Thousands of Black men signed up to fight for the U.S. during World War II. This book tells the story of three of them: Benny, Lee, and Roscoe. Light-skinned Benny is accidentally enlisted as a white man in the segregated army, where he gets treated better than his lifelong friends, but also lives in fear that he'll be discovered. Lee was a troubled teen in a secret relationship with Benny's sister Cora and has enlisted to prove to her family that he's worthy of her. Their friend Roscoe enlists, and in order to ensure her security after the war, Roscoe marries Cora, despite neither of them wanting the marriage. The book follows all three men through their different experiences during the war, and afterward, as they try to rebuild their lives, with varying degrees of success.
Benny, Lee, and Roscoe each have a very different WWII experience, and the combination of all three paints a vivid portrait of the way that Black soldiers were mistreated during and after the war. Throw in Cora and her female friends' experiences, and it's almost as if Huf was determined to show the full spectrum of the injustices inflicted upon Black Americans during that era. While I appreciate her aim and definitely think that it needs to be talked about more, part of me feels like this would be a stronger book if it had a bit more focus on just one or two of the main characters. As written, it wasn't always easy to distinguish the three male main characters until quite a way into the book. Still, a worthwhile read, especially in such a racially divided city as St. Louis.
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