OPINION:
Today, as Americans remember the attack on Pearl Harbor, we should remember all our heroes. These include Dorie Miller, who was awarded the Navy Cross for aiding his ship’s dying captain and then manning an anti-aircraft gun on which he hadn’t been trained, as well as Robert H. Brooks. Brooks was a light-skinned African American soldier who had “passed” as White and was serving in the Philippines in an all-White unit.
Upon hearing that Brooks was the first U.S. soldier from an armored unit to die, Gen. Jacob Devers, commander of Fort Knox, where Brooks had trained, immediately decided to name the main parade ground in his honor. Only later did Devers learned that Brooks was African American; he remained undeterred.
In his dedication speech, Devers stated what should always be the American ideal: “In death there is no grade or rank. And in this greatest democracy the world has ever known, neither riches nor poverty, neither creed nor race, draws a line of demarcation in this hour of national crisis.”
PAUL L. NEWMAN
Merion Station, Pennsylvania
