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H. Lenora Byrd was born into a poor family in LaBelle, a place where she grew up happily with dreams of doing something meaningful with her life, despite the limited opportunities offered in that area.
The 1958 graduate of Brownsville High School had already completed two years at California State Teacher's College when she decided that becoming a teacher was not what she wanted to do.
It was then that the U.S. military seemed to be a good place for Byrd to put her daring spirit to good use. "My objective was to get away from Brownsville and be adventurous," said Byrd, who said that the well-known slogan of the Army, "Be all you can be," had gotten her attention. She saw the Army as a place where she could serve the nation that has proclaimed to offer everyone inherent freedom. In Byrd's book, "WAC Major: Herstory, A Black Woman in the White Man's Army," Byrd said that she did not feel she was in a world where everyone was created equal. Byrd started in the Women's Army Corps in 1961, and later joined what she called the all-male Army. After making the decision to join, Byrd said in her book that she told her mother it was something she had to do. "I will do whatever it takes to endure the psychological and physical challenges that I will face during basic training. I will learn in order to grow," Byrd had said. She had no idea at that time that the challenges she would face would last throughout her entire 21 years in the Army.
Byrd's book reveals that she was naive about the racial injustices that were prevalent during the 1960s because she had grown up in a rural area where racial prejudices were not so common. She quickly learned of the racial inequality that was part of the Southern way of life when she first left her Army post in Alabama. Not only did she find the Ku Klux Klan marching the streets unopposed, but she also found that blacks were not allowed in restaurants and the public restrooms were segregated. Despite being discriminated against when she left her base, Byrd said she had to use humor and not let anything get in the way of her dream to "be all she could be." Byrd steadily moved up through the ranks and became a commissioned officer. She encountered some problems when she married Army Sgt. Fred Lindsey in 1964, because she said that the Army did not approve of a marriage between a commissioned and non-commissioned officer. It was considered "fraternization." Byrd said that she continued to serve as platoon officer and one year later she learned that she was pregnant. Pregnant women were not allowed to serve in the military at that time, and she was forced to resign. In her book, Byrd said she knew after having her daughter, Chantay, she was meant to have this child, even if it ended her military career.
When things didn't work out in her marriage as expected, Byrd said she had to become the breadwinner and ask her mother to take care of her daughter for her. Her break from the military lasted seven years, and during that time, Byrd tried to earn money doing two of the things she had loved since childhood: softball and music. Byrd played bass for a band called the Renaud Junction and once had the opportunity to perform as the opening act for the Jackson 5. When an agent double-crossed her, she said she gave up on her dreams of making a living in the music business. Also during her seven-year hiatus, Byrd said that her marriage did end in divorce and she learned that she was actually gay after her marriage had failed, but she would be eternally grateful that her brief union had given her Chantay. She said that when she did not make it in the field of music, she decided it was time to return home to spend time with her family and receive her master's degree from California University of Pennsylvania.
Byrd later received a job at Fayette County Child Welfare Services in Uniontown, but she said she longed to rejoin the military, even though she had faced inequities because of her race and sex. "When I start something, I make it a habit to finish it," said Byrd. She received a direct commission as first lieutenant at the U.S. Army Reserve Center in Hiller and later returned to full active duty. She took a job as an ROTC instructor to be near her daughter and mother, but she said she faced challenges during that time because some of her superiors did not think she was the best candidate for the job because of her age. At 36, she said they wondered if college students would relate to her and she wondered when the discrimination she had faced in her life would end. However, Byrd rose above the challenges she faced, because she said God gave her the guidance and strength she needed to overcome.
In her book, Byrd said she received an assignment in Germany at the V Corps Provost Marshal's Office, where she received high marks in her evaluations as she had always done. She also talked about how she did not see the racial discrimination overseas that she encountered in the United States. Byrd had also taken her daughter to Germany with her, and Chantay fell in love with an Italian man. She decided that when her mother was returning home, she was going to stay in Germany and marry this man. Byrd said she felt confident that her daughter would be fine, so she supported her decision. Unfortunately, Byrd said she battled more injustices upon returning to the United States for her next assignment, all because she was not going to be able to obtain the rank of lieutenant colonel. She was assigned to be provost marshal at a post in Maryland, with her rank as major. Byrd claimed that it was because of age discrimination that she was not permitted to attend the necessary classes to be promoted to lieutenant colonel in the first place. Byrd had already made the decision not to dwell on any injustices she faced, but to use her "spiritual armor" to keep making progress and continue to feel good about what she was doing.
Byrd said she was fortunate to receive an assignment at Fort Detrick at the provost marshal's office, where she planned to "simply slide through the next few years" that she had left until retirement. She indicated she was tired of fighting unnecessary battles. Byrd finished her military career, serving in Georgia, training international students. "During my military career, things got harder instead of easier, but my last assignment was pretty good," said Byrd. She retired from the U.S. Army at age 48, and with all her struggles, was glad to have had all of the opportunities she had in her life. She said the Army gave her many valuable lessons. "It taught me to be disciplined, organized, attentive to detail, self-confident, assertive, and to accept the cards dealt to me but try to play them to win," said Byrd. Since her retirement, Byrd has returned to her hometown, where at age 66, she is taking care of her mother. She commented that she is happy to have completed her military career so that she can now be settled down with her family, living from her pension and helping the mother who helped take care of her for so many years.
Byrd's book is available at the Web sites Amazon.com and Xlibris.com. She also has personal copies at her home to sell and autograph. |
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