Lenora's Book Blog

CUP Article

Alumni Spotlight: Fall/Winter 2008 Cal U REVIEW

Herstory offers a unique look at Cal U alumna's life:  She has been a military officer, a musician and singer, a semiprofessional softball player and a reunion organizer. Now, in fulfilling a longtime dream, H. Lenora Byrd ('72/'81 alumna) can add author to her list of accomplishments.

"It's something I've wanted to do for a long, long time," Byrd said of her first book, WAC Major: Herstory, a Black Woman in the White Man's Army, (Xlibris Corporation). "It began as a catharsis for me, a way to purge everything that had built up inside me over the years."

The healing process began in 1995 with Byrd, a resident of LaBelle, PA, pulling thoughts and emotional scars from the journal she had kept for many years. It culminated in 2007 when she invested her own money to have her book published.  Byrd, a 1958 graduate of Brownsville High School, pulls no punches in her tales of humiliating defeats and triumphant victories of a feisty, black, gay woman as a member of the Women's Army Corps (WAC) and later the "regular Army" in an interrupted career running from 1961-1965 and 1971-1989.  Those experiences included a stint as an ROTC instructor (1977-1980) at California University of Pennsylvania, where she earned a bachelor's degree in social work, a master's in secondary guidance counseling/consulting and a certificate of completion in multimedia technology.

Her deep faith and firm convictions led Byrd through many challenges in her military career that was interrupted when she married Fred Lindsey and became pregnant.  "I was an officer, and he was a sergeant first class," Byrd said of her former husband. "But officers dating enlisted personnel was a definite taboo.  My superiors were not at all pleased with this kind of fratenization.  Once I became pregnant, I was forced to resign my commission and leave the Army."

The brief union did produce one of the most glorious achievements of Byrd's life, a daughter, Chantay, who now works at the Pentagon. "(Marriage) wasn't for me," Byrd, 66, said.  "I've learned that later when I accepted the fact that I was gay.  But it did bring this wonderful girl into my life, and I am deeply grateful to God for Chantay."

Herstory focuses on many other aspects of Byrd's life. It tells about a military career in the Women's Army Corps that began as a private first class, took her to Officer Candidate School and was revived when she was re-commissioned. Despite continuous struggling during her military journey, Byrd successfully ended her career as a military police officer and retired as a major in 1989.  In addition to various assignments in the U.S., she also served three years in Germany.

The book also relates Byrd's passion for music and her experiences as a singer and bass player; her achievements as an all-star and champion semipro softball player; her role in organizing Brownsville High School class reunions; and her most recent role as caretaker for her 87-year-old mother, Eunice Byrd.

The autobiography is a good read, an inspirational story about overcoming adversity with the willingness and ability to succeed.

Herald Standard Article

10/15/2007

Brownsville Graduate Writes Book about Life in Army

By Jenny Susa , Herald-Standard

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.

Press Release is completed

Xlibris is sending out the following press release (without the photo) to newspapers and my local papers are included. It would be nice if the WAC Veteran's Chapters and my alma mater (CUP) put this release in their papers/newsletters. Again thank you for your support. Lenora, Lee Lindsey, Tweety Byrd

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                                                                  “Be all that you can be!”

Author H. Lenora Byrd shares her rocky, personal journey in the “all man’s Army”

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LaBelle/Brownsville, PA – (Release Date TBD) – “Be All You Can Be in the Army,” was the captivating slogan that drew author H. Lenora Byrd to join the army. However, she discovered that the only way she could achieve this feat was to be a white, authoritative male. WAC Major: Herstory; A Black Woman in the White Man’s Army follows the author’s rocky journey into a male-oriented arena and the lessons she learned from it.  She uses “Herstory” in the title to reflect the opposite of “History.”

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This book relates life at a glance of an unknown black female, army-noncommissioned officer and Military Police commissioned officer, who served her country honorably for twenty-one years and had to settle for less than excellence.  WAC Major: Herstory; A Black Woman in the White Man’s Army, is one of few books to tell the humiliating defeats and triumphant victories of a gay, black, feisty woman as a member of the Women's Army Corps (WAC) and the all male army during 1961-1965 and 1971-1989. How did a young, black female become so mystified and gullible by the captivating slogan: “Be All You Can Be in the Army,” only to discover that it’s an “all man’s Army”? Why did this woman insist on continuing this rocky journey in a male combat oriented arena, which believed in the 60’s, 70’s and even today that women don’t belong in the military?  The author will reveal answers and highlights her personal awareness and spiritual growth in the process.

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WAC Major: Herstory; A Black Woman in the White Man’s Army covers incidents, thoughts, and lessons learned which were documented in her journal throughout the years. This serious and down-to-earth autobiography depicts the author’s candid flare and amusing tone, whose main theme is to shed light on human potential and spiritual growth. The author believes that “there comes a time in our lives that we must reflect on who we used to be, who we are now, and how we got here from there.  In order to survive in this Promised Land, we must be resilient, have faith in a higher being, be aware of, and accept who we are and why we are here. As we each find our place in the world, we be all that we can be and the best that we can be despite obstacles that may be placed in our paths.”

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About the Author

Lenora served twenty-one years in the army as a noncommissioned officer for four years and as a commissioned officer for seventeen years. She began her military journey in the Women’s Army Corps (WAC) in 1961 as a Private First Class. Despite continuous struggling during her military journey, she successfully ended her army career as a military police officer and retired as a major in 1989.  She stopped working, began writing her book in 1995, completed her draft in 1998, and finally decided to publish her book in 2006. This is Lenora’s first book, which portrays her intimate military journey with a candid flare and an innate passion for writing.  Her military autobiography covers incidents, thoughts, and lessons learned which she documented in her journal throughout the years.  She graduated from California University of Pennsylvania (CUP) with a BS in social work, a MEd in secondary guidance counseling/consulting, and a certificate of completion in multimedia technology. Lenora has performed as a professional musician (bass player) and vocalist and as a semiprofessional softball player during her travels in the military. She is also writing her second book that covers her continued struggling and spiritual experiences after retiring from the army.  She is presently a 66 year old who is a caregiver for her 87 year old Alzheimer’s mother. She sends out a special “thank you” to her high school classmates and army comrades who inspired her to publish this book.

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WAC Major: Herstory * by H. Lenora Byrd

A Black Woman in the White Man's Army

Publication Date: April 17, 2007