A Black Paratrooper’s First Veterans Day, and His Last

[rangerrebew]

A Black Paratrooper’s First Veterans Day, and His Last

A long struggle to remove the stigma of a questionable Army discharge comes to a close.


By Michael Wilson

    Nov. 12, 2019



On Monday, for the first time in his life, Needham Mayes was a veteran on Veterans Day.

His hospital bed was far from any parade, but the nation’s recognition of his service was no different from that of his fellow officers marching beneath flying flags. It was an honor hard fought, one that had taken the 85-year-old man’s entire adult life to arrive.

He had been a paratrooper in the Army, among the first black soldiers at Fort Bragg, N.C., after the military was desegregated. He had an exemplary record for more than two years. It all ended in a bar fight in 1955.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/12/nyregion/veterans-death-military-benefits.html

[sneakypete]

A Black Paratrooper’s First Veterans Day, and His Last

A long struggle to remove the stigma of a questionable Army discharge comes to a close.


By Michael Wilson

    Nov. 12, 2019



On Monday, for the first time in his life, Needham Mayes was a veteran on Veterans Day.

His hospital bed was far from any parade, but the nation’s recognition of his service was no different from that of his fellow officers marching beneath flying flags. It was an honor hard fought, one that had taken the 85-year-old man’s entire adult life to arrive.

He had been a paratrooper in the Army, among the first black soldiers at Fort Bragg, N.C., after the military was desegregated. He had an exemplary record for more than two years. It all ended in a bar fight in 1955.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/12/nyregion/veterans-death-military-benefits.html

"race MAY have played a part",which translated into "PC Speak" means he is innocent because he was black.