The Vietnam War saw the highest proportion of African-Americans ever to serve in an American war. There was a marked turnaround from the attitude in previous wars that black men were not fit for ...

To add to the difficulties, most of the men lacked much experience handling heavy machinery. On October 25, 1942, an African American soldier and a white bulldozer-driving soldier shook hands ...

over a million African American men joined the US military. Many more worked in factories at home to support the war effort. The African American community hoped that the Jim Crow laws and the ...