The North Star Report™
EQUALITY REPORT | OP/ED
Submitted By. RC Thompson: June 14, 2021
What it Meant to Me to Join the Armed Services?
As a young Black youth growing up in Chandler, Arizona, I really did not have a plan when high school ended and when having a job or career was needed. Realizing that an athletic scholarship was not in my future and not having an alternative plan, I decided to the best course of action was to voluntarily join the United States Marine Corps and let the Marine Corps provide me a future in military service where I could mature, find purpose, and focus on becoming an adult and being a United States Marine committed to defending this great Country.
Yes, I felt proud when I joined the Marine Corps and, even more, I knew that I had made the correct decision when family and friends also expressed being proud of my enlistment. Anticipating the excitement and challenges of “active duty,” I focused on getting my mind, body, and spirit ready to defend Our Nation from all enemies foreign and domestic. I felt honored to fight for liberty, freedom, equality, and justice…the American life.
But just like when you wake up in the morning, dreams give way to reality.
Out of the Marines, civilian-life sets-in like being suddenly overtaken by a fierce dark storm, with the force of the winds against you. Now back home, I had to overcome post traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD), drug addiction, and a Veteran’s Administration mired in a past that grants White Veterans “preferential treatment, favoritism, and more efficient and effective” service – all while I have experienced longer wait times when filing a claim; I have experienced and witnessed the reality that Black Veterans are afforded less opportunities to transfer military training, experience, and expertise to an equivalent civilian job opportunity and career; I have been unnecessarily burdened with administrative and legal proceedings in a fight for my lawful veteran benefits and fair treatment by the very organization created to serve and honor veterans. And I am still in this struggle along with many other of our Veterans.
What it Means to be NABVETS?
NABVETS gives Black Veterans a place, a purpose, and a connection with Our Black Community to ensure that the proud legacy of Blacks in military service remains visible, respected, and honored.
In the Marine Corps, I, of course, developed a deep sense of pride in myself and in the “Brotherhood” as an active Veteran engaged in combat missions. The bond with my peers and superiors made my military service an extraordinary experience filled with lasting relationships and memories. So, after my honorable discharge, in my return to civilian life, I recognized that I missed the camaraderie born of military service.
Coming home to Arizona, I did not find anyway to connect with other Black Veterans through an “African American Service Group” that was, in turn, connected to the Black Community. Fortunately, I found The National Association for Black Veterans, Inc., (NABVETS), an organization with a stated goal of “Creating a positive lifestyle for Veterans.” Being a part of NABVETS, I discovered a renewed camaraderie, a renewed sense of focus, and a new “Bond of Brothers and Sisters” ready to provide the assistance, support, and structure to address the multitude of “unique challenges” that Black Veterans face in our return to civilian life and civilian strife.
In NABVETS, we take our shared experiences, our shared legacy, and our shared struggles to build a more perfect community for our family, for our friends, for our neighbors. This being why it is important to me, that Our Black Veterans are recognized as Heroes and that Our Black Veterans are Leaders in the Black Community.
WE SERVED! WE ARE JUST WAITING TO BE TREATED FAIRLY, AND OUR SERVICE TO OUR COUNTRY HONORED WITH RESPECT, AND OUR CULTURE ACCEPTED!
We are Black, We are Proud, and We are Patriotic, and this means as Black Veterans, We can stand for Our Black Communities, without Disrespecting the ‘FLAG.’
Let us all remember that some of The Black Men and Women Killed by Police Officers….SERVED IN THE MILITARY!!!
Far too often, our Black Veterans’ battles at home are far more “lethal” than our Countries’ battles on foreign soil!
Semper Fidelis,
RC Thompson, Member: The National Association for Black Veterans, Inc., (NABVETS) http://www.nabvets.org/
Why We Must Listen To and Support Our Veterans!
Unshattered Redemption Official Trailer – A Documentary About Veterans and PTSD; By Angel of Music Productions and NoWayOut Films.
Mr. RC Thompson thank you for your service.
In Unity,
Brutha’ Q | Equality Report
brutha.q@thenorthstarreport.com
BLACK MEDIA MOVEMENT – “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Letter from the Birmingham Jail; 1963.
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