The U.S. Army established its first training camp for Black officers in Des Moines, Iowa. This historic move came amid mounting pressure from African American leaders and communities demanding the right to serve in leadership roles during World War I. The Des Moines camp trained over 1,000 Black men, commissioning 639 as officers—the first large group of African Americans to achieve such status in the U.S. military. Their success marked a significant step forward in the fight for racial equality in the armed forces.
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