The Messman Chronicles--African-Americans in the U.S. Navy, 1932-1943 By: Richard E. Miller (316 pages) Reviewer: Terry Miller Overall Rating: Three Stars--Recommended. A solid effort. Richard Miller (no relation to the reviewer) has done his homework in preparing for this book with in depth research and many hours of interviews of the men who filled the Mess Attendant positions during the pre-war and early WWII periods. The Great Depression stole nearly every job along the economic food chain, starting with the lowest paid. That would have been the young black men, especially in the South. Miller shows how that plus the Navy's concerns about a probable war with Japan that would interrupt the supply of the officer-preferred Filipino mess attendants the officer corps had come to know. Racial prejudice had reached a point where the navy was no longer accepting black men as enlistees in any rating so the only African-Americans left in the Navy were those who had served in WWI and stayed on. No new black enlistments were allowed from 1922 to 1932. That year, the combination of the nation's need for jobs for black men and the lack of available recruits from the Philippines forced a change to the policy. Black men could enlist but only as mess attendants. Miller details their training and assignments, the "mutiny" on the PHILADELPHIA, and the story of Pearl Harbor hero, Doris "Dorie" Miller. This is an important, recommended work for all naval historians and for anyone interested in the obstacles facing the African-American sailor. Availability: U.S. Naval Institute Press 2062 Generals Highway Annapolis, MD 21401-6780 (800) 233-8764 #155750539X