I am especially grateful for the generous assistance of my editors, Loretto C. Stevens and Barbara H. Gilbert. They have been both friends and teachers. In the same vein, I wish to thank John Elsberg for his editorial counsel. I also appreciate the help given by William G. Bell in the selection of the illustrations, including the loan of two rare items from his personal collection, and Arthur S. Hardyman for preparing the pictures for publication. I would like to thank Mary Lee Treadway and Wyvetra B. Yeldell for preparing the manuscript for panel review and Terrence J. Gough for his helpful pre-publication review. Finally, while no friend or relative was spared in the long years I worked on this book, three colleagues especially bore with me through days of doubts and frustrations and shared my small triumphs: Alfred M. Beck, Ernest F. Fisher, Jr., and Paul J. Scheips. I also want particularly to thank Col. James W. Dunn. I only hope that some of their good sense and sunny optimism show through these pages. Washington, D.C. MORRIS J. MACGREGOR, Jr. 14 March 1980 Contents (p. xiii) _Chapter_ _Page_ 1. INTRODUCTION............................................. 3 _The Armed forces Before 1940_............................ 3 _Civil Rights and the Law in 1940_........................ 8 _To Segregate Is To Discriminate_........................ 13 2. WORLD WAR II: THE ARMY.................................. 17 _A War Policy: Reaffirming Segregation_.................. 17 _Segregation and Efficiency_............................. 23 _The Need for Change_.................................... 34 _Internal Reform: Amending Racial Practices_............. 39 _Two Exceptions_......................................... 46 3. WORLD WAR II: THE NAVY.................................. 58 _Development of a Wartime Policy_........................ 59 _A Segregated Navy_...................................... 67 _Progressive Experiments_................................ 75 _Forrestal Takes the Helm_............................... 84 4. WORLD WAR II: THE MARINE CORPS AND THE COAST GUARD...... 99 _The First Black Marines_............................... 100 _New Roles for Black Coast Guardsmen_................... 112 5. A POSTWAR SEARCH....................................... 123 _Black Demands_......................................... 123 _The Army's Grand Review_............................... 130 _The Navy's Informal Inspection_........................ 143 6. NEW DIRECTIONS......................................... 152 _The Gillem Board Report_............................... 153 _Integration of the General Service_.................... 166 _The Marine Corps_...................................... 170 7.