As the US entered war in 1941, fewer than 4,000 African Americans served in the military due to all white draft boards. The NAACP anticipated change, motivating FDR to pledge the remaking of African American enlistment percentage to reflect their total population. At the war’s outset, 2.5 African American men were registered for the draft, and by 1945, 1.2 million were serving in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard ("African Americans in World War II").
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