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Command Post What is this?
Posted on Jan 31, 2024
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
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CPL LaForest Gray
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Leading abolitionist Frederick Douglass famously wrote,

“Once let the black man get upon his person the brass letter, U.S., let him get an eagle on his button, and a musket on his shoulder and bullets in his pocket, there is no power on earth that can deny he has earned the right to citizenship.”

U.S. Army Veteran
12 1/2 years Honorable Service ODS Vet : Support Garrison OEF/OIF Vet : Deployed to Theatre
No Political Affiliation
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SSgt James Jones
SSgt James Jones
3 mo
Still true today
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Lt Col Roger Helbig
Lt Col Roger Helbig
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Here is an article that all veterans should read and Black veterans especially https://thewarhorse.org/us-military-fills-ranks-with-noncitizens-then-deports-them/
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CPL LaForest Gray
CPL LaForest Gray
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Lt Col Roger Helbig

I posted about the deportation of American Service members, previously here on Rally Point. Refresher :

"This ain't a brown thing, it's an American thing!"

Black Deported Veterans of America (BDVA) is a support group for those that served in the United States military, and were subsequently deported to the countries where they were born.  

The predominant make up of the group is by those that identify as Black or African American...but support is open for ALL Deported Veterans.

This website is geared towards raising awareness of the plight of the Black Deported Veterans; bios and updates on select individual Black Deported Veterans; updates on changes in U.S. policy; and avenues for public and private support.

SOURCE : https://www.bdva.us
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CPL LaForest Gray
CPL LaForest Gray
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Lt Col Roger Helbig It’s a much larger issue and had a farther ripple effect than most realize.

No Man Left Behind

I WILL NEVER LEAVE A FALLEN
COMRADE

1.) DHS, VA Launch New Online Services for Noncitizen Service Members, Veterans, and Their Families

“Veterans qualify for VA benefits based on their service to our country and never on their immigration status,” said Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough. “We are proud to work with our partners at DHS and DoD to honor the service of immigrant and noncitizen Veterans by ensuring that they have access to information about the care and services available to them.”

The new one-stop resource center will consolidate resources and forms from DHS, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), the Department of Defense (DoD), and other agencies so noncitizen service members, veterans, and their families are able to easily find any needed forms and resources.

SOURCE : https://www.dhs.gov/news/2022/02/07/dhs-va-launch-new-online-services-noncitizen-service-members-veterans-and-their


2.) DHS, VA Announce Initiative to Support Noncitizen Service Members, Veterans, and Immediate Family Members

“Together with our partner the Department of Veterans Affairs, we are committed to bringing back military service members, veterans, and their immediate family members who were unjustly removed and ensuring they receive the benefits to which they may be entitled. Today we are taking important steps to make that a reality.” 

“It’s our responsibility to serve all veterans as well as they have served us – no matter who they are, where they are from, or the status of their citizenship,” said Secretary McDonough. “Keeping that promise means ensuring that noncitizen service members, veterans, and their families are guaranteed a place in the country they swore an oath – and in many cases fought – to defend. We at VA are proud to work alongside DHS as to make that happen.”  

SOURCE : https://www.dhs.gov/news/2021/07/02/dhs-va-announce-initiative-support-noncitizen-service-members-veterans-and-immediate


3.) Home
* Secretary's Priorities
* The Immigrant Military Members and Veterans Initiative, and how VA supports immigrant Veterans

The Immigrant Military Members and Veterans Initiative (IMMVI) launched in July 2021 when VA partnered with the Department of Homeland Security to consolidate relevant federal resources for noncitizen service members, Veterans and their families, caregivers and survivors. The Initiative also launched a portal for Veterans who need assistance in applying to return to the United States and for accessing VA benefits to which they may be entitled.

Late last month, as the VA lead for IMMVI, I joined the DHS team to visit deported Veterans, stakeholders and recently repatriated Veterans to promote
the new online tools that would help them. The trip included stops in California, Texas, and Tijuana, Mexico.

SOURCE : https://news.va.gov/102866/the-immigrant-military-members-and-veterans-initiative-and-how-va-supports-immigrant-veterans/



* Who is eligible for benefits?

All eligible Veterans are entitled to VA benefits regardless of their immigrant status. The same applies to those who live abroad.

Unfortunately, identifying these Veterans – especially deported Veterans – has been challenging.

VA has worked closely with LULAC, Repatriate our Patriots, American GI Forum and the American Legion for assistance, and with DHS to identify Veterans who have been deported and those who have been repatriated.
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CPL LaForest Gray
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Keeping in mind that these MEN/these FOLLOW UNITED STATES OF AMERICA CITIZENS/SOLDIERS that were lynched during on-going Jim Crow Laws that the FEDERAL GOVERNMENT both supported and enforced against ALL Black Americans still wanted to serve and defend the USA.

Yet White TRAITORS/White Domestic Terrorist both Active Duty & Former Military Personnel … that have murdered or caused the deaths of others … wasn’t hung/lynched.

All (3) of my Grandfathers served HONORABLE in the Army under these type of conditions from WAR II/Korea War. They shared their experiences with me.

Uncles :
(1) Marines * Vietnam Wars
(1) Navy * Vietnam War
(4) Army (2) * Vietnam War


None of the 3 of my Grandfathers wanted me to join the “white man army”, not because they didn’t enjoy the military … they didn’t enjoy the racist and racism during their service and didn’t want myself to experience it.

Yet here I am.
——————————————
The little-known mass hanging of black soldiers in Texas in 1917
Mildred Europa Taylor March 22, 2019 at 06:22 am

SOURCE :

https://face2faceafrica.com/article/the-little-known-mass-hanging-of-black-soldiers-in-texas-in-1917


A lynching kept out of sight

Pvt. Felix Hall died in the only known murder of its kind on a U.S. military base. How hard did the government try to find his killers?

Story by Alexa Mills
Published on September 2, 2016

SOURCE :

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/national/2016/09/02/the-story-of-the-only-known-lynching-on-a-u-s-military-base/



Remembering the black soldiers executed after Houston's 1917 race riot
February 01, 2018 · 4:00 PM EST
By James Jeffrey

SOURCE :

https://www.pri.org/stories/2018-02-01/remembering-black-soldiers-executed-after-houstons-1917-race-riot

*** Lynching has ALWAYS been a special message sent.

CENTER FOR CIVIL AND HUMAN RIGHTS: LYNCHING POSTCARDS OF INHUMANITY EXHIBIT: JANUARY, 2011

https://kathmanduk2.wordpress.com/2008/12/24/center-for-civil-and-human-rights-lynching-postcards-of-inhumanity-exhibit-january-2011/


NSFW: AMERICAN TERRORISM … LYNCHING POSTCARDS : In
the past century on American soil – the estimated 3,436 lynchings of black American men and women between 1882 and 1950

https://cvltnation.com/nsfw-american-terrorism-lynching-postcards/

http://www.cvltnation.com/nsfw-american-terrorism-lynching-postcards/

https://www.amazon.com/Without-Sanctuary-Lynching-Photography-America/dp/ [login to see]

http://www.gettyimages.com/photos/lynching?excludenudity=true&sort=mostpopular&mediatype=photography&phrase=lynching

http://news.minnesota.publicradio.org/projects/2001/06/lynching/page1.shtml
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SGT Unit Supply Specialist
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CPL LaForest Gray horrible history...
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SGT Unit Supply Specialist
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CPL LaForest Gray the Right doesn't want this history taught in our schools.
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Brad Miller
Brad Miller
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More than ONE HUNDRED YEARS ago.
The wound will never heal if you keep picking at it.
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CPL LaForest Gray
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SSG Bob Robertson
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There is no such thing as a white, black, brown, red, or any other kind of veteran. We are all brothers who served. This is just one more thing to KEEP us divided. Period. End of discussion.
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LT Marsha Holden
LT Marsha Holden
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Thank you SSG Robertson, I appreciate your support in amending your original post.
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Sgt Thomas Blair Jr.
Sgt Thomas Blair Jr.
2 mo
You're entitled to your opinion but not your own facts. Your uptopian view obscures the fact that may be how it "should" have been, but historical reality has shown different. Look up the stories of Army Sgt. Isaac Woodward, Jr. and Army LTC Lemuel Penn both black soldiers who shed blood on the battlefield like their comrades did. Read about the tortuous and muderous treatment they received at the hands of their southern fellow Americans - separately - upon returning home in uniform...no less. You have the audacity to talk about what divides us, yet it's never addressed what should be done with enforcement to "unite" us. At the end of the day reality isn't about what's "supposed" to happen...it's about what "does" happen which is precisely what has to be dealt with. Derisive talk about this issue doesn't address this issue. The bottomline - to be crystal clear - is I am just as adamant about reality as you are about wearing blinders on the matter at issue.
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Maj William Mitchell
Maj William Mitchell
2 mo
I think it would be nice if instead of dividing Veterans into sub-groups and celebrating those sub-groups, we celebrated all Veterans. We're all brothers in arms.
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CPL LaForest Gray
CPL LaForest Gray
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Maj William Mitchell This was my original posting and I still stand by it.

To ALL RALLY POINT :

Integrity :

* INTEGRITY
Do what’s right, legally and morally. Integrity is a quality you develop by adhering to moral principles. It requires that you do and say nothing that deceives others. As your integrity grows, so does the trust others place in you. The more choices you make based on integrity, the more this highly prized value will affect your relationships with family and friends, and, finally, the fundamental acceptance of yourself.

https://youtu.be/bG6omxJJrw4


The Creed

* I am an American Soldier.
* I am a warrior and a member of a team.
* I serve the people of the United States and live the Army Values.
* I will always place the mission first.
* I will never accept defeat.
* I will never quit.
* I will never leave a fallen comrade.
* I am disciplined, physically and mentally tough, trained, and proficient in my warrior tasks and drills.
* I always maintain my arms, my equipment, and myself.
* I am an expert and I am a professional.
* I stand ready to deploy, engage, and destroy, the enemies of the United States of America in close combat.
* I am a guardian of freedom and the American way of life.
* I am an American Soldier.

SOURCE : https://www.odu.edu/armyrotc/about/creed#:~:text=everything%20you%20do.-,Integrity,say%20nothing%20that%20deceives%20others.


Warrior Ethos

What is it'

The Army Warrior Ethos states, "I will always place the mission first, I will never accept defeat, I will never quit, and I will never leave a fallen comrade."

The Warrior Ethos is a set of principles by which every Soldier lives. In a broader sense, the Warrior Ethos is a way of life that applies to our personal and professional lives as well. It defines who we are and who we aspire to become.

SOURCE : https://www.army.mil/article/50082/warrior_ethos#:~:text=The%20Army%20Warrior%20Ethos%20states,by%20which%20every%20Soldier%20lives.


By only retailing the familiar comfortable stories of the ( “African Americans/Black People/Colored/Negro/The African/The Blacks/The Coloreds/The “N-Word”/Mulatto) soldier experience … you’ve left them behind and they are forgotten.

You disgrace their service and contribution by only telling the part of their experience and sacrifices that’s palpable for self-comfort.

My postings are not about shaming, it’s about accountability and growing from these FACTS.

It’s your platform

V/R

U.S. Army Combat Veteran
12 1/2 years Honorable Service
ODS Vet : Support Garrison
OEF/OIF Vet : Deployed to Theatre
No Political Affiliation

*** Disclaimer : This a repost from myself, because people are tooooo comfortable with the status quo. ***

“I will not apologize for telling the FACTS, in a world that worship the lies”.
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