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 a time when anti-war demonstrations were sweeping the nation. It was five years after heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali boldly declared he wasn’t going “10,000 miles from home to help murder and burn another poor nation” in the name of white supremacy.
“I’m a much better soldier today than I was in 1972,” Tom Powell said.
During the Veteran’s Day Parade on Saturday, Nov. 6, Shannon, joined by fellow members of Tom Powell Post #77 of the American Legion, proudly gathered to accept and give recognition for the sacrifices made by soldiers of America’s wars. Although he wasn’t thrilled to be enlisted, Shannon is honored to have served.
“I’m a much better soldier today than I was in 1972,” he said.
Shannon wasn’t among potential draftees who could afford doctors to help them fake illnesses or wealthy parents who could help them escape the country to avoid the draft.
“I didn’t know anyone in Canada, so what could I do?” he said, shrugging his shoulders.
Shannon’s father and other relatives served in wars prior to Vietnam. Following their lead, he joined the army. He was sent to Fort Polk in Louisiana for advanced infantry training, but a sprained ankle kept him from being shipped out to fight in the jungles of Southeast Asia. Shannon became a clerk and, after his discharge in 1974, served in the Army Reserves, attaining the rank of specialist.
A total of 300,000 African Americans served in Vietnam. According to the American Legion, of the more than 58,000 U.S. casualties, roughly 7,000 black soldiers (12.4%) lost their lives.
The cadre of soldiers joining Shannon at the parade proudly boasted of their time fighting in wars ranging from Vietnam in the late 1960s and early ‘70s to Desert Storm in the early 1990s.
Shannon is vice commander of Tom Powell Post #77, the nation’s very first black American Legion post. Fifteen Black veterans founded it in 1919. Powell, a World War I veteran from Georgia, rode a freight car to Chicago to enlist in the Army after being rejected by recruiters in the South. He served as an Army messenger in France, where he died in battle.
Shannon said all members are committed to living up to Post #77’s motto: “Service ‘til Glory.” The slogan is in line with the American Legion’s mission statement: to“enhance the well-being of America’s veterans, their families, our military, and our communities by our devotion to mutual helpfulness.”
Examples of the post’s “helpfulness” abound. When veterans are buried at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery, Shannon’s team of all-Black military funeral honor guards provide the respectful traditional three-volley salute and the bugle call of taps.
The group has also joined other volunteers who accepted the responsibility of upkeep at Greenwood Cemetery in North St. Louis. The cemetery, founded in 1874, was the first commercial non-sectarian cemetery for African Americans in the post-Civil War era. Reportedly, there are more than 50,000 African Americans buried at the almost 32-acre cemetery. Volunteers, including those from Post #77, constantly work to address matters such as sunken headstones, overgrown grass, and unmarked graves.
“I do it because this is what I’m supposed to do,” Shannon told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch earlier this year. “It’s an opportunity to give back — it’s a need. I have such great empathy for the veterans, young and old, for their sacrifices and their lives and their families’ sacrifices. You just try to do your best to make sure that every veteran gets the very best because there’s no do-over.”
Members of Tom Powell Post #77 are in the process of raising money to find a new home. Their former gathering place, All Saints Church on Kingshighway, has been sold, Shannon said. Once the pandemic subsides, the group hopes to raise the money to acquire a vacant parcel of land and build a post of their own from the ground up, but those are matters for another day. During Saturday’s Veteran’s Day Parade, Shannon said he only had one goal on his mind.
“This is a day to honor those who served, who continue to serve and who protect,” he said. “We have never rescinded our oath. We’re here to serve to glory.”
Sylvester Brown Jr. is The St. Louis American’s inaugural Deaconess Fellow.
