Once again Tink Hill brought most significant history to us. On July 28, 1948, President Harry S. Truman signed Executive Orders 9980 and 9981 which integrated the US Federal Government and the US Military, respectively. It changed America! Truman was a simple man who never expected to be President. Truman’s grandparents owned slaves, his parents were conservative, he was raised in Missouri amid a community which believed in segregation. But then were several incidents that influenced Truman the man. In October 1919, he was with the US Army in a difficult position; the Germans were pressuring them, men were frightened and about to flee when they heard gospel singing from a black unit nearby and saw one of their men rush into the battle zone to rescue an injured white soldier. He received two bullets in his leg but went back to get a second white soldier. Truman never forgot that incident. Then in 1924, he was invited to join the KKK, attended one meeting and refused membership. In 1948, he was inspired by the stand A. Philip Randolph, founder and president of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, took on behalf of the rights of blacks to participate in labor negotiations. Additionally, Truman knew of the plight of Isaac Woodard, a World War II veteran, who asked a bus driver to use a restroom at the next stop. At the stop, he was dragged from the bus and beaten so severely he lost his sight in both eyes. And, of course, there was pressure from Eleanor Roosevelt, black media, and civil rights activities. Advice from the military and its great WWII generals were pulling the other direction, and Strom Thurmond actually started a third political party. Truman's advisors also were against signing the orders. Four months before the general election and with an approval rating of 36%, it would be political suicide. His three choices? He could just ignore it and let the order die. He could send it to Congress, where it would die. He could sign it. So, there sat Truman, a man of his times, head and heart filled with the above and surely many more incidents, experiences, and bits of advice and pressured to act. Truman signed Executive Orders 9980 and 9981 and our American history was changed. The US Air Force and US Navy integrated right away, It took a while for the US Army, but during the Korean War, field commanders learned that integrated units won and segregated units lost and so they came around and integrated. The atmosphere in the country was such that in 1954, the Brown vs. Board of Education ruling was possible.