Donaldson LeTrice D. - Duty Beyond the Battlefield

Edgar Guest wrote a poem titled It Couldnt Be Done. I routinely read and recited this poem throughout the process of working on this manuscript because it inspired me to complete it. However, I know that I could not have finished if not for the community of friends and family surrounding me. It takes a village to help make a book possible, because writing is truly a community effort. This book is no exception. Ive benefited from the support and guidance of some of the most amazing scholars.

The inspiration for this work came from a question I could not shake after reading Kristen L. Hogansons Fighting for American Manhood: How Gender Politics Provoked the Spanish-American and Philippine-American Wars while I was a masters student at the University of TennesseeKnoxville: How did African American soldiers construct their masculine identity? The more I researched the question, the more I became intrigued by the lack of scholarly sources that could answer it. With the help of Cynthia Griggs-Fleming, I began my journey into the world of African American military and gender history.

The person most responsible for my becoming a scholar and historian is my mother, Sherran Miller. From a young age, she encouraged my love of reading history and researching. My first research project in elementary school was on the presidency of John F. Kennedy. Shed take me to the library almost every weekend and listen attentively as Id rattle on about my project. She enrolled my brother and me in a college prep TRIO program, Upward Bound, at Alabama A&M. Between her and my stepfather, Calvin Miller, they made sure I made every Saturday class, which paved the way for my studies at the University of TennesseeKnoxville. There, I became a Ronald McNair Post-baccalaureate Achievement Scholar, thus launching my career as a historian.

Funding for this project was initially made possible by the history departments of the University of Memphis and York College/CUNY; the African American studies program at the University of Mississippi; and the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

When I think about my academic mentors, the first person who comes to mind is my academic father, George White Jr. When reflecting on all our conversations and his words of encouragement, I cannot help but become overwhelmed with emotion. George always provided me with support, guidance, and feedback. There are no words that can express how grateful I am for him and his family, who have been my oasis during this long academic journey. I will never be able to truly repay George for all of his pep talks. I am thankful he adopted me!

Margaret Caffrey provided constant support, help, and guidance while serving as my unofficial editor and making me go beyond my comfort zone. Michael L. Warren II designed the amazing cover art for Duty beyond the Battlefield and allowed me to drag him along on my various research trips. And I could not have completed this project without the support of my amazing editor Sylvia Frank Rodrigue.

Earnestine Jenkinss research served as inspiration for this book. She shared her family history and helped me look at records and accounts from nontraditional sources. Stephen Stein provided valuable advice about how to navigate the world of military history.

We do not get to choose the family we are born into, but we do get to choose the extended kinships we sustain throughout our lives. Sheena Harris is my best friend and sister-scholar. We wrote this book together, and I know I would not have made it through this process without her. She encouraged me to be brave, fierce, and disciplined. Meredith Baker is one of the most thoughtful, caring, and giving persons Ive ever met. Im thankful for her friendship and for the way she proofread portions of this manuscript. The relationships I forged while a doctoral student at the University of Memphis saved my life. Christina Davis, Daleah Goodwin, K. T. Ewing, Armanthia Duncan, and Shirletta Kinchen made up an amazing support system and were always encouraging. Other fellow scholars in the struggle who deserve my thanks were James Conway, Jack Lorenzini, Troy Hassall, Jeff Jones, Reginald Ellis, Darius Young, Amanda Lee Keikialoha Savage, and Ashley Fair.

My research would not have gone as smoothly if I had not benefited from the support and help of the archivists and librarians at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, the University of Memphis Libraryand Special Collections, the Library of Congress, the University of Utah Special Collections, the Moorland-Spingarn Research Center at Howard University, the National Archives, the University of TennesseeKnoxville Special Collections at Hopkins Library, the U.S. Military Academy, the U.S. Army Military History Institute, the Nebraska Historical Society, the State Archives of North Carolina, Marist College, and the Buffalo Soldiers Museum in Houston.

I am grateful to my family and friends, especially Nina Archie, Maurice Iwunze, Nadiah and Nabila Khalid, and cousins Victoria Franklin and Jacqueline Kinloch, for opening their homes to me while on my research trips. I loved bouncing my historical ideas off the scientific mind of my brilliant niece Daphne Goeway. My best friend, Chiquita Ester, with whom Ive been through so much, has always been supportive and a tower of strength.

Andre Johnson organized the writing accountability group that served as a wonderful support system to help me finish this manuscript. The group was a great sounding board for ideas and provided honest feedback, helping make this a better book. Additionally, for all the advice and encouragement at times during this project when I needed it the most, I want to give a special thanks to Jennifer Williams, William Mulligan, John Morrow Jr., Shirley Joiner, Chad Williams, Derrick Lanois, Ava Purkiss, Shennette Garrett-Scott, Michelle Scott-Hillman, Deirdre Cooper-Owens, Amanda Nell Edgar, Ethel Scurlock, Shannon Eaves, Dionne Bailey, LaShawn Harris, Keisha Blain, Erin Chapman, Jennifer Ransom, Daniel Franke, Vanessa Grande, Karen Jackett, Daryl Scott, Patrick Alexander, Brigitte Billeaudeaux, Tonya Thames Taylor, Charles Ross, Karen Bradley, Naina Shahzadi, Charisse Burden-Stelly, Micki Kaufman, Cherisse Jones-Branch, Maggie Yancey, Mark Stout, Gregory Mixon, and Arwin Smallwood. Im also grateful to W. Chris Johnson, Jayanni Webster, Dana Asbury, Courtney White, Tyron Sanders, and Jeffrey Lichtenstein for their feedback, proofreading, love, and support.

I would like to thank God, through whom all things are possible. Reverend Donald and Ms. Carolyn Ester of New Bethel Missionary Baptist Church gave me a home for the holidays and a spiritual center. Dion, Leo, Anton, and Lerone are the four best brothers a girl could ever ask for; they were each there for me with a kind and supportive word during this process. Lastly, I thank the outside readers of my manuscript for all of their suggestions and edits.