102-Year-Old Veteran From Howard County Seeks More Visibility For Black Soldiers

HOWARD COUNTY, MD — Veteran Gerald Greenfield, 102, spent 30 years with the U.S. Army traveling the world. He saw the battlefields of Europe and the vast expanse of Alaska.

According to Stars and Stripes, Greenfield also has lived through some difficult times documented in American history including the Jim Crow era, the Great Depression and World War II. With fewer than 3,000 World War II veterans remaining in Maryland, Greenfield wants more visibility for the more than 1.2 million Black soldiers who served in history’s deadliest conflict.

Greenfield, who lives in Columbia, told Stars and Stripes that Black service members faced "rampant discrimination within the U.S. military, where they were placed in segregated units and largely confined to support and maintenance roles."

“Even though they didn’t want Black soldiers as combat soldiers, we did what we were told and we were a part of the war,” Greenfield said. “We feel that we made our contribution as required or asked and we did it with honor.”

Read more at Stars and Stripes