From the New York Times of August 8, 1948:

The problem of race relationships has been a problem of this nation for a century and a half, and it is likely to be a problem for decades to come. It cannot be solved quickly; it will require the patient good will of many generations. It cannot be solved by fanatic mouthings of either race or by pressure politics; least of all can the Army solve it.

Above all, the Army must remain the Army. Its goal must be efficiency and high morale and any steps needed to attain those twin objectives must be taken. It would be fully as unwise to require by law or edict a general compulsory intermingling of the races in all tactical units as it would be to require by law or edict, as once was done, complete segregation by divisional or regimental units.

The article was written by Hanson Baldwin, the long-time military reporter for the New York Times. Baldwin was a Naval Academy graduate and won a Pulitzer for his reporting in World War II. He had strong connections within the military, which gave him access to stories he might not otherwise have gotten. In return, as the Times obituary put it in 1991:

His articles, many marked “military analysis,” were often more than reportorial, blending his own opinions and those of the nation’s military chiefs into the news of specific military situations, so that what emerged was a broader view of strategic considerations and their national and international political implications.

This was either Baldwin repeating the military’s position for them, in such a way that they could deny it, or the writing of someone so close to them that the difference was quite small.

Why am I exploring this? No reason, no reason at all.