I cry when Barack Obama salutes . . .

[Empowerer]

I cry when Barack Obama salutes because my father went to World War II on a segregated troop train.

I cry when Barack Obama salutes because my father was rejected by the Army Air Corps flight training program because it had met its quota of colored pilots.

I cry when Barack Obama salutes because my father has lived to see a black man become Commander-in-Chief of the military that once humiliated him.

[Jamastiene]

1. K&R

Welcome to DU :hi:

[Xipe Totec]

2. Welcome to DU!

[MadMaddie]

3. Empowerer

I liked that he stopped to talk to the soldiar outside the helicopter. President Obama's salute is crisp and not sloppy like *'s was.

I am glad that your father and my parents were alive to see President Obama!

I cry because my 9 year old nephew knows that anything is achievable in America.


Welcome to DU! :hi:

[pasto76]

27. point of order, that was a marine

army is soldiers. Just sayin.

[MadMaddie]

44. Point taken you are absolutely correct!!

[jhrobbins]

42. Ah, he/she is new to DU - welcome. Now, to the topic-I don't cry exactly

but I do have a certain feeling of pride and joy.

[Captain Hilts]

4. Very sweet. Thank him for his service to his country.

[liberalmuse]

5. I need to say it again. I LOVE this man.

He saluted the naval officer (I think) before boarding AF1, and then he shook his hand and spoke briefly with him. And our President (Unlike the asshole before him) KNOWS how to salute. I was in the Army, so I take note of this stuff.

On edit: Posting while drunk is quite foolish.

[liberalmuse]

6. BTW, Welcome to DU!

and I really liked your post. I'd salute your father any fucking day.

[Kaleko]

7. Beautiful sadness -

honoring the ones that came before us.

I tear up reading your post. Welcome to DU.

[glitch]

8. You are so lucky that your father lived to see this day.

My parents died in 2008, they worked hard for this day but didn't get to see it, although they both knew it would happen.

[dflprincess]

9. I wish my dad were alive to read what what you wrote about your dad

He was also in the Army Air Corps. He grew up in a small Minnesota town where race wasn't an issue (because everyone was white). When he went off to the Army he was stationed first in Texas and then in South Carolina before shipping out and he was shocked by Jim Crow - though I'm not sure he gave much thought to Army being segregated. What made him a supporter of the civil rights movement was finding out that vets like your dad were being denied the right to vote. It made him mad as hell that men who had fought for their country were being denied the most basic of rights.

I think he'd remember how Black veterans were treated after WWII and he'd be glad for all the veterans who got to see this day. This is what they fought the war for.

[kestrel91316]

10. ......long past time to right SO many terrible wrongs.........

I am so proud to see him in the WH - and proud that a nation of predominantly white people finally did the right thing when the right man came along.

I'm awfully fond of the Professor.

[Number23]

14. The Professor

I really, really like that... :)

[cilla4progress]

11. Right on

You can tell that his admiration and appreciation - affection and respect, for those in uniform, is genuine. Unlike his predecessor, who never really got that it was for real, and meant the great risk of harm to all who enlist.

[givemebackmycountry]

25. You mean like this right?

I am so glad we are done with that stupid asswipe.

And yes, I loved it when President Obama stopped and chatted with the troop and shook his hand.

Welcome to DU!

[Usrename]

12. I thought we were done with the crying.

:cry:

[Number23]

13. How wonderful. My grandfather was in the Army as well, serving in segregated regiments.

Back during WWII. And when he came back he was denied job after job after job because he was black, even though he had a family and had just fought for his country.

He didn't live to see Obama take the White House, or even come into the Senate. He died in 2003.

[Hekate]

15. I'm so happy for you and your dad...

:hug:

Hekate

[FrenchieCat]

16. I cry with you!

[Oldtimeralso]

17. K & R

And Welcome to the DU.
I'm glad my father isn't here as he was the most bigoted person I ever knew.
He was uneducated and wanted me not to graduate from High School and tried very hard to prevent it.
He even refused to go to my HS graduation. He about died when I went to college on an academic scholarship, and my work earnings.

[Eurobabe]

18. k & r

very touching. :cry:

[DesertRat]

19. I'm happy that he lived to see President Obama

Cheers to you both.

[Patchuli]

20. I cry in happiness

at the pictures of President Obama in front of the Lincoln Memorial!

Rosa sat so Martin could walk so that Obama could run and we all can FLY! I saw that here on DU, credit to the author who ever coined it!

Welcome to DU!:patriot:

[treestar]

21. These stories are great!

I'm glad he got to live long enough to see it! :hi:

Reminds me of the lady who was in tears when she voted, never thinking she would ever in her lifetime be able to vote for a black man for President.

[crikkett]

22. Nice post, welcome!

My grandfather didn't talk about his experience in a segregated army in WW2. I was probably too young. I do know that he wasn't allowed to join the Army Air Corps because they required permission from his wife back then...my grandmother didnt' grant it and she boasted that it saved his life.

I'm sorry my grandparents didn't live to see Barack Obama elected president but I think they're proud of us anyway.

[wryter2000]

23. Welcome to DU

:hi: Great to have you here.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

24. oh I wish I saw this....

I tear up becasue I sense something great with President Obama, WAY beyond race.

It feels even more delicious though, because of the beautiful contrast with the old, ugly, hate-based, conservative, exclusionary ways...

He is working for ALL of us; god, that tears me up.

[livingonearth]

26. Thank you,

and thanks to your father for his service.

[Joey Liberal]

28. Welcome to DU

And this Army veteran salutes you AND your father!

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

29. I cry as well

because I know this is the start of a time in our nation when people look past the surface differences in people and look into their hearts and souls. Obama will be a great President, probably the greatest one in my lifetime.

[HamdenRice]

30. My father was in the Black Army Air Corp of WWII

but not as an officer or pilot. He was an enlisted man. But he told me a lot about his years in the army and the exploits of the pilots and officers.

It is quite remarkable, isn't it?

[democrank]

31. Bless you and your father, Empowerer.

Welcome to DU. I`m so glad you`re here.

[NOLALady]

32. My Father was an elisted man in WWII.

He came home and was denied the right to vote. He repeatedly tried to register week after week until they seemed to give up and register him.

He was also arrested (similar to Rosa Parks). He refused to make his children give up their seats on a bus for a white passenger. The police was called, he was arrested and the children were left on the sidewalk. There are many other stories.

January 15th, he was in ICU unresponsive. When they finally stabilized him, they questioned him to see if he was aware. They asked who was the current president. He answered, "Bush, but only for 5 days".

I cried.

[JimWis]

33. Great post. Welcome to DU.

[BumRushDaShow]

34. K&R

My father fought in a segregated army in WW II and his father fought in a segregated army in WW I. And yes, it is almost surreal and fills me up to see him salute and get a salute back.

[kimmerspixelated]

35. I'm not black, but I get choked up, too.

I saw a clip of Obama, saluting and then touching the guardsman as if to say, it's okay! How refreshing is that???!!! I love Obama!

[BlooInBloo]

36. :)

[CLANG]

37. That's really great. I'm so happy for your dad, and you...

:hug:

[Earth Bound Misfit]

38. Welcome to DU, Great Post.

:hi:

You made me think of my Dad, who passed on 3 yrs ago March, but for entirely different reasons. My Dad, who I loved every day of my life and continue to do so, was a died in the wool, Archie Bunker type racist (albeit MUCH more intelligent), Richard Nixon loving republican. I wonder what he would be saying right now about President Obama. I know my sister and I, progressive dems both, would be arguing with him most passionately, more often than not ending in a shared look of incredulity between my sister and I followed by a disbelieving shaking of our heads, usually right after our Mom admonished us with a stern "Leave your Father alone!", even as both of us grew into our 50's.

Still your post brought a tear to my eye. Different reasons, same result. I cry tears of sadness because you made me think of my dad & I miss him. I cry tears of joy because your dad, as you said, has lived to see a black man become Commander-in-Chief of the military that once humiliated him. I cry because I see today something I thought I'd NEVER see in my lifetime, a black man elected President of The United States.


Thank You.

EBM

Edit because: I'm an IDJIT:dunce:

[mckara]

39. The History of African American Soldiers in the Military

Is sad, but at the same time very inspiring.

These men and women who joined the military, and sacrificed for the good of the country while and enduring white bigotry, were the finest patriots who served our nation!

:patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot:

[Sarah Ibarruri]

40. K&R!! nt

[frogcycle]

41. My father

was a (white) Marine officer who was put in charge of the First Marine Division Combat Service Group in Korean War. He and his XO were the only whites in the entire battalion. They landed at Inchon and moved inland and up to the Chosin Reservoir, where the entire division was surrounded and cut off for the winter. Dad's marines were truck drivers, cooks, etc. That was what the services did at that time - Jim Crow. They were given only token training as fighters and then relegated to the Pullman Porter jobs. At one point a unit was in trouble, another was sent to help and also got bogged down. Dad was told to take his "night fighters," get some weapons, and go rescue them. He told his commanding officer it would be suicide; they were not trained and would be butchered. Thus ended his career. He played out the string after that, got his 20 years in a series of non-combat roles, and retired. But they did not go, the others managed to get themselves back, and the 1st Marine Division managed to get out, with dad's troops intact. I hope maybe a few of them lived to see Obama elected.

Dad grew up in the South. He had his prejudices. But despite the despicable official policies of the day, there were some good guys too.

I have often wondered what it would have been like if dad had lived to see Obama elected. I know I'd have been gnashing my teeth over some of the outrageous things he'd have said. But as much as he was wont to make sweeping generalizations about "them," he never met an African American (and he worked with many in his second career) who he didn't think was an exception. I never could convince him that maybe the evidence of his own experiences should outweigh the mythology he'd grown up with. Somehow, I think I'd have made an Obama voter out of him. He'd have thought Barack and Michelle and Sasha and Malia were all exceptions!

[nuxvomica]

43. My dad was in charge of a troop train in World War II

It wasn't until he was dying that he told me this story:

Because he had worked at the D&H Railroad, he was put in charge of the troop train that brought returning war veterans from Shreveport, LA, to Fort Dix. When the trained stopped for a meal in a Jim Crow town, my dad handed out meal vouchers and made sure the soldiers got seated. But the restaurant owners wouldn't allow the African-American soldiers to eat in their main dining rooms. In one restaurant, the owner said they could eat in the kitchen so my dad inspected it. The place was filthy with chicken blood and parts all over. My dad told the proprieter that that was unacceptable. "These soldiers just came back from the war, fighting for you," he told him. But the proprieter argued the local law. Finally, the soldiers themselves broke the impasse, telling my dad they could find something to eat in the "colored" part of town and assuring him that they would be back before the train left. He relented but pushed some meal vouchers on them, which they refused, one of them saying, with a smile, "These are no good where we're going."

I wish he could've lived to see Obama elected President.

[Uzybone]

45. K&R

[stray cat]

46. Thank you for a wonderful post!