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When African American servicemen went to fight in the Vietnam War, discrimination and prejudice followed them. Even in a faraway country, their military experiences were shaped by the racial environment of the home front. War is often viewed as a crucible that can transform society, but American race relations proved remarkably durable.  

In Race in the Crucible of War, Gerald F. Goodwin examines how Black servicemen experienced and interpreted racial issues during their time in Vietnam. Drawing on more than fifty new oral interviews and significant archival research, as well as newspapers, periodicals, memoirs, and documentaries, Goodwin reveals that for many African Americans the front line and the home front were two sides of the same coin. Serving during the same period as the civil rights movement and the race riots in Chicago, Detroit, and dozens of other American cities, these men increasingly connected the racism that they encountered in the barracks and on the battlefields with the tensions and violence that were simmering back home.

The history of WWII’s most battle-tested US Army division and its crucial role in achieving Allied victory in the Pacific

Red Arrow across the Pacific reveals the long-overdue story of the renowned Thirty-Second "Red Arrow" Infantry Division. Discover how this National Guard unit—which originated in Wisconsin and Michigan but soon evolved to include soldiers from California to New England—became one of the first US military units deployed overseas in World War II, eventually logging more combat hours than any other US Army division. 

Far more than a traditional battle narrative, Red Arrow across the Pacific offers a cultural history of the Red Arrow's wartime experience, from its mobilization in 1940, to its deployment across New Guinea, Australia, and the Philippines, to its postwar occupation of Japan. Drawing from letters, memoirs, and interviews, author Mark D. Van Ells lets the soldiers speak for themselves, describing in their own words the terror of combat, their impressions of foreign lands, the struggle to maintain their own humanity, and the many ways the war profoundly changed them.

Nuanced and remarkably thorough, this book explores the dramatic evolution of the Thirty-Second Infantry Division and reveals how the story of the Red Arrow reflects the experience of the US military during World War II.

“Exceptionally well researched and engagingly written. This book is a must read for any student of military history.”
—Capt. Florian L. Waitl, Command Historian, Wisconsin Army National Guard

“A superb divisional history. . . . Highly recommended for a general audience, as well as readers interested in the Second World War.”
—Mary Louise Roberts, Lucie Aubrac Distinguished Professor Emerita of History, University of Wisconsin–Madison, and author of Sheer Misery: Soldiers in Battle in WWII