o, SA for ASD (M&P), 3 Sep 52; both in SD
291.2.]

_Performance of Segregated Units_

Another factor leading to a change in racial policy was the
performance of segregated units in Korea. Despite "acts of heroism and
capable performance of duty" by some individuals, the famous old 24th
Infantry Regiment as a whole performed poorly. Its instability was
especially evident during the fighting on Battle Mountain in August
1950, and by September the regiment had clearly become a "weak link in
the 25th Division line," and in the Eighth Army as well.[17-26] On 9
September the division commander recommended that the regiment be
removed from combat. "It is my considered opinion," Maj. Gen. William
B. Kean told the Eighth Army commander, that the 24th Infantry has
demonstrated in combat that

it is untrustworthy and incapable of carrying out missions
expected of an Infantry Regiment. In making this statement, I am
fully cognizant of the seriousness of the charges that I am
making, and the implications involved.... The continued use of
this Regiment in combat will jeopardize the United Nations war
effort in Korea.[17-27]

[Footnote 17-26: Roy E. Appleman, _South to the
Naktong, North to the Yalu_ (Washington: Government
Printing Office, 1961), pp. 485-86. For a detailed
account of the battlefield performance of the 24th
and other segregated units, see ibid., passim.]

[Footnote 17-27: Ltr, Maj Gen W. B. Kean to CG, Eighth
Army, 9 Sep 50, sub: Combat Effectiveness of the
24th Infantry Regiment, AG 330.1 (A).]

Kean went on to spell out his charges. The regiment was unreliable (p. 437)
in combat, particularly on the defensive and at night; it abandoned
positions without warning to troops on its flanks; it wasted
equipment; it was prone to panic and hysteria; and some of its members
were guilty of malingering. The general made clear that his charges
were directed at the unit as an organization and not at individual
soldiers, but he wanted the unit removed and its men reassigned as
replacements on a percentage basis in the other units of the Eighth
Army.

General Kean also claimed to have assigned unusually able officers to
the regiment, but to no avail. In attempting to lead their men in
battle, all the unit's commanders had