When World War II Began black men in the US Navy were relegated to menial tasks, allowed only as cooks and cleaners. A relentless civil rights campaign forced the Navy in 1942 to reconsider a black man's role, but it would take another two years before the Navy allowed black officers. The story of the thirteen courageous men who broke that color barrier has too often been overlooked. Using oral histories, contemporary news accounts, personnel records, archival material, and original interviews with surviving family members, Dan Goldberg brings these thirteen forgotten heroes away from the margins of history and into the spotlight. Book jacket.