Author Archives: Sylvester Brown, Jr. Of The St. Louis American

Rufus Shannon of Tom Powell Post #77, the Nation’s First All-Black American Legion Post, on the meaning of Veteran’s Day. Signing up to fight in the Vietnam War wasn’t on Rufus Shannon’s to-do list.  Shannon, now 69, was 18-years-old in 1972, attending college and considering marriage when he received notice he’d been drafted. This was […]