In 1943, I joined the Army and went off to Europe to fight in World War II. My basic training took place in Camp Wallace, Texas, between Galveston and Houston. I grew up in the small town of Absarokee, Mont. – population 250. There were no African Americans there, so I had no experience with them until I got to Texas.

Even though 65 years has passed, I still have vivid memories of the Jim Crow laws used against people of color – the segregated drinking fountains, segregated seating on buses, segregated restrooms and many other forms of discrimination against these people. I had heard of these things but had no idea what it was like until I was there to witness it firsthand.

It was a great event when Barack Obama stood on the stage in Denver and accepted the nomination to be the candidate for president of the United States.