Black Officer, White Army

As a child, Cynthia Rene Doss asked her father what he did each day he reported to work as a United States Army soldier. He would reply with quips she felt minimized the importance of his job, intensifying her curiosity. After receiving a copy of his military service record when he died, she begins researching the 76th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Battalion, the unit he fought with in the Korean War. When her research efforts are unsuccessful, she turns to her brother, Cyril, a retired United States Navy Master Chief Petty Officer. He sheds light on the lack of records informing her that when their father joined the service in 1947, the military was still segregated, with the contribution of what were known as "colored units" less documented. A mental switch flips inside her head. She realizes her father successfully completed his missions despite being in command of men that quite probably resented taking orders from a Black man. Excavating her father's service record as much as her own memories, Cynthia Rene Doss offers an eye-opening look at what it was like growing up as a Black "military brat" in Germany, navigating through adolescence in tumultuous 1960's America and through modern day adulthood in Southern California. After the dutiful daughter and her siblings lay their parents to rest, she is determined to pay tribute to a man who gracefully balanced the roles of both loving father and loyal soldier. Black Officer, White Army brings to life the lessons gleaned from her father, while acknowledging herself as an embodiment of his legacy.