Land of the Free, Home of Brave

There was a time when the lyrics to our National Anthem rang hollow in the ears of African-American citizens. There could not have been a more stinging blow to soldiers than fighting for a country that considered you a second-class citizen.

- Lorraine Lavender Sams

African Americans have fought to defend this nation since its inception and are among some of the bravest, battle-tested men on the planet.

African Americans Participated In Every Military Campaign 

African-Americans have fought in every war, starting with the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, the Mexican-American War, the Civil War, the Indian Wars, the Spanish-American War, the Philippine-American War, World War l, World War ll, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Gulf War, the War in Afghanistan and the Iraq War. https://en.m.wikipedia.org>wiki

Prior to July 26, 1946, segregation in the military was always the law of the land in every branch of the service. It was thought that African Americans weren’t capable of fighting, so they were relegated to trench diggers, cooks, supply clerks, and other menial jobs.

Military Racial Segregation/Executive Orders 8802 and 9981

In 1940, African Americans made up almost 10 percent of the U.S. population (12.6 million people out of a total of 131 million). During World War ll, the Army had become the nation's minority employer. Of the 2.5 million African American males who registered for the draft through December 31, 1945, more than 1 million were inducted into the armed forces. Along with thousands of Black women, these inductees served in all branches of service and in all Theaters of Operations during World War ll.