Despite heat and humidity, there was a good turnout Thursday at the U.S. Exercise Tiger Foundation’s Juneteenth ceremony in downtown Columbia honoring black U.S. military veterans with medals and awards.
Juneteenth honors the end to slavery in the United States. The Rev. James Gray and others spoke at the ceremony, which was called the “They were always there” tribute to black veterans. Rev. Gray is a former chaplain at Walter Reed:
“Because when you work with them, when you deal with them and understand them and understand that they’re just human and they wanted to do what was right for our country. And the question is is our country doing what’s right for them. And so we got to continue to fight the good fight for them and fight with them,” Rev. Gray says.
Rev. Gray also helped organize Thursday’s luncheon for the community at Douglass Park. He also encourages you to attend Saturday morning’s Juneteenth parade, which begins at 9 on Broadway in downtown Columbia.
While Juneteenth didn’t become a federal and Missouri holiday until 2021, it’s been celebrated in Columbia for many years. Rev. Gray tells 939 the Eagle that Juneteenth is about working together:
“We brought Juneteenth before it became a national holiday (in 2021), an importance of bringing us together to just love one another, work together. It doesn’t matter what color you are or where you’re from or who you are, it’s about doing what’s right in the community,” Rev. Gray says.
Thursday’s events also included the Powerhouse annual Juneteenth event at Columbia’s Cosmo park.
Meantime, a state lawmaker from Columbia who served two tours in Iraq with the United States Marine Corps says it’s important to honor black veterans on Juneteenth. State Sen. Stephen Webber (D-Columbia) spoke at Thursday’s “They were always there” tribute to black veterans at the Boone County Courthouse plaza, organized by the U-S Exercise Tiger Foundation:
“Because black veterans face all the same challenges that every veteran faces, they deal with all those. And they also deal with an additional level of challenges in terms of historically discrimination they were subject to in the military over hundreds of years,” Senator Webber says.
Columbia city manager De’Carlon Seewood couldn’t make the ceremony due to a family emergency. City Councilman Nick Foster read Mr. Seewood’s letter to the audience. Mr. Seewood praises the bravery and service of African-American soldiers throughout U.S. history.
