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"Willing to Die Fighting for Our Rights:" The Chronicle of the 34th Naval Construction Battalion.

  • Published In: Journal of Military History, 2026, v. 90, n. 2. P. 370 1 of 3

  • Database: Academic Search Ultimate 2 of 3

  • Authored By: Blazich Jr., Frank A. 3 of 3

Abstract

During World War II, the United States Navy permitted Blacks to serve outside of the messman branch, notably in the new Naval Construction Force, or Seabees. The 34th Naval Construction Battalion was the first Black Seabee unit and served twenty-one months in the Pacific. Discriminatory policies of the navy's Bureau of Yards and Docks drove the Black Seabees to work with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the Black press to seek redress. The battalion staged a hunger strike that brought the discrimination to the attention of the highest levels of navy leadership. Rather than disband the unit, the Navy implemented changes to address the issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Additional Information

  • Source:Journal of Military History. 2026/04, Vol. 90, Issue 2, p370
  • Document Type:Article
  • Subject Area:Military History and Science
  • Publication Date:2026
  • ISSN:0899-3718
  • Accession Number:192454918
  • Copyright Statement:Copyright of Journal of Military History is the property of Society for Military History and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

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