[The Wizard]

"with a Negro by my side. Rather I should die 1000 times, and see Old Glory trampled in the dirt never to rise again, than to see this beloved land of ours become degraded by race mongrels, a throwback to the blackest specimen from the wilds."

how come I don't hear this on TV news?????(right)

[aristeides]

That quote presumably explains why Byrd -- who was in his twenties -- took care to avoid military service in WWII. Strom Thurmond, on the other hand, who was in his 40's, joined the Army and was the oldest paratrooper to land in Normandy on D-Day (although, be it said, he landed in a glider).