Happy Veterans Day!
With the history of Veterans Day going back more than a century — initially called Armistice Day – Nov. 11 has long been a day to honor the bravery and sacrifices of Americans who fought for freedom for the United States and her allies.
“With their selfless sacrifice, our Armed Forces democracy and justice, possibility and hope,” have forged and defended the very idea of America — a promise of freedom and equality,” President Joe Biden said in a 2022 Veterans Day Proclamation. “We owe them an incredible debt that can never be fully repaid.”
As the country celebrates veterans worldwide, The Washington Informer staff would also like to honor the brave men and women on staff and in their families who have courageously served in the U.S. armed forces. The first Armistice Day was acknowledged on Nov. 11, 1919, a year after the end of World War I, and according to research, ancestors of our Informer family members were among some of the first to be recognized 104 years ago.
Considering segregation and continued racism after the military’s desegregation, some Informer staff shared that their veteran loved ones offered little information about their time in the service.
“Our family learned details of our dad’s service through research for the book ‘Forgotten: The Untold Story of D-Day’s Black Heroes, at Home and at War,’ authored by Linda Hervieux and published in 2015,” said Brenda C. Siler, a writer with The Informer. “Our dad’s army experience was horrible, based on newspaper accounts and Hervieux’s research. His unit went through grueling training, and many in my father’s unit died when coming ashore on Utah Beach.”
In an interview five years ago, Korean War veteran Willie Clark, grandfather of WI Managing Editor Micha Green, spoke on serving in the military during a time of extreme racial divide in the United States.
“I took it as though, if I’m going to fight, I’ll be fighting for my people [African Americans],” said Clark, a Southeast D.C. resident, who is now 93 years old.
While this is not an exhaustive list of all of our family members who are veterans, we wanted to take a moment to highlight some of our loved ones who have fought for this country and contributed to our families’ legacies.