WEBVTT

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- We felt compelled to take action.

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^Segregation was an evil and for

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^particularly young kids to grow up in that environment,

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^with that stigma, it made us all very angry.

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^(serious music)

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What lead up to that particular day was years

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of toleration of being treated as a second-class citizen.

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We believed in the Constitution.

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We believed that if our country was screwed up

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that we could unscrew it, so to speak.

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My parents were shocked, initially.

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My mother, I called

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and I said, "We might be going to jail, but here's why.

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You taught us to be strong.

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You taught us to challenge injustice.

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And that's what we're doing."

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After sometime on the phone, she supported us.

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^(serious music)

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ROTC was mandatory the first two years,

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and I opted to go to the Air Force.

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And after six years of active duty, I decided

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to become a citizen soldier.

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Being in the Air Force was very different for

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a kid who grew up in a segregated environment,

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but I learned to get along with people and to

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have people get along with me.

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It was an opportunity to fly and

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do some other interesting things that

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were not available to me.

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I retired as a Major General in the U.S. Air Force.

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I had no idea that I would have a career that

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took me that high up.