November 26, 2007

Manic Monday: Rank

Villagers, the Manic Monday word this week is 'RANK'. I've shared information about African Americans in the military before. As such, many of you know that my cousin retired from the US Navy as a rear admiral. Of course, the highest-ranked Black military man that most of us know nowadays is retired General Colin Powell. If things had broken a little different for Colin Powell ... he might have become our President instead of George Bush (sigh).

Anyhow, I thought I would point Villagers to high ranking African American officers in the four branches of the military.

  1. Air Force - Lt. General John Hopper was the highest-ranking African American in the US Air Force when he retired in 2005, after a distinguished 35-year military career. His last assignment was Vice Commander, Air Education and Training Command at Randolph AFB, Texas. The command recruits, trains and educates more than 370,000 men and women for the aerospace force and the nation.

  2. Army - Colonel Charles Young was the highest ranking African American officer in the army when WW1 started. He was also the first African American to reach that rank in the army. Young thought that he would have a major leadership role in World War I as a result of his military experience and rank, but prejudice and injustice led to him being forced out of of the military on June 22, 1917 under protest.

  3. Marines - Maj. General Cornell Wilson will be the highest-ranking African American on active duty in the Marine Corps when he receives his second star. He's now commander of the II Marine Expeditionary Force Augmentation Command Element at Camp Lejeune, NC. Wilson often reflects on the accomplishments of Black marines since the The Montford Point Marines were first established after President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 8802, which allowed African Americans to be recruited during World War II.

  4. Navy - Samuel Lee Gravely, Jr., (1922-2004), was an African American Navy pioneer and a native of Richmond, VA. Gravely built a Navy career that lasted 38 years and included many distinguished accomplishments. He became the first African American to command a U.S. Navy warship (Theodore E. Chandler), the first African American to command an American warship under combat conditions (Taussig), the first African American to command a major naval warship (Jouett), the first African American admiral, the first African American to rise to the rank of Vice Admiral, and the first African American to command a U.S. Fleet (Commander, U.S. 3rd Fleet). The USS Gravely (DDG-107) has been named in his honor. A street on the east side of Richmond, VA is also named in his honor.

Anyhow, these are the thoughts that ran through my mind as I pondered the word RANK. I hope you have enjoyed my Manic Monday effort this week.


16 comments:

maryt/theteach said...

Appreciate the info on ranking African-Americans in the military. MY nephew is in the Marines -- he's a Sargeant! And I'm real proud of him.!

Thanks for commenting at my blog, Villager!

Unknown said...

Teach - I think that you will find that most Americans have tremendous respect and love for the young men/women that are in the armed forces. Our prayers are with your nephew!

Shelia said...

I was not aware of these men and their work Villager, and I am very glad to learn about them. Thanks for another great post! Happy MM!

Unknown said...

Shelia - Thanx! I was surprised that you didn't go for something related to Tennis Rankings (smile)...

Anonymous said...

Great Info Villager! Thanks for sharing and this is certainly information we must pass on to our young people so they know that we can accomplish great things when we are focused

Unknown said...

Latimer - Thanx for sharing your village voice on our MM meme entry. Have you considered using Manic Monday meme to drive unique visitors to your blog?

Sandee said...

Another great history lesson. I hadn't heard of any of these wonderful men before. Have a great MM. :)

Anonymous said...

Great Monday post! Im not sure if my post lived up to par, come on by and judge for yourself, Heck, RANK IT! LOL

Shelia said...

Believe me Villager, it was the first thing that popped into my head, LOL!

We've got about six weeks until the Australian open and less for some of the tuneups. I'll be inundating you all with rankings soon enough :-}

plez... said...

villager,
thanks for what you do... i can always come here for a positive message about black folk.

Unknown said...

Plez - Thank you very much for your kind words. We use the weekly Manic Monday and Wordless Wednesday memes as a way to post uplifting information about our people. I encourage you to consider participating in either or both of these weekly memes. One of the benefits is that you attract visits from folks that wouldn't ordinarily find plezWorld. Just a thought. I think that Shelia (Black Tennis Pros) is pleased that she made decision to add these memes a few weeks ago.

Lee Ann aka Dixie said...

Wonderful, wonderful history lesson today.

My son is currently stationed at Camp Lejune, NC for his Infantry Training. I was just there last Tuesday to pick him up for the Thanksgiving holiday.

Thanks for stopping by. I will have to get by here more often.

Stine said...

Great lesson - thanks.

Travis Cody said...

Thanks for another educational post. I know I can always count on this place to make me aware of things I didn't know.

Happy MM!

Anndi said...

Now you've got me wondering about the Canadian military.. think I'll have to find out.

Great MM post!

Linda said...

Excellent post on rank and the role that some most excellent African American men have played in our country's defense!

Many thanks to your uncle, too, for his service to America!