This war (1950–53) ignited when USSR- and China-supported North Korea invaded South Korea. An UN resolution formed a twenty-one-nation coalition, South Korea joining, to repel the North under US command. The death toll approximated 1.2 million on all sides, including 54,000 Americans.

The United States assigned black soldiers to desegregated units. The move had begun in draftee training programs (1950) and gradually moved to combat operations. The army also received the vast majority of African American drafted and enlisted men. Army field commanders incurring manpower shortages, therefore, tended to assign more and more blacks to racially mixed platoons or squads. Their fatality rate thus doubled that of whites. Even so, morale elevated among black personnel as desegregation gained traction. By 1951 officials reported the integration of black and white troops in the Far East. More than 90 percent of all black soldiers served in newly integrated companies, battalions, and regiments in 1953.