Veterans Day

We celebrate Dr. Joseph H. Ward this Veterans Day!

This past September, the Department of Veterans Affairs posthumously awarded an Exceptional Service Award to Wilson native Dr. Joseph H. Ward for his leadership of the V.A.’s first all-Black hospital “during an era of severe discrimination and racial hostility.”

To learn more about Dr. Ward and Tuskegee Veterans Administration Hospital, see this recent NPR piece, A Century Ago, Black WWI Vets Demanded Better Care. They Got Their Own Hospital, and this National Archives blogpost, The Trials and Triumphs of Dr. Joseph H. Ward.

Dr. Joseph H. Ward stands at center in the first row in the photograph taken of the V.A. Hospital’s ground-breaking all-Black medical staff.

 

This Veterans Day.

My grandmother’s sons — Lucian J. Henderson, Jesse A. Henderson, and Rederick C. Henderson — served in the United States armed forces in the decade after World War II.

My uncle Lucian was first. He qualified as an infantry rifleman after basic training at Fort McClellan, Alabama, then shipped for Japan.

From Yokohama, he sent his mama in Wilson this hand-painted silk handkerchief.

I thank Private Henderson, Private Henderson, and Airman Henderson for their service.

From the personal collection of Lisa Y. Henderson.