During the Civil War, a black man could escape to freedom if only he could reach one of the ships blockading the port.  Instantly he was free, and the latest US Navy recruit.

Soon after the war, many military associations formed, among them the Discharged Union Soldier's Association, whose purpose was to assist local and state veterans.

New military companies were popular, too, patterned after the many companies in existence since Colonial times, and many whites were concerned.  They drilled routinely, competed in military exercises, acted as social clubs for their members and marched in parades.  The marching was enjoyable for the members and served to remind the citizenry of the strength of black community.

When war was declared against Spain in 1898, North Carolina black soldiers were among the first to volunteer, and in 1917 with war declared against Germany, once more Wilmington's blacks volunteered - of the first 2,692 enrolled in the selective draft, 1,205 were black men.

Three million black men registered for service with the outbreak of WWII, and at first were assigned to the usual jobs that historically had been performed by blacks, but that was soon to change.

Toward the end of the war even Hitler's 'master race' was jolted when the 92nd American Division stopped the Nazis dead in their tracks in Italy.

At home, the Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Company built Liberty ships here, and the North Carolina Shipbuilding Company employed large numbers of blacks at their yard.

The S.S. John Merrick, a 10,500 ton Liberty ship was built here and named in honor of the 7,000 black employees after the founder of the North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company - at the time the largest black owned and operated enterprise in the world.

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