The families of the men unwillingly recruited into Project Super-Soldier are informed their loved ones were killed in an explosion….
At the Project site, white soldiers are incredulous when Reinstein claims that there is no difference between white and Negro blood….
A test subject is injected with the serum; in minutes his body bulks up, transforming him into a muscular marvel. Seconds later, his body explodes. Result: a decreased dosage for the next subject. A muscle-bound Private Larsen is the first subject to survive the tests, surprising his bunkmates….
As the families mourn their dead, Faith Bradley demands to see her husband’s body in the casket; the experiments continue, resulting in a handful of Negro super-soldiers: Isaiah Bradley, Lucas Elias, Maurice Canfield, Larsen, and Jack, the five men being the only survivors of the three hundred test subjects. They are shipped overseas, hidden in the hold from the white soldiers and crew….
In Philadelphia, Maurice’s father, distraught over the loss of his only son, murders his wife then takes his own life….
In the ships’ hold, as they wait for a doctor to see to a gravely ill Jack, Elias tells them of the greatest battle he fought: July 19, 1919—in Washington D.C. during Red Summer. In the wake of the rape of a white woman, white soldiers went on a rampage lynching black men; the police and the President did nothing to stop them. So the black citizens banded together and defended themselves, killing enough whites so that the lynchings ended for a while. One of the guys interrupts to tell them Jack is dead….