Thank you so much for Mr. Alan Leonard’s well-written and thoroughly researched article, “Polk County’s Forgotten African American Doughboys”, in the TDB Weekend edition for Veteran’s Day. It is well known that the Southeast region of our country has provided many of the fighting soldiers in American wars, but rarely do we hear of the contributions of African Americans in the World Wars. Many young African American men from Polk County proudly served their nation, as pointed out in the article.

They were loyal American soldiers, fighting for freedom at a time when many of the rights of citizenship were denied to them overseas and in their country which they loved and defended. I applaud Mr. Leonard’s careful research to tell the story of the 92nd Division and Company A, 350th Machine Gun Battalion, 183rd Infantry Brigade so that future generations may know of the verified contributions to our nation’s military successes in the defense of freedom.

It is never too late to acknowledge a wrong and this, Veteran’s Day weekend, is an appropriate time to express sincere and heartfelt thanks to all who serve in the armed forces of our great nation. God bless the fallen and their families.

Gordon Hamilton, Tryon, N.C.