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Prospective African-American stevedores pose for a photograph while loading cargo, Fort Indiantown Gap Military Reservation, Fort Indiantown Gap, PA, circa 1942.
flipFlip to "Land ships" SS Manda and the SS Swatara (in the background), Fort Indiantown Gap Training Center, circa 1942.
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Prospective African American stevedores of the Port Battalions gain hands-on experience by drilling on "land-ships," full-scale mock-ups of cargo vessels.

Credit: Courtesy of the Pennsylvania State Archives

During World War II, the U.S. military remained segregated and most African-American servicemen were consigned to work in support of men in action. At Fort Indiantown Gap, the Army provided black stevedores in the Port Battalions hands-on experience by drilling on full-scale mock-ups of cargo vessels called "land-ships."

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