Preliminary efforts to desegregate the military started around 1945 and would officially begin on July 26, 1948, when President Harry S. Truman signed Executive Order 9981 — but African Americans served for centuries before that.
African American Crispus Attucks is considered by many to be the first casualty of the Revolutionary War — he was killed in the Boston Massacre on March 5, 1770. African Americans have served in different capacities in every war since then. Approximately 186,000 black Soldiers — including 94,000 former slaves from Southern states — ultimately served in the Union Army and 38,000 were killed in action. The first African American Medal of Honor recipient, Powhatan Beaty, received the medal for his actions on Sept. 29, 1864. During the Indian Wars, the Buffalo Soldiers served gallantly. The Harlem Hellfighters were the first all-black U.S. combat unit to ship overseas during WWI and the Tuskegee Airmen blazed similar trails in the sky during WWII. The 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion did the same for African American women.
But it wasn't until 1945 that the military really considered desegregating its ranks.
1945
1946The Army and Navy established integration operations — but they were not well-received. So much so, in fact, that in July of 1946, War Secretary Robert P. Patterson suspended African American enlistment for the remainder of the year.
1947Overall enlistment for African Americans dropped in 1947, but targeted efforts in specific operations were successful. Lt. Gen. Clarence Huebner developed a program in Europe to train thousands of African-American soldiers, the Army Air Force ended segregation in its training at Tuskegee Airfield, and civil rights leader A. Philip Randolph formed the Committee Against Jim Crow in the Military.
Late in 1947, a task force similar to Gillem's efforts was formed by President Harry Truman to assess racism in the ranks — its report recommended sweeping reform and using the military as an “instrument of social change” by ending segregation of the services.
1949The Defense Department drafted a range of policies to eliminate racial segregation and differences in standards — they were not approved.
The newly-appointed Defense Secretary Louis Johnson applied pressure to the services to implement integration unlike that of his predecessor. The Air Force issued a “bill of rights” for African-American airmen. The Navy proposed a recruiting program targeted at African-American sailors. The Marine Corps eliminated its segregated training platoons.
1951Support for segregation was still widespread in the Army — but all training divisions were integrated by March and African-American recruitment was 60 percent over authorization. Unlike in WWII, African-Americans were serving in combat at equal rates as whites in the Marine Corps.
1953The Korean War saw the number of African-American Marines grow from 1,525 in May 1949 to 17,000 — their exemplary service effectively destroyed long-accepted beliefs against integration.
