Brutal Combat In Korea leaves Soldier with Shrapnel in Brain | Walter Dowdy, Jr.

Walter Dowdy’s military career was marked by frustration. He enlisted in 1948 out of high school, passed a test to enter Officer Candidate School but was instead shipped off to Japan in early 1950.

He finally received orders to report to OCS back in the U.S. in September, but the Korean War broke out and the Army assigned him to a combat unit. Dowdy was surprised to find that it was an all-black unit, as he had served in Japan under white officers.

On July 1950, he was hit in the face with shrapnel; among his hospital visitors in Japan was General Douglas MacArthur. His military career ended in 1951, but Dowdy was a success as an educational administrator, despite encountering obstacles because of his race and his disability.

Interview recorded on July 26, 2022
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Video Credits:
Interviewer - Greg Corombos
Director of Photography - Jon Hambacker