at site.Our letters are rated by most read and most commented.Thanks,as always
http://www.thedailylight.com/articles/2009/02/17/opinion/doc499b02efe1748408077473.txtTo the editor,
I overheard two people talking in the little cafe I go to. “What the heck do we need a Black History Month for, anyway? I mean, we don’t have a white history month.” How soon we forget. As a veterans activist, I’ve chosen to focus on the military service of African Americans in the United States until 1900, often times before they considered “free” or allowed to vote.
• March 1770 — Crispus Attucks, a runaway slave turned Jacktar, and four other colonists were killed during the Boston Massacre.
• April 1775 — Black patriots took part in the Battle of Lexington and Concord.
• June 1775 — Several black soldiers (most notably Peter Salem and Salem Poor) fought in the Battle of Bunker Hill.
• December 1775 — The Massachusetts Bay General Court officially commended Salem Poor for his service as “a brave and gallant soldier.”
• September 1783 — American and British representatives signed the Treaty of Paris, recognizing American independence and ending the American Revolution. Almost 10,000 blacks served during the war, 5,000 of whom were regular soldiers in the Continental Army.
• 1862 — Harriet Tubman, probably the most well known “conductor” on the Underground Railroad, served as a nurse, cook, and laundress to Union troops in South Carolina. She also supported the Union cause as a spy, scout and guerrilla leader.
• October 1862 — The first use of black troops in combat during the Civil War involved a 225-man detachment from the 1st Kansas Colored Volunteer Infantry.
• December 1862 — Confederate President Jefferson Davis “raised the black flag” against the North by signing a proclamation ordering the execution of any white Union officers of black troops.
• July 1863 — Sergeant William H. Carney’s bravery under fire during the assault on Fort Wagner earned him the Congressional Medal of Honor.
• July 1866 — Radical Republicans in Congress pushed through legislation allowing blacks to serve in the armed forces during peacetime.
• June 1877 — Henry O. Flipper, born into slavery in Georgia, became the first African American to graduate from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point
• 1898 — Benjamin O. Davis Sr., began his 50-year military career as a lieutenant in the District of Columbia National Guard.
• April 1909 — Admiral Robert E. Peary, African-American Matthew Henson and a party of four Eskimos were the first to reach the North Pole. In preparation for the expedition, Henson learned to speak Inuit and studied their culture.
It should be noted that many, if not all of these Patriots existed in some form of slavery at some point in their lives. And yet, they were willing to lay their lives down for their country. We owe these Americans a particular debt of gratitude for their service to our country.
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