Page:John Banks Wilson - Maneuver and Firepower (1998).djvu/271

 THE KOREAN WAR AND ITS AFTERMATH squadron the tables provided for the new M41 light tank, nicknamed the "Walker Bulldog" for General Walker, who had been killed in a jeep accident in Korea. In all, the armored division fielded 343 tanks.

The divisions deployed in Korea, Japan, and Germany usually adopted changes shortly after they were announced, in contrast to those in the United States. The latter, except for the 82d Airborne Division, served in a training capacity, mostly providing replacements for the overseas forces. As noted, training centers failed to meet the demand for replacements, but the political decision to limit mobilization precluded expanding the existing training centers or opening others, forcing the Army to use combat divisions to perform that function.

The Korean War brought about a major social change that touched all units throughout the Army. The Army had maintained all-black units since the Civil War, but military efficiency tests showed that blacks fought and performed better in integrated units than in segregated ones. Also, post-World War II social attitudes increased the demand for integration. In 1948 President Truman had directed desegregation of the armed forces, but the Army was slow, as were the other services, to respond. By May 1951, however, 61 percent of the line infantry companies in Korea had both white and black soldiers because little consideration was given to replacement by race. On 1 July of that year the Army authorized the new Far East commander, General Matthew B. Ridgway (Truman had relieved MacArthur the previous April) to integrate all units under his control, except for the 40th and 45th Infantry Divisions. These units, which had recently arrived from the United States, were exempt from the order because they were National Guard organizations. The Army feared political repercussions from the states if their units were racially mixed. Nevertheless, despite the initial hesitation, the 40th and 45th were integrated shortly after they entered combat in Korea.

The Far East Command usually integrated units through normal administrative processes. For example, the 3d Battalion, 9th Infantry, and the 3d Battalion, 15th Infantry, elements of the 2d and 3d Infantry Divisions that had been filled with black soldiers, were desegregated by simply reassigning them. The 25th Infantry Division had the 24th Infantry, the only all-black regiment in the Regular