Brown Sky

"... the army got its own rules of logic.Once the rules is set , they's set in concrete . It do not matter if them rules say the sky is brown . It don't matter worth a damn what yo eyes be tellin' you ...." With these words , Negro Sgt. Wilderness Jones introduces Negro 2nd Lt. Stephen Wenders to the reality of the U.S. Army , circa World War II , thus opening the b ook on the exploits of one of the most unique military outfits in American fiction- the Third Platoon of Company C of the 4748th Quarter -master Truck Battalion, headquartered at Camp Robinson, Arkansas . Unlike most Negro soldiers of World War II - whether of the real of fictional variety - men of the Third Platoon do not accept the illogic and idiocy of the Brown Sky philosophy . Instead , under the leadership of Stephen and Wilderness , the Third Platoon subverts segregation , disrupts army maneuvers ,and faces down southern lawmen and hostile civilians.