Jackie Robinson left UCLA after two years without getting a degree.
He believed that no amount of education would help an African American get a job. He also wanted to earn money to help his mother. He became an assistant athletic director at a camp run by the National Youth Administration (NYA). Then all the NYA projects were shut down. Jackie’s next job was playing football with the Honolulu Bears. He played one season with the team. He was going back to California when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, which caused the U.S. to enter World War II.

◀ Robinson was drafted into the army in 1942 and sent to Fort Riley, Kansas. He was put into a cavalry unit, in which some soldiers rode horses. Others operated tanks. After basic training, Robinson applied to Officers Candidate School (OCS). He and some other African Americans passed all the tests, but they weren’t allowed to start OCS. He also couldn’t play any sports at the base. Some white players didn’t want him on a team.

▲ At Fort Riley, Robinson met heavyweight boxing champion Joe Louis, who had volunteered to serve his country. Louis and Robinson became good friends. One story says that Louis helped Robinson and the other African Americans get into OCS. Whether that’s true or not, after three months of waiting, the men started school. In 1943, Jackie Robinson graduated OCS. He became a second lieutenant.

◀ While in the army, Robinson went back to California whenever he could to see Rachel Isum. She was still a nursing student at UCLA. After he became a second lieutenant, they announced their engagement.

▲ Robinson was transferred to Fort Hood, Texas. On July 6, 1944, a white driver told him to move to the back of an army bus. Robinson knew that the army had just banned segregated buses on its bases, so he refused to move. When the driver called the military police, Robinson stood up for his rights. He was accused of being disrespectful. Then he was court-martialed (given a military trial). In the end, the charges against him were dropped, and the army gave him an honorable discharge.

◀ In the army, Robinson had met a man who played baseball for a Negro league team called the Kansas City Monarchs, and he talked Robinson into trying out for the team. In 1945, the Monarchs signed Robinson. Some of the best players in the leagues were his teammates. One of them was Satchel Paige.
Robinson was happy to be playing baseball again, and the pay wasn’t bad. Still, there were a lot of things he didn’t like. Teams traveled a lot, and it wasn’t easy to find hotels and restaurants where African Americans could stay. Also, the teams didn’t play on the West Coast, and he missed Rachel. ▶


▲ In 1945, Boston threatened to enforce a law. It said the city’s pro baseball teams couldn’t play on Sundays if they didn’t add African American players. So the Boston Red Sox asked Jackie Robinson and two other Negro league players to try out. They all performed well, especially Robinson. However, the men knew they wouldn’t be asked to join the team.