Love, War, and the 96th Engineers (Colored)

Book excerpt: "These candid diaries and letters present with striking immediacy the experiences of Captain Hyman Samuelson, a young, white, Jewish officer in command of African-American troops in New Guinea during World War II. His detailed, on-site account of issues rarely touched on in wartime literature--especially the dynamics between black troops and white officers and the unsung work of military engineers--unfolds side by side with the poignant, ultimately tragic, love story of Samuelson's wartime marriage and his wife Dora's fight against cancer. Expertly edited by Samuelson's niece, the award-winning historian Gwendolyn Midlo Hall, these diaries tell a moving story of personal sacrifice under difficult circumstances that included not only enemy attack but also a segregated and unequal military structure. "