Bert Cumby was born in Corinth, Mississippi. As an adolescent he became acquainted with Robert Church Jr., the president of Solvent Savings Bank and Trust and a member of the national board of the NAACP, who was mentoring his friend Lonnie Brisco. Cumby graduated from Fisk University and went to work as a funeral director. In the 1930s he spoke and wrote about politics; following a speech he gave to raise funds for the NAACP, the Pittsburgh Courier described him as an oratorical "wonder". In 1942 he left civilian employment and voluntarily enlisted in the United States Army. In a 1942 Detroit Free Press article, Cumby was quoted as saying his impetus for enlisting was because he "wanted to fight for a country that has done more for me than any country in the world". He was deployed to Europe and fought with the 92nd Infantry Division, seeing action in Italy as an infantry platoon leader.
Career
Military Intelligence Corps
After the war, Cumby was assigned intelligence duties and played an important role during the Korean War in the debriefing of returning American prisoners of war following Operation Big Switch. He was later called before the United States Senate to answer questions of alleged communist indoctrination of American POWs, during which he testified to the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations that roughly one-third of all American POWs had collaborated "to some degree" with their North Korean and Chinese captors, often due to thought reform overseen by officers of the Soviet Army as part of an international communist conspiracy. According to Cumby, POWs were required to attend a series of twelve classes on Marxism-Leninism, while coursework beyond the twelfth lecture was voluntary. Those prisoners who elected to continue instruction were identified as a "core" element for the alleged indoctrination regime. Cumby also testified that, based on his analysis of the curricula of the advanced courses, he had concluded that the ultimate strategic vision of the People's Republic of China was to assume China's seat in the United Nations and to establish diplomatic relations with the United States. Cumby alleged that the pre-repatriation indoctrination of American POWs was intended to create a nucleus of post-war civilians who would advocate in the United States for these objectives. Cumby was among the interrogators of Claude Batchelor. He also provided testimony for the prosecution in the trial of a former POW for collaboration; to protect his identity he appeared in court with his face concealed and was referred to only as "Mr. X". Later in his career he was an instructor at the United States Army Intelligence Center and served as head of research for the Military Intelligence Corps.
Cumby was married. With his wife, Esther, he had one biological son and also adopted an adolescent boy from Luxembourg, the adoption facilitated by the socialite and United States Ambassador to LuxembourgPerle Mesta. Esther Cumby was a high school classmate of Agatha Davis, the wife of Gen. Benjamin O. Davis Jr.; in his autobiography, Benjamin Davis described Bert Cumby as "a good friend". Esther Cumby, a third generation New Englander, was a schoolteacher by profession. Early in her career she volunteered to teach in a segregated school. According to Cumby, upon accepting the assignment, she "knew practically nothing of the separate schools for Negroes" and had volunteered "not because of any great race consciousness... but because the pay scale was more attractive".
