![]() ![]() ![]() The four regiments of the Ninety-third were in fact assigned to the French army becoming the only American units completely integrated into a foreign army they wore French uniforms and used French weapons. ![]() Only the newly formed Ninety-third Division, composed of national guard units from several states and one regiment of draftees, and the Ninety-second Division, composed solely of draftees, saw combat in France. It was assumed that blacks were less capable of combat duty than whites, so in order to minimize the number of black combat troops, the four standing black regiments (Twenty- fourth and Twenty-fifth Infantry Ninth and Tenth Calvary) all in existence by 1870, were assigned stateside during the war. ![]() Blacks, for example, were excluded outright from the marines and army aviation corps and were restricted to serving as messmen (for example cooks and stewards) in the navy. Racial discrimination pervaded the experience of black World War I servicemen. In combat engagement 750 African Americans were killed and 5,000 wounded. Approximately 200,000 black soldiers saw service in Europe 38,000 served as combat troops, while the rest performed backbreaking chores in labor and stevedore battalions. African Americans were very much a part of the effort, in the words of President Woodrow Wilson, “to make the world safe for democracy.” Indeed, between the American entry in World War I (April 1917) and the war’s end (November 1918), roughly 386,000 blacks served in the nation’s armed forces (380,000 in the army, 6,000 in the navy), making up about 10 percent of the total wartime American servicemen population. ![]()
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