"Whenever one of us got a command in World War II, it was because they ran out of white guys to command the units." (Audio interview, Part 4, 23:50)

Isaiah A. McCoy, Jr.

War: World War II, 1939-1946; Korean War, 1950-1955 Branch: Army Unit: 93rd Infantry Division Service Location: United States; Pacific Theater; also: Korea Rank: Colonel; Colonel Place of Birth: Norwalk, CT

Drafted six months before the attack on Pearl Harbor, Isaiah McCoy was determined not to allow racism impede his ambitions to become an Army officer. He had grown up in Connecticut and was shocked at how casual and institutionalized prejudice was in the many bases in the South. A second stint in the Army took him to Korea for that war, and he found conditions for black soldiers had improved remarkably. Although he fell short of his ambition to become a general, McCoy is happy to have paved the way for other members of his race to aspire to that goal.