Why read To Serve My Country, to Serve My Race?

Book cover of To Serve My Country, to Serve My Race: The Story of the Only African-American WACS Stationed Overseas During World War II

Book description

The story of the historic 6888th, the first United States Women's Army Corps unit of African American women to serve overseas
While African American men and white women were invited, if belatedly, to serve their country abroad, African American women were excluded for overseas duty throughout most of WWII. However,…

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Why read it?

1 author picked To Serve My Country, to Serve My Race as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Eileen A. Bjorkman

Author

This book represents another facet of military women, those with a double whammy: Black women. This was especially a problem during WWII, when the army still practiced segregation and initially prohibited Black women from serving overseas, unlike their white counterparts.

After pressure from groups such as the NAACP and intervention by President Roosevelt, the army formed the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion as an all-Black Women’s Army Corps unit. About 850 women served in the 6888th, which was stationed in the UK and France from January 1945 until March 1946. The unit was responsible for routing mail…

From Eileen's list on The best books about hidden histories of women in the military.