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The War
Black Troops in a Segregated Military
Despite the bravery of Black Americans in every previous war, the U.S. armed forces entered World War II strictly segregated. Draftees from the North met Jim Crow laws for the first time in Southern training camps, and some who defied them paid with their lives. Growing protests brought limited change, including air training at Tuskegee Institute and the USS Mason's Black crew.
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1:28:19
President Johnson escalates the war while promising the public that victory is in sight.
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2:07:27
Germany and the Japanese surrender too and millions try to learn to live without war.
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1:59:26
By mid March, 1945, they are across the Rhine, while Russians are 50 miles from Berlin.
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2:19:15
On D-Day, 1.5 million Allied troops take part in the greatest invasion in history.
