It seemed only proper that the Armored Force should honor its first casualty of World War II. So a ceremony was arranged at Fort Knox, to name the main parade ground Brooks Field after Private Robert Brooks, killed in action near Fort Stotsenberg in the Philippines. Armored Force public-relations officers telephoned to the Mayor of Sadieville, Ky., Brooks's hometown, to ask him to invite the soldier's mother and father to the ceremony. Gladly, said the Mayor. But was the Army aware that Brooks's parents were Negro sharecroppers?
Sure enough, Private Brooks was discovered to have been a light-skinned Negro. The Army's face...
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