To Serve My County, To Serve My Race is a result of my longtime interest in the subject of African American Women who served in the military during World War II.I recognized the experiences these women shared were different from those shared by the African American men and/or Euro-American women and men. While completing my research at the National Archives in Washington, DC and Rutgers University, I noticed the glaring absence of African American military women from all of the major studies. It was as though these women did not exist. There has been a long need for a systematic study or documentary of African American women's role in national defense. Although a couple of books and a few articles have been written on this topic, reseacrh on black women's contributions in military remains very limited.

The purpose of this documentary is to examine the consequences or changes in race and gender policies for the status of African American women in the military during World War II. This is a logical period to study because it marked a significant turning point for African American women in the U.S. Armed Services.

During this era, opportunities for women in the military expanded, such as; what social, political and organizational factors influenced change in racial and gender policies in the military during World War II; what were the unique factors associated with being African American women in the Armed Services at that time and how did this experience effect their lives. These and other questions will be discussed, at length, in this documentary. I am deeply indebted to the former members of the 688th Central Postal Directory Battalion for their willingness to be interviewed. I am sincerely grateful to Gladys Carter, Mary Copeland, Estelle Terry, Janice Taylor, Queen Esther Woods and Martha Putney for all their contributions made to this documentary. They were generous with their time, and in some cases, shared their treasured scrapbooks containing photographs, official military documents with raised seals and written memoirs. Lawrence E. Walker Filmmaker

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