Black people have served in the American military since the Revolutionary War, including through slavery and segregation.
The 2020 Portrait of African American Active Duty and Civilian Employment in the U.S. Department of Defense offered this outlook:
In the news
Gen. Lloyd Austin III
On Jan. 22, Austin became the 28th U.S. defense secretary for the Biden administration. He is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy and served in the Army from 1975 to 2016, where he retired as a four-star general.Just a few of his responsibilities included being in charge of the U.S. Central Command, serving as vice chief of staff of the Army and commanding the U.S. Forces in Iraq.
California connections
Adm. Michelle Howard
Born in Riverside County at March Air Force Base, Howard is a retired U.S. Navy four-star admiral. She graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1982. She became the highest ranking woman in U.S. armed forces history and the highest ranking Black person and woman in Navy history. Howard also became the first female four-star admiral to command operational forces when she assumed command of United States Naval Forces Europe and Naval Forces Africa. Howard retired on Dec. 1, 2017, after nearly 36 years of service.
Lt. Col. Theodor Lumpkin
Born in Los Angeles and a graduate of Jefferson High School, Lumpkin was drafted in 1942 while attending UCLA. He became one of dozens of Tuskegee Airmen from Los Angeles.
The Army Air Forces program in Tuskegee was established to train Black military pilots and recruits and had some of the most decorated pilots serving in World War II. There were approximately 990 pilots among 14,000 personnel in the unit.
Lumpkin returned to Los Angeles after the war and studied at USC. He later started a real estate company that he remained active in until his death on Dec. 26, just days before his 101st birthday.
Delphine Metcalf-Foster
Retired Army veteran Delphine Metcalf-Foster was the first female and first African American national commander of the 1.3 million-member Disabled American Veterans. Metcalf-Foster is from Vallejo, and followed in the footsteps of her father, a Buffalo soldier, by pursuing a career in the U.S. Army. Her military career included service with the U.S. Army Reserve, 689th Quartermaster Unit, 6253rd Hospital Unit and 6211th Transportation Unit, Letterman Army Medical Center. She retired after 21 years of service with the rank of first sergeant in 1996.
Learn more at www.dav.org.
Through the years
March 5, 1770: Crispus Attucks is shot and killed while confronting British troops during the Boston Massacre.
June 17, 1775: Peter Salem fights valiantly alongside other American colonists against British forces at the Battle of Bunker Hill outside Boston.
An estimated 5,000 Black people fought on the patriot side against the British during the American Revolutionary War, from 1775 to 1783.
About 180,000 Black people wore Union blue and earned praise for their military skill during the American Civil War, fought 1861-1865. Twenty-five received the Medal of Honor for bravery during the war.
July 28, 1866: The U.S. Congress passes legislation creating the 9th and 10th U.S. Cavalry Regiments for service on the American frontier.
The Black cavalrymen fought in the Southwest and guarded lands from poachers. The Indians called the cavalrymen Buffalo Soldiers. Some of the units were active until 1951.
During the course of the Indian Wars fought from 1866 to the early 1890s, 13 enlisted men and six officers from the 9th and 10th U.S. Cavalry Regiments and two Black infantry units earned the Medal of Honor.
Five Black soldiers earned Medals of Honor for their heroism during the Spanish American War of 1898. They defeated Spanish troops alongside Lt. Col. Teddy Roosevelt and his volunteer unit of “Rough Riders.”
World War 1
Black troops eagerly volunteered for military service and served with distinction following America’s entry into World War I in April 1917. By the war’s end on Nov. 11, 1918, more than 350,000 Black people had served with the American Expeditionary Force on the Western Front in Europe.
Aug. 1, 1941: Benjamin O. Davis Sr. is promoted to brigadier general, becoming the first Black general officer in the regular Army and the U.S. armed forces.
World War II
Dec. 7, 1941: Navy Ship’s Cook 3rd Class Dorie Miller shoots down four Japanese planes during the attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and earns the Navy Cross.
March 7, 1942: The first group of pilots to graduate from military flight school at the Tuskegee Institute, Tuskegee, Ala., was inducted into the Army Air Corps.
Aug.-Nov. 1944: Thousands of truck drivers for the “Red Ball Express” risk life and limb to deliver desperately needed fuel, food and ammunition to Gen. George S. Patton’s 3rd Army as it pushed German forces eastward out of France during World War II.
More than 1 million Black people served in the U.S. armed forces during America’s participation in World War II from 1941-1945.
July 26, 1948: President Harry S. Truman signs Executive Order 9981. It states: “It is hereby declared to be the policy of the president that there shall be equality of treatment and opportunity for all persons in the armed services without regard to race, color, religion, or national origin.”
Korean War
More than 600,000 Black service members served in the armed forces during the Korean War (1950-53). Two Black Army sergeants, Cornelius H. Charlton and William Thompson, earned the Medal of Honor during the conflict.
1954: Brig. Gen. Benjamin O. Davis Jr. becomes the first Black general in the U.S. Air Force.
Vietnam War
During the Vietnam War (1962-1975) Black Americans continued to join the armed forces in large numbers. There were 20 who received the Medal of Honor during the Vietnam War.
July 1, 1973: The U.S. ends military conscription and adopts an all-volunteer military. Black people made up about 17% of the military’s enlisted force in 1973. By the early 1980s, they made up nearly 24% of the enlisted force.
Sept. 1, 1975: A Tuskeegee Airman in World War II, Air Force Gen. Daniel “Chappie” James becomes the first four-star Black general in the U.S. armed forces.
Oct. 1, 1989: Army Gen. Colin L. Powell becomes chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the most-senior Black military officer in U.S. history. During his tenure as chairman, Powell managed military participation in the Gulf War (1990-91). He served as JCS chairman until Sept. 30, 1993. Powell later served as secretary of state in President George W. Bush’s administration.
Sources: Department of Defense, Library of Congress, History.com, National World War II Museum.Photos from the Library of Congress and Wikimedia Commons
