My World War II veteran father is staying at the Missouri Veteran’s Home in St. James. I recently paid him a visit and found many of the old vets assembled in the activity room playing bingo with a sizeable contingent of army soldiers from Ft. Leonard Wood. I was quite moved to see so many soldiers taking their Saturday afternoon to give of themselves to these tired old guys. I stood to watch for a few minutes.
It was then that I realized what I was witnessing. To my limited knowledge, there are no African-American veterans at the St. James Missouri Veterans Home – there were certainly none in the activity room that afternoon. And yet, the vast majority of these volunteer soldiers were, in fact, African-American men and women.
Young American black persons helping old American white persons. So often, we whites of America view the blacks of America as a group in need: a group either too darn needy or a group truly in need of white help. Seldom do we white people see the reverse of this: needy white people receiving the kind charity of black people. Seldom do we whites recognize the large, generous heart of America’s black citizens.
But there it was, good people helping disadvantaged people regardless of skin color. In a country where it could be easy to refuse to help a “people” who have not always treated others the best that they should, here we had a generosity that transcended the past.
As a veteran myself, I was proud to see the Army in action. As a friend and neighbor, I was in awe of my brothers and sisters.
Steven L. Leonard
St. Louis