The courageous story of the 13 black men who integrated the officer corps of the United States Navy -serving as forerunners of the civil rights movement and shaping the future of the military.
Dan Goldberg restores these forgotten heroes as major influential figures whose actions not only paved the way for an integrated military, but also set the stage for integration across America: soon, black men would integrate baseball and black children would integrate schools. Despite the immense challenges they faced, The Golden Thirteen persisted - understanding the power of desegregation, the opportunities for black Americans if they succeeded, and the consequences if they failed.
Goldberg brings to light the opposition these men faced in becoming officers, including racist pseudo-science, regional prejudices, verbal abuse, and violence. They trained harder than they ever had in their lives, and ultimately passed their exams with the highest average of any class in Navy history. In March 1944, these sailors were commissioned officers in the United States Navy; the first black men to wear the gold stripes. However, the official executive order to desegregate the military did not come until 1948 - for four years, these men continued to endure daily humiliation even as officers: white men refused to salute them, refused to eat at their table, and refused to accept that black men could be superior to them in rank. These thirteen men, each from vastly different backgrounds, banded together - never losing sight of how their lives could shape history.
Through previously unpublished oral histories and original interviews with surviving family members, Goldberg brings these forgotten heroes away from the margins of history and into the spotlight.
