Who was responsible for desegrating the armed forces?

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Question:

the first war in which blacks and whites fought beside each other was the korean war!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:

Harry Truman was the president!. He ordered thye Armed Forces desegregated by Executive order!.
Hope that helps!.
J!. PecciaWww@QuestionHome@Com

In the Civil War, the North did not have integrated units!. "*****" units had White Officers and senior NCO only!. The Confederacy DID have integrated Units defending Richmond though!. White Convalescents fought beside Blacks to defend the city!. Black slaves were also used along the rivers as snipers!. Louisiana had Black Militia troops who had never been slaves, and some were slave owners themselves!.

the "*****" WAS typed out, but Yahoo put in the astericks!. I used the proper name for the units, which by the way are still on the rolls of the units and on their monuments!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

the first war in which blacks and whites fought beside each other was the korean war

Wrong!

Civil War!. Union Army!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Desegregation in the military

[edit] Militias and US Army
Starting with King Phillip's war in the 17th century, African-Americans fought and died alongside whites in an integrated environment in the North American colonies!. They continued to fight in every American war integrated with whites up until the War of 1812!. They would not fight in integrated units again until the Korean War!.[1]

During the Civil War, Blacks enlisted in large numbers in the Union Army!. They were mostly enslaved African Americans who escaped in the South, although there were many northern black Unionists as well!. More than 180,000 African Americans served with the Union Army and Navy during the Civil War, in segregated units known as the US Colored Troops, under the command of white officers!.[2] They were recorded and are part of the National Park Service's Civil War Soldiers & Sailors System (CWSS) (see External link below!.)

While a handful of Blacks were commissioned as officers in World War I, white officers remained the rule in that conflict!. The NAACP lobbied the government to commission more black officers!. During WWII, most officers were white!.

In 1948, President Harry S Truman's Executive Order 9981 ordered the integration of the armed forces shortly after World War II, a major advance in civil rights!. Using the Executive Order (E!.O!.) meant that Truman could bypass Congress!. Representatives of the Solid South, all white Democrats, would likely have stonewalled related legislation!.

For instance, in May 1948, Richard B!. Russell, Democratic Senator from Georgia, attached an amendment to the Selective Services bill then being debated in Congress!. The Russell amendment would have granted draftees and new inductees an opportunity to choose whether or not they wanted to serve in segregated military units!. Russell's amendment was defeated in committee!. Truman signed Executive Order 9981 on July 26, 1948!. In June 1950 when the Selective Services Law came up for renewal, Russell tried again to attach his segregation amendment, and again Congress defeated it!.

At the end of June 1950, the Korean War broke out!. The U!.S!. Army had accomplished little desegregation in peacetime and sent the segregated Eighth Army to defend South Korea!. Most African-American soldiers served in segregated support units in the rear!. The remainder served in segregated combat units, most notably the 24th Infantry Regiment!. The first months of the Korean War were some of the most disastrous in U!.S!. military history!. The North Korean People's Army nearly drove the American-led United Nations forces off the Korean peninsula!. Faced with staggering losses in white units, commanders on the ground began accepting black replacements, thus integrating their units!. The practice occurred all over the Korean battle lines and proved that integrated combat units could perform under fire!. The Army high command took notice!. On July 26, 1951, the US Army formally announced its plans to desegregate, exactly three years after Truman issued Executive Order 9981!.

Soon Army officials required Morning Reports (the daily report of strength accounting and unit activity required of every unit in the Army on active duty) of units in Korea to include the line "NEM XX OTHER EM XX TOTAL EM XX", where XX was the number of ***** and Other races, in the section on enlisted strength!. The Form 20s for enlisted personnel recorded race!. For example, the percentage of Black Enlisted Personnel in the 4th Signal Battalion was maintained at about 14 % from September 1951 to November 1952, mostly by clerks' selectively assigning replacements by race!. Morning Report clerks of this battalion assumed that all units in Korea were doing the same!. The Morning Reports were classified "RESTRICTED" in those years!. (Citations needed from Korean War Records in Kansas)[citation needed]

[edit] Sailors and US Navy
African-American naval service stretches back to the beginnings of the nation!. Thousands of black men fought on the side of rebellious colonists in the American Revolutionary War, many in the new Continental Navy!. Their names, accomplishments or total numbers are unknown because of poor record keeping!.

African Americans also participated in the Union Navy during the American Civil War!. Many were enslaved African Americans who escaped to Union lines!. About 18,000 African Americans were sailors with Union forces!.[3] They were recorded and are part of the National Park Service's War Soldiers & Sailors System (CWSS) (see External link below!.)

In WWII, the US Navy experimented with the USS Mason, a ship with black crew members and commanded by white officers!. Some called it "Eleanor's folly," after President Franklin Roosevelt's wife!.[citation needed] The Mason’s purpose was to allow African American sailors to serve in the full range of billets (positions), rather than being restricted to stewards and messmen, as they were on most ships!. The Navy had already been pressured to train black sailors for billets!. Mrs!. Roosevelt insisted that African-American sailors be given the jobs which they were trained to do!. This experiment was an historic step on the long road to integration!.Www@QuestionHome@Com