[twinklesweep]

This question was asked in a posting on a previous thread—and it is a good question, as it's a part of our history.

Executive Order 9981: Desegregation of the Armed Forces (1948)
Establishing the President's Committee on Equality of Treatment and Opportunity in the Armed Services

"On July 26, 1948, President Harry S. Truman signed this executive order establishing the President's Committee on Equality of Treatment and Opportunity in the Armed Services, committing the government to integrating the segregated military." President Truman was a forceful, take-charge president who truly lived by his motto "The buck stops here," who was willing to take the heat himself rather than pass it on to a subordinate and then use it as an excuse to fire that subordinate. Considering he had been vice president less than three months when President Roosevelt died, he became one of the most significant presidents of the twentieth century.

Recognizing that the US military was the biggest minority employer in the US, President Truman established the President's Commission on Civil Rights after the end of World War II. He called on Congress to enact his recommendations, and Southern senators threatened a filibuster. (Racism alive and well?) As a result, the president strengthened the Civil Rights Division, appointed the first federal African American judge, and finally as Commander in Chief issued Executive Order 9981 which, with a stroke of his pen, ordered the desegregation of the US military—and it was done.

The following excellent "Our Documents" website includes the order itself and details of the history surrounding it—as well as countless documents important to our history.

Our Documents - Executive Order 9981: Desegregation of the Armed Forces (1948)

[Topspinmo]

Cause you can be punished under the UMCJ if you don’t comply with orders (verbal or written) and regulation’s. They took oath Also.

[JimJohnson]

If your a racist you will not be welcome in the military.

[mulligan]

The recruiters have racial quotas to fill. Orders are orders.