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By Wednesday morning, your timeline will be full of free-meal deals and mattress sales for Veterans Day. Those are definitely nice, but they don’t do much for the roughly 2.1 million Black veterans in this country, many of whom have had to fight for benefits they already earned.
That fight goes back about as far as the holiday itself. Veterans Day started as Armistice Day, which marked the end of World War I in 1918, and Congress renamed it in 1954 so it would honor everyone who served. Black Americans were part of that “everyone” from the start. They’ve worn the uniform since before the United States was officially a country, even in the years when the country gave them very little loyalty in return.
For a lot of families, that history is personal.
Chances are there’s someone in yours who served. It might be a grandfather who never talked about Korea, an aunt who put in 20 years with the Air Force or a cousin who just got out and is still figuring out what’s next. Knowing the longer story makes it easier to understand what they may have been up against, and there are concrete ways to show up for them this week and long after the holiday passes.
The longer story
By the end of the Civil War, roughly 179,000 Black men had served in the Union Army and another 19,000 in the Navy. Decades later, during World War II, the Army sent the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion to Europe. The unit was made up mostly of Black women, and it faced a backlog of some 17 million pieces of undelivered mail that troops had been waiting on for months. The women cleared it in about three months. Their Congressional Gold Medal wasn’t presented until April 2025, long after most of them had died.
The military itself stayed segregated until President Harry Truman signed Executive Order 9981 in 1948.
Coming home brought a different set of problems. The GI Bill helped white World War II veterans buy homes and go to college, but History.com reports that it was carried out in ways that locked out many of the 1.2 million Black veterans of that war. One of them, Eugene Burnett, tried to buy a house in Levittown, N.Y., in 1949 and was told the suburb didn’t sell to Black families.
Yes, the gap is still there
NBC4 Washington reported that in fiscal year 2023, VA data showed 35% of PTSD claims from Black veterans were denied, compared with 25% of claims from white veterans. A denial can mean going without disability pay for years while an appeal drags on.
Got a veteran in the family? Ask about the claim.
Plenty of veterans give up after a denial or never file in the first place.
The National Association for Black Veterans, or NABVETS, was started in Milwaukee in 1969 by seven Vietnam combat veterans. It’s now a VA-certified Veterans Service Organization, so its staff and volunteers can help veterans file and appeal disability claims for free. If an uncle or a grandmother has been putting it off, help them find a local chapter and maybe offer to sit in on the first call.
Where to be on Wednesday
The national ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery starts at 11 a.m., and most cities and towns hold their own services and parades the same day. National parks are also waiving entrance fees on Nov. 11 for U.S. citizens and residents, so a hike with a veteran in your life is an easy plan.
In Atlanta, Veterans & Vinyls is throwing a Veterans Day celebration at 7 p.m. at the Madam C.J. Walker Boutique Museum and WERDSTUDIO, 54 Hilliard St. The night is set up to thank veterans for their service, so veterans get in free along with a complimentary cup of tea from the TeaBar. The event is 21+, and everyone else can grab tickets on Eventnoire.
Get their story on the record
The Library of Congress runs the Veterans History Project, which collects firsthand interviews with people who served. Anyone can record one with a phone, and the project’s free Field Kit walks you through how to send it in. Veterans who served any time since World War I are eligible, even if they never saw combat. Thanksgiving is two weeks away, and a lot of families will already be sitting around the same table.
Give to groups doing the work year-round
The Black Veterans Project was co-founded by Richard Brookshire, an Army combat medic who served in Afghanistan. The group researches racial disparities in veterans’ benefits and collects the stories of Black service members. It also pushes for restitution for veterans who were shut out of benefits they were owed.
In Brooklyn, Black Veterans for Social Justice has been running housing, job and substance abuse programs for veterans since 1979. Both organizations take donations, and BVSJ takes volunteers. Your holiday shopping can help too, since plenty of Black veterans run their own businesses and local NABVETS chapters often promote members who do.
Check on your people
Veterans Day is a good day for some veterans and a hard one for others, so a phone call or a dinner invite this weekend might mean more than you’d think.
If someone you love is struggling, the Veterans Crisis Line is open 24 hours a day by dialing 988 and pressing 1, or by texting 838255.
For ceremonies, community events and other ways to give back in your city, browse what’s happening this week on Eventnoire.