Blood for Dignity

Book excerpt: The integration of black platoons in 1945 represents the first time since the American Revolution that African American soldiers were integrated into white combat units. The experiences of these soldiers were truly radical and a harbinger of things to come. Clearly, these black infantrymen planted the seeds of integration in the army--and the nation. Blood for Dignity tells the story of these soldiers through the eyes of 5th platoon, K Company, 394th Regiment, 99th Division--the first integrated combat unit since the Revolutionary War. These men were involved in heavy combat at the Remagen Bridgehead and several other critical junctures as they drove back the German army. The performance of these men laid to rest the accepted white attitude of a century and a half that blacks were cowardly and inferior fighters. In fact, they proved to be just the opposite. Author David Colley interviewed many of the members of the 99th. Their accounts along with years of reseach paint a gripping, combat-heavy portrait of young men fighting together for their nation. For as they will tell you, in combat situations, prejudice and the color line disappears.