During WWII many (white) Hollywood stars and celebrities served their country by joining the armed forces and fighting in frontline combat positions, such as Clark Gable and Cary Grant IIRC who served as 8th AF bomber crewmen. However, black celebrities such as Joe Louis and Jesse Owens AFAIK,altho they joined too, weren't given the opportunity to actually see combat, much as was the case with the majority of black servicemen: IIRC black entertainers in the armed forces were employed mainly in public relations morale-boosting rear-area work, building on their celebrity status to cement support for the war. There was of course Jackie Robinson, who served with the 761st BLACK PANTHERS Tank Bn ad was infamously courtmartialled atFort Sam Houston for violating Jim Crow orders, but he only became famous as a baseball star in 1947. But WI say Joe Louis had been able to serve in combat with the 92nd Div in Italy, or Jesse Owens became a Tuskegee airman escorting white bomber crews over occupied Europe ? Would the presence of black entertainers in frontline combat positions have heightened wider America's knowledge and appreciation of the contribution of African-Americans to the war effort? What sorta effects might've been felt post-war ?