I completely misunderstood the Soldier in White from Catch-22 as a brilliant, hilarious commentary on race and was devastated to learn it wasn't intended

We learn about the Soldier in White in the very first chapter of Catch-22 as a soldier covered completely head to toe in white bandages that may or may not even contain someone inside. I guess I hallucinated somewhere that Yossarian noticed a darkened limb or something. Everyone wants to stay in the hospital away from the front... I thought the joke was that the Soldier in White was actually black. His particular ruse to stay away from the front was to completely hide his skin and strip away any way to iden