Honoring Our Heroes

African Americans have always been crucial to the nation’s success—in every walk of life, every field of study, every industry, in peace and in war.

So it is no surprise that whenever the country called on its people to serve, Black patriots answered the call. 

The United States Armed Forces, as representatives of the vibrant and innovative peoples of America, have a long history filled with “firsts.” On land, air, and sea, African Americans have fought and sacrificed in service to the United States Armed Forces from its conception. 

Crispus Attucks, a free Black man living in Boston in 1770, is considered to be the first person to give their life for the cause of American independence. 

African American Soldiers answered the call to fight in every American war and conflict, from the Revolutionary War, in which they served in integrated units, to the war in Iraq and beyond.

Yet they often served without the benefits of recognition, even citizenship, and in spite of unfair treatment, discrimination, and even violence by their own comrades in arms. Some were denied honors they had earned. Many were underpaid or not paid at all.

Like all Americans who benefited from their service, we owe it to them to learn from their stories, to remember their names.

Some are well-known, such as Colin Powell. As the first African American Secretary of State and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, he was one of the highest-ranking Black Americans in the history of the Federal Government.

Others are lesser known, but no less worthy of recognition. Hazel Johnson-Brown, after decades of service as a nurse and teacher in the Army Nurse Corps, became the first African American woman to achieve the rank of brigadier general in the U.S. Army, in 1979.

In 1995, Marcelite Jordan-Harris became the first Black woman to serve as a major general. At the time, she was the highest-ranking woman in the U.S. Department of Defense.

That same year, Frank E. Petersen became the first Black Marine Corps general. A few years later in 1982, Roscoe Robinson Jr. became the first Black four-star general. Three years after that, Sherian Cadoria became the first Black woman general.

Today, about 13 percent of the U.S. population is African American. Yet the proportion of Black men and women in the armed forces is much higher: Black men comprise nearly 17 percent, and Black women nearly 30 percent.

This monument honors the service and sacrifice of all Black men and women in the armed forces of the United States. Their service to their country and its ideals, even in the face of ignorance and discrimination, stands as an example for all Americans. These are their stories.