Initially, when African-Americans volunteered or were drafted, they were assigned to segregated divisions and often given combat support roles, such as cooks, quartermasters, or grave diggers.

Later, African-Americans in the Air Force were thought to be unfit for battle.

Through hard work, the Tuskegee Airmen became the best fighter pilots and protected their bombers with a 100% success rate every time they were in battle.

African-Americans made great strides and started achieving dedicated roles such as Sailors and Navy Officers. The African-Americans of the navy scored the highest in the officer's history class with a 4.0.

Also 6500 African American Women served in WWII during the three years of the WAC program. This program allowed the African American women to serve overseas for the war.

Paul Bland broke the racial barrier by taking pictures in the war. He was a 19-year-old private in the US Army. The pictures he took are now in many museums.