ABSTRACT
At the end of World War I there were nearly 1,400 black commissioned officers in the military. Most held combat arms commissions—80 percent in infantry and artillery—while the remainder either served in medical-related fields or as chaplains. Regardless of their branch of service most had crossed the Atlantic Ocean to fight for democracy. The irony was that many of them had been denied democracy in their own country. They went to war with the hope of returning to a changed America, one that would embrace them with open arms. They hoped the country would finally recognize their military leadership skills and abilities, thus opening the doors of the distinguished officer corps to them. That did not happen.
