Love, war, and the 96th Engineers (Colored)

de Hyman Samuelson, Gwendolyn Midlo Hall

War throws people together and tears people apart, and that is the stuff of stories. This unusual and true story is that of a young, white, southern, Jewish officer in charge of African American troops in New Guinea during World War II. Hyman Samuelson's diaries and letters give us unprecedented insights into race relations during the war in a segregated labor battalion and into the important but unsung role of the noncombatant engineers. In addition to this unique perspective on military history, Love, War, and the 96th Engineers (Colored) is a moving tale of personal sacrifice during difficult times. Although military personnel were not allowed to keep diaries during the war, and correspondence was censored, Samuelson - an excellent writer and keen observer - kept his diary regularly. In addition to revelations about military bureaucracy, the morale of enlisted men and officers, attitudes toward the Japanese, and all-too-human accounts of tropical diseases, relations between officers and nurses, and drinking and sexual deprivation, a poignant - and ultimately tragic - love story between the young officer and his stateside wife shines from these pages.