventual integration of the US military.

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Видео 1 Army Broke Its Own Segregation Rule When It Ran Out Of Soldiers To Send канала AncientLens Films