Winter of Discontent

After initial success, the 92nd had several failures in combat. Almond launched Operation FOURTH TERM with attacks along the Ligurian coast at the Cinquale Canal, and in the Serchio Valley where the units reportedly “melted away” under pressure for the GermansGeneral Marshall had given Almond the 92nd because he believed Almond could make black troops succeed if anyone could, but no one in the white Army leadership believed black units capable of success. Almond had lived by the adage that “units don’t fail, leaders do,” but he seemed to forget this following his division’s poor showing in February 1945. He insisted until his death that his black infantry had failed despite good leadership, but privately his role in the failure continued to trouble him and feed his insecurity. He would nurse that wound for the rest of his life, and it made his declarations on race increasingly vehement.