Fighting for hope : African American troops of the 93rd Infantry Division in World War II and postwar America

"This fascinating story explores African-American efforts-- at war, at home, and in postwar community politics-- to achieve full citizenship in mid-twentieth-century America. Drawing on oral testimony, unpublished correspondence, archival records, memoirs, and diaries, Robert F. Jefferson explores the curious contradiction of war-effort idealism and entrenched discrimination through the experiences of the 93rd Infantry Division. Led by white officers and presumably unable to fight during the advance on the Philippines-- and with the army taking great pains to regulate contact between black soldiers and local women-- the division was largely relegated to support roles, seeing action only later in the war when U.S. officials found it unavoidable. Jefferson discusses racial policy within the War Department, examines the lives and morale of black GIs and their families, documents the debate over the deployment of black troops, and focuses on how the soldiers' wartime experiences reshaped their perspectives on race and responsibility in America"--Jacket. Includes bibliographical references (pages 247-307) and index. xv, 321 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm.