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The last of the all-black units in the United States military was abolished in September 1954. [10] Kenneth Claiborne Royall, Secretary of the Army since 1947, was forced into retirement in April 1949 for continuing to refuse to desegregate the army nearly a year after President Truman's Order. [11]
The Army was especially resistant to the order, and only cooperated when a shortage of troops in the Korean War required that black soldiers serve alongside their white counterparts. [38] Military units were officially desegregated after the Korean War in 1954. [39]
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 26 July 1951, exactly three years after Truman issued Executive Order 9981, the US army formally announced its plans to desegregate. [citation needed]
President Harry Truman went around a stalemated Congress 75 years ago and issued an executive order to desegregate the military, offering a crucial victory for the Civil Rights Movement.
A black military policeman on a motorcycle in front of the "colored" MP entrance during World War II. The U.S. military was still very segregated in World War II. The Army Air Corps (forerunner of the Air Force) and the Marines had no blacks enlisted in their ranks. There were blacks in the Navy Seabees.
The United States Army (USA) ... In 1948, the army was desegregated by order 9981 of President Harry S. Truman. Cold War. 1945–1960
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President Harry S. Truman ordered the end of military segregation with his Executive Order 9981 in 1948, but racial discrimination and segregation continued in the U.S. armed forces through the Korean War. Some states did not desegregate their National Guard until the mid-sixties. [38]