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The article discusses political activity by African American military personnel (G.I.s) during World War II as a martial freedom movement. Topics include opposition to segregation within the U.S. Armed Forces, protest strategies used by African American G.I.s, and support from the organization National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

The article discusses the Gold Star Mother Program initiated in 1930 by the U.S. government which undertook to send roughly 6700 mothers and wives of fallen World War I soldiers to Europe. The program would arrange for travel of both white and African American women, but the women would travel on separate ships and stay in different hotels. Civil rights activists with the the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) protested the program. However, 279 black mothers and wives did travel to Europe between 1930 and 1933 and reported the trip was nothing like the NAACP predicted.

This article deals with the response of the Northern Ireland government to the presence of African American troops in the country during the Second World War, using extensive archival research at the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, The National Archives at Kew and the National Records and Archives Administration in Maryland. It examines the pressures placed upon Stormont by both Westminster and, more particularly, the American military authorities in relation to U.S. racial mores. It demonstrates that despite edicts from London and attempts by the Americans to impose racial segregation, the Northern Ireland government fashioned a response which did not endorse ' Jim Crow' racism but, instead, dealt with the problem pragmatically and thoughtfully. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A letter to the editor is presented by Michael Cullen Green, author of the book "Black Yanks in the Pacific: Race in the Making of American Military Empire after World War II," in response to a book review written by John Darrell Sherwood which appeared in the December 2011 issue. Sherwood's response is also provided.