Joe Louis: From Boxing Gloves to Combat Boots | The National WWII Museum | New Orleans

On October 1, 1945, World Heavyweight Boxing Champion Joe Louis was discharged from US Army after being awarded the Legion of Merit, an extremely rare event for an enlisted soldier. An excerpt from the article:

"Despite his reserved personality, Louis appeared in several films during the war, including Irving Berlin’s This is the Army and The Negro Soldier. Made with the hope of soothing growing racial tensions in the United States, Louis was a central feature in the latter film. Highlighting his fight with Schmeling in 1938, it played up the war as a continuation of the fight between the two. Produced by Frank Capra, The Negro Soldier portrayed African Americans in a way rarely seen at the time, as patriotic and thoughtful and with more personal depth than most contemporary portrayals of African Americans. An army film, it challenged segregation in the army and in America. Louis was once again a champion for his people, and his country.

If America had liked Louis before the war, they loved him in 1945. Awarded the Legion of Merit, the citation read in part, “Staff Sergeant Barrow has entertained two million soldiers by frequent boxing exhibitions which entailed considerable risk to his boxing future as the champion heavyweight of the world, but he willing volunteered such action rather than disappoint the soldiers who desired to see him in the ring.” Louis was discharged in 1945, a hero to many, and ready to maintain his heavyweight title, which he did until his retirement in 1949. He returned for a few matches, but lost his final match to fellow army veteran Rocky Marciano. The Brown Bomber retired for good, but remains one of American’s most beloved boxers, a people’s champion in hard times, and an example of a generation that rose up."