Cpl Vernon C. Coffey and Virgil McNeal of Kansas City, MO.

Military motorcycle and sidecar driven by Battalion Mail Corporal Virgil McNeal with Vernon C. Coffey, of Kansas City, MO., in sidecar. Taken in November, 1918.

During World War I, thousands of African American men answered their country's call and joined the armed services. Though segregation policies at the time followed them into the military, the service of African Americans during the war broke barriers and challenged the heart of racist policies in the military and beyond.