DENVER (AP) — Racial slurs posted outside the dorm rooms of five black students at the Air Force Academy were written by one of those students, the school said Tuesday. The announcement was a jarring turn in an episode that prompted the academy’s superintendent to warn students that racists were not welcome at the school […]
Elliott Earl Williams' tragic death in an Oklahoma jail cell represents a damning indictment of the criminal justice system's treatment of not just Black men, but the mentally ill and U.S. veterans.
General Lloyd W. ‘Fig’ Newton is a retired U.S. Air Force four-star general who made history within the military branch. In 1974, General Newton became the first African-American member of the Air Force’s air demonstration squad, The Thunderbirds. Newton was born December 24, 1942 in Ridgeland, S.C. Newton’s parents enforced education in their home despite […]
This weekend in Houston, Texas, the army units known as the Buffalo Soldiers celebrated their 150th Anniversary. The Buffalo Soldiers, originally composed of former slaves and free men, were the first Black troops established during peacetime after the conclusion of the Civil War. On July 28,1866, the U.S. Army was reorganized for peacetime service a […]
Master Chief Williams Goines is officially regarded as the first African-American Navy SEAL member. Master Chief Goines achieved the feat in the early sixties, overcoming the typical racial barriers many soldiers and individuals faced during the times. Goines, a native of Lockland, Ohio, discovered his life’s path when he watched a film about Navy frogmen […]
NEW YORK (AP) — Sixteen black West Point cadets who posed with raised fists for a pre-graduation picture that sparked debates on race and proper behavior in uniform won’t be punished for the gesture, the U.S. Military Academy said Tuesday. The decision, less than two weeks before the 16 female seniors are poised to graduate, […]
Samuel L. Gravely Jr. was named the first Black admiral for the U.S. Navy on April 28, 1971. It was just one of several milestones achieved by the 38-year military veteran. Gravely was born June 4, 1922 in Richmond, Virginia, the eldest of five children. After briefly attending Virginia Union University, Gravely entered the […]
Milton Oliver, III was the first Black recipient of the National Medal of Honor by way of his actions in the Vietnam War. Oliver, just 18 at the time, saved four of his fellow soldiers from a live grenade by smothering the enemy weapon with his body. Olive was born November 7, 1946 in […]
As the official 100th anniversary of the Reserve Officer’s Training Corps approaches, military members around the nation today are celebrating the birth of a Republican senator whose law helped plant early seeds for the ROTC. Justin Smith Morrill was born on this day in 1810. It was his law, the Morrill Land-Grant Colleges Act, […]
Seventy-five years ago, a group of men made history. Those men were the Tuskegee Airmen. Today, they are being celebrated for their achievements in a ceremony at the Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site in Tuskegee, Alabama and at a VIP Reception at the Renaissance Montgomery Hotel and Spa in Montgomery, Alabama. The men, officially the […]
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — A man captured on video kicking and punching an anti-Donald Trump protester at the presidential candidate’s rally in Tucson on Saturday is a member of the Air Force. Staff Sgt. Tony Pettway, a response force leader, is assigned to the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson and was arrested on Saturday […]
Lt. Commander John W. Lee Jr. was the first Black commissioned Navy officer, achieving the historic feat on this day in 1947. The late Navy man made it his personal mission to aid other qualified Black servicemen in his branch to get the same opportunities he did. Lee was born February 13, 1924 and […]
