RE: http://www.military.com/features/0,15240,149538,00.html

Thank God. I was beginning to think the only Black American Hero was MLK.

quote:

Originally posted by Tanks35:
PS, I left color out on purpose, because as far as I am concerned I am colored blind when it comes to our military, past present and future.
Tanks

yes, but does that transfer to baseball or football teams? lol

I think the idea of commissioning a vessel after an American hero, regardless of the color of the skin, is most commendable. I also think about something that was brought to my attention when I was in Korea in 1952; the color of blood is the same, regardless of the color of the skin. I also believe in giving respect to those who deserve it, not necessarily
because of the "rank" of the individual. How often the troop is overlooked when it comes to honors such as the naming of a ship/vessel.

Wow! Truly amazing to definatley see more blacks getting the recognition that they deserve. I live in Beaufort, SC and constantly drive up and down Robert Smalls Parkway and theres also a Middle School named after him but never did I give it a thought to really do research and find out more about him and the acomplishments he made. After reading some of the other posts, I understand that we all have the same blood and that the rank dosen't matter but only the individual, but thats easy to say when your not black. I served in the Marines for 8 years and the major heros that I knew and discussed around other service members were "Pappy" Boyington, Daily, Smedley Butler, and the list goes on and on all of whom who gave the ultimate sacrafice for our country. But now I work with the youth, the majority of them black and it was hard trying to find blacks who also made the ultimate sacrafice. This is an important article that I discuss with the youth who feel like all they have to do is sell drugs, pimp, have early sex, and crime to get ahead in life. To all of us service men and women who are retired, active duty, reservist, we can say that race dosen't matter and anyone of us could probably acheive the same thing but to a person who is black and has no affiliation with the military, this is phenominal! God bless all.