Quiet reflection of Veterans Day
Gregory Johnson, Beach City Perspective
Its Monday, November 11. Day two of acknowledging military service. Day one was November 10 – the Marine Corpsbirthday(249 years). I reflect on The commitment to put your life on the line in order to protect the freedoms here in the United States of America.
It is a poignant space and time because this year’s observances comes hot on the heels of a tumultuous and exceedingly stressful election cycle. No matter which side you voted for the ideals for which the military serves remain the same. This is the United States of America.
Yes I served. Without question or hesitation. My father served. So the lineage of US military service is etched in the family story for at least two generations. We served. Different generations. Dad-a generation that was marginalized by law. The US Navy was segregated in his day. He was used to that having grown up in El Campo, TX…. He was a proud member of the generation of black sailors that trained at Unit K West – the segregated barracks of US Navy training. He had to serve as a cook. Other jobs were not available to him. And yet he sailed the 7seas. Cooking, serving, rising. A life career in the US Navy.
I grew up around my dad and his friends, sea-going sailors. I watched my mom loyally be a sailors wife and a municipal professional. They were also part of a community deeply rooted and observant of the struggle for equality in America. They knew they had to do thier part in the Movement. Because as we watched our father provide exemplary service “To ‘God and Country”, they also knew they had to be a standard of black excellence that contributed to the great phrase of the day “We shall overcome”.
I am a child of the civil rights movement. The blessed hope of our parents as the community achieved civil rights (“the more things change, the more they stay the same” my mom would say). For me that meant I would enter a US military that had less biases and no segregation. A military that reflected the ideals of a nation that said “all men are created equal” or “judge by the content of character not color of skin”. Yeah. Right.
And so I served. I learned and met Montford Point Marines. Like the Navy, Black people entering into the Marine Corps in my dad’s generation were sent to Montford Point, NC, to be trained. Good enough to be Marines, not good enough to be trained alongside white Marines.
Now don’t get me wrong, I am very very proud of my service in the Marine Corps. I am also very proud of the legacy black people have laid forth in service to the nation. It is exemplary history and indelible testament to black people’s commitment to serving the nation. It is a story that must be told, amplified and acknowledged.
With this in mind and at heart. I offer a Veterans Day Salute.