I am David Curley, from the
BUF Black Lives Matter Ministry Action Team.
This Memorial Day I want to
remember my experiences of race in the US Army, in the fateful years
1968-1969.
Early in my Army time, I lived
with African American soldiers in Fort Gordon, Georgia. One was my
bunk-mate. He was funny, temperamental, and completely irreverent.
They all teased me about long—and infrequent—letters from my
girlfriend.
These easy memories end
abruptly with the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King on April 4,
1968. Our commanding officer’s response was, “We are all one
color. We are all Army green.”
In two weeks we finished
training, and almost all of the soldiers that I knew went directly to
Vietnam.
In my year in Vietnam, the
Army failed to deal with King’s murder, the so called “ghetto
riots,” white backlash. and
Soldiers both created and
adjusted to a new racial climate: Confederate flags and country music
versus James Brown black power salutes that could get you an Article
15 (punishment), bar fights and disproportionate punishments for
black soldiers. In that year I had two black friends, but not close
friends. One rotated home long before I did. I asked the other one,
Daniels, to my going-away steak and beer party. He said, “Nothing
personal, but I got other things.” I said, “At least come pick up
the steak I’m saving for you,” and he did.
Sargent Hunt, black, middle
aged, and on his second tour in Vietnam, was my boss for over half a
year. He put me in for a minor medal. The citation, “selfless,
dedicated, above and beyond the call of duty, etc.” made no sense.
I couldn’t imagine why, and privately asked him. He said, “You
went to college. You could have undermined me at any time, and you
never did.”
The US Army in Vietnam was
systemically a racist institution, but not as racist as “back in
the world.” Home. Discrimination against returning black veterans
was both more intense and more invisible, and to see this, I hope we
can get together to watch Spike Lee’s new movie, “Da Five
Bloods,” to be released in June on Netflix.
What would mean the most to me
for this Memoraial Day would be a moment of silence for all black
veterans.
