An Army Afire Audiobook Libro.fm

By the late 1960s what had been widely heralded as the best qualified besttrained army in United States history was descending into crisis as the Vietnam War raged without end Morale was tanking AWOL rates were rising And in August 1968 a group of Black soldiers seized control of the infamous Long Binh Jail burned buildings and beat a white inmate to death with a shovel The days of same mud same blood were over and a new generation of Black GIs had decisively rejected the slights and institutional racism their forefathers had endured

As Black and white soldiers fought in barracks and bars with violence spilling into surrounding towns within the United States and in West Germany Vietnam South Korea and Japan army leaders grew convinced that the growing racial crisis undermined the armys ability to defend the nation Acclaimed military historian Beth Bailey shows how the United States Army tried to solve that racial crisis in army terms the problem of race Army leaders were surprisingly creative in confronting demands for racial justice even willing to challenge fundamental army principles of discipline order hierarchy and authority Bailey traces a frustrating yet fascinating story as a massive conservative institution came to terms with demands for change