Taps For A Jim Crow Army: Letters from Black Soldiers in World War II

by Phillip McGuire (Editor)

Many black soldiers serving in the U.S. Army during World War II hoped that they might make permanent gains as a result of their military service and their willingness to defend their country. They were soon disabused of such illusions. Taps for a Jim Crow Army is a powerful collection of letters written by black soldiers in the 1940s to various government and nongovernment officials. The soldiers expressed their disillusionment, rage, and anguish over the discrimination and segregation they experienced in the Army. Most black troops were denied entry into army specialist schools; black officers were not allowed to command white officers; black soldiers were served poorer food and were forced to ride Jim Crow military buses into town and to sit in Jim Crow base movie theaters. In the South, German POWs could use the same latrines as white American soldiers, but blacks could not. The original foreword by Benjamin Quarles, professor emeritus of history at Morgan State University, and a new foreword by Bernard C. Nalty, the chief historian in the Office of Air Force History, offer rich insights into the world of these soldiers.

320 pages, Paperback

First published August 10, 1993

Reviews

[Dennis McClure · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a tough review to write. As my Team Leader/Researcher Chris goes through reams of the dry data that she dearly loves, and we approach my turn to work on our new book, A Different Race, she is determined that I read some of her research.

This book is a compilation of letters from soldiers during WWII describing racial discrimination in the military and in white communities surrounding military posts. It is devastating. It is factual. It is well edited.

Some of it will be in our book.

Is it a "good read"?

Not unless you're Researcher Chris.

[Fay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very straightforward. Very helpful for my research.

[Emily Hanamann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another thesis necessity