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"My story involves the first group of black men to graduate from The Citadel."
Submitted by: Ed B.
My story involves the first group of black men to graduate from The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina. Though the first graduate is deceased, each of the first 25 distinguished themselves in civilian life. I am one of these graduates. My classmates and I are close to this day, even though we are spread across the country. Pat Conroy wrote a book about the first graduate, The Lords of Discipline. This book was made into a movie. While based on the process in the late 60's and early 70's, it does not follow through to indicate success or failure of the black cadet after graduation. We endured name-calling, the school fight song was Dixie and many black cadets did not graduate. Those of us who endured have significant positions in the workplace. We can count amongst our group leading businessmen, a high ranking federal agent, an NFL coach, and military commanders all serving with honor and leadership. If ever you wanted to display a story of overcoming odds, this is it. By the way, Citadel cadets fired the first shots of the Civil War and that is a huge part of the school's history.
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