“’We don’t need cooks in Korea; we need soldiers. So we’re going to give you a choice of carrying a machine gun or a radio.’” (Video Interview, 11:39)

Walter Dowdy, Jr.

Walter Dowdy [2004] War: Korean War, 1950-1953 Branch: Army Unit: Company D, 24th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division Service Location: Fort Riley and Fort Leavenworth, Kansas; Camp Stoneman, California; Camp Gifu, Japan; Korea Rank: Corporal Place of Birth: AR

Walter Dowdy’s military career was marked by frustration. He enlisted in 1948 out of high school, passed a test to enter Officer Candidate School but was instead shipped off to Japan in early 1950. He finally received orders to report to OCS back in the U.S. in September, but the Korean War broke out and the Army assigned him to a combat unit. Dowdy was surprised to find that it was an all-black unit, as he had served in Japan under white officers. In July 1950, he was hit in the face with shrapnel; among his hospital visitors in Japan was General Douglas MacArthur. His military career ended in 1951, but Dowdy was a success as an educational administrator, despite encountering obstacles because of his race and his disability.