African-Americans have fought in all this country's wars, and have always had to battle racism as well as the enemy; Super shows how Vietnam was a particularly bitter experience for them--made physically more dangerous by ingrained prejudice in the military, and rendered more of an inner trial by its aftermath and by the rising expectations fostered by the civil-rights movement. Despite a large cast of named participants, plus telling statistics and examples of discrimination and of heroism under fire, the book is more analytical than anecdotal, emphasizing the fact of racism over its specific manifestations. Super closes by pointing out that black veterans still suffer much higher rates of homelessness and unemployment than their white counterparts, and share a general sense that even now their contributions to the war are only beginning to be appreciated. Most useful as a source for middle- grade reports. Small selection of dark b&w photos; perfunctory bibliography; index. Another new entry in the African American Soldiers series, Kathryn Browne Pfeifer's Henry O. Flipper (ISBN: 0-8050-2351-8) covers the unhappy career of West Point's first black graduate. (Nonfiction. 10-12)
