Hi I’m Robin Shirley reporting at Bobcat Channel 51 hi I’m cos Mor Mo today we have Lieutenant Colonel Tony Daniels and Mr cars Perkins good morning Robin how are you doing again my name is uh Tony Daniels I um member of Al Alp Fraternity Incorporated I also am retired from
United States Army Army Reserves I spent 26 years in United States Army Reserves well good morning my name is Carl Perkins I’m also a member of alpha 5 attorney Incorporated B Lambda chapter Oklahoma City Oklahoma uh never was in the military I’m a military brat I lived on and
Around military bases all my life I was born in the military hospital my dad was in the US Army for 27 and a half years and here I am it’s nice having you to all here coming to our school today you said you graduated from college what college did
You attend right I um graduated from the University of Oklahoma OU Sooners in Norman my major was political science and also I graduated from the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmund where I received my master’s degree in criminal justice management and administration I also at the University
Of Central Oklahoma that’s where I was commissioned through their ROTC program and became an officer in the United States Army oh College well I started out at norfol State University and norfol Virginia HBCU Fame okay uh basically I was born and raised in Virginia and just
Had to go back home uh wound up transferring out to Oklahoma State University finished at Oklahoma state with a degree in sociology with pre-social work emphasis I did my master’s program at East Central University uh human resources with an emphasis in vacational Rehabilitation and here I am okay so Mr Lieutenant Colonel Tony
Canel so what was so intriguing for you to major in political science well uh I was trying to decide what I wanted to study in school and uh what I found is U I had a real strong interest in history and government Civics black history military history
And so when I got to OU I said hey I want to study political science because back then you guys may not be aware of it back then they had something that happened with the television where TV stayed on 24 hours a day and they call
It Cable News Network with CNN and other channels like that and so I would sit around and watch the news Cycle 24 hours and I said you know what this is very very interesting when I get to college I think I want to be able to study politics and government and Civics and
Uh because it’s current of what I’m watching and what I’m seeing so that’s why I went the route of political science that’s cool that’s cool what made y’all want to join alha out for me it was seeing uh African-American males who were productive who had an interest in doing
Things for the community and in college as they say and I hate to say this but you know hanging around the alphas I figured out one thing they stayed up late they parted hard but they graduated and at that point in college you’re looking for guidance and
Assistance and you know if you go to college honestly you’re going to have a good time yes but in doing that you also have to be serious enough to focus on your work your education and what you plan on doing with it and the alpha that I dealt
With they did that they had fun but when it came to graduation doing work they were serious and to me identified with that and here I am I think I had a similar experience um my dad when he went to college he wasn’t Greek um meaning he didn’t pledge any
Fraternities or things of that nature again my dad’s been 21 years in the United States Air Force and he ultimately retired he did go back and finish his bachelor’s ma master’s degree and I think a second master’s degree but he didn’t have time for those extracurricular activities so I really
Didn’t know that much about fraternities and sororities um my oldest sister pledged sorority um and uh she pledge Alpha Kappa Alpha sority AKA AKA right and so that’s where I first you know started taking a look at that they would do service projects and they would do
Service projects with alphas and so I met a whole team of Alphas really from the C University of Central Oklahoma back then they was called Central State and they found out I was in college I was a freshman I think at the time and they would talk with me they asked me
About my grades my scholarship you know grades how you know am I taking care of of um my SC my my scholas Scholastic U responsibilities and things of that nature and they as brother Carl was saying it seemed like they were a very close Brotherhood they were having fun
Uh but they were serious about grades and then the ones who were graduating they were going on and getting in started with their careers when I got to University of Oklahoma then I had my eyes on a couple of fraternities but um it was the alphas that that pulled me in
Because once again these brothers uh not only were they going to school but they were working for the student government or they were working down in the basement at test files or they were Ras or residential advisers for the dorms and uh so these brothers all were Alpha
Men they were they were they were serving on their campuses and they were very sharp they were very smart they had strong leadership skills again uh they had a good time uh back then when we went to college everyone dressed real um real uh conservatively or kind of preppy
Or S to speak with not so much with the suits but you know nice sweaters hais Navy jackets things of that nature so you know these That’s who these guys were and I said hey I want to be a part of that organization to serve with likeminded young men who are focused and
A lot of them were graduating uh uh at in in about three years and going on to law school and getting law degrees and mbas at the same time so they were really sharp brothers and they put that pressure on me once I became a member to
Go ahead and graduate get into a career start serving and start making a difference so that’s why I chose Alpha and then I think the last reason was or the first reason I should have said um a lot of the gentlemen at my church in my church District in my denomination a lot
Of them were strong alpam men from our Bishop to our presiding Elder to our pastor um to a lot of just the general membership the deacons or the stewards at the time all these gentlemen were Alpha men and they were strong okay so thank you for telling us and
Giving us more information about You You’s backstory so I would like some more information about the veterans program yes okay the uh the veterans program Alpha F Alpa we host a a Veterans Day program it’s um we’re in our 15th year so we’ve been doing this
For 15 years um it actually was the brainchild of one of our past presidents of the beta Lambda chapter here in Oklahoma City his name is Dr he’s one of our brothers brother Dr Randy hunt he’s a retired um retired Professor I think a science Professor yes at Langston
University he was the a chapter president at the time well myself and brother Perkin we were brand new to the Oklahoma City chapter trying to feel our way around and get our feet uh wet so to speak and he asked us to come up with an idea for a Veterans Day program
So um myself and brother Perkins we sat down and we just came up with kind of like a a template sort of speak on what we thought a veterans program ought to be there were other brothers who dived in with us um uh brother uh Colonel San
Evans who’s also the dean of U’s Law Center retired a Dean at the U’s Law Center and he’s a retired Colonel as well full bird colonel and so between several of us we came up with this program and basically the uh the program we host again every every year it’s always on
The first Thursday of November we found that to be the better time to do it is because it’s after no November normally has election Seasons you know either the first Tuesdays are elections right so we didn’t want to get in the way of that and at nor the actual Veterans Day
Holiday is normally the the 11th of November so we wanted to do something in between those two uh important days and so that’s how we came up with the first Thursday in November um we always uh it’s always been uh historically been at uh Prospect Baptist Church here in Oklahoma City
Where well again one of our fraternity Brothers uh Reverend Lee Cooper Jr is the pastor of the church there he and his he and his congregation has been very gracious to allow us to have our program there so that’s what we deal with that our program again over the
Last 15 years we’ve had several speakers several speakers we’ve had uh at least two black World War II veterans and let me back up and say this one of the reasons why we started the program is also we wanted to highlight specifically significant contributions of black veterans here in Oklahoma City
We know that there’s Veterans Day programs we’re by no means trying to be separate or segregated but we wanted to highlight black veterans in our community maybe in your own families you have veterans maybe some cousins or some uncles some AES that have served in the
Military and a lot of times they don’t talk about their service and so this was our idea that to host a a program where the community can come and be engaged and involved and we could see uh veterans in our community that look like us that served and so that’s why we
Started this program and then I’ll go back to say some of the guest speakers that we’ve had in the last 15 years we’ve had at least two black World War II veterans which is almost really don’t there’s not that many left the World War II veterans and it’s specifically African-American World
War II veterans we’ve had um a marine that served in Vietnam we’ve had uh we’ve had the first black female Lieutenant Colonel who served in the Oklahoma National Guard she was one of our speakers we had another uh black female who was uh in the United States Air Force she was a
Chief which is the highest rank that you can have on the enlisted side in the Air Force she’s she’s uh served in the program we had the um the Commodore or or the the captain or a captain in the Navy is like a colonel in the air for in
In the in the air air force of the army but he was the called The Commodore of the Navy out on Tinker which means he ran all the Navy programs on Tinker Air Force Base I think he was our very first speaker um in addition to that we’ve had
A one two onear generals uh one that was a onear general from the Pentagon last year he spoke he was over all the Cyber um cyber um security and things of that nature at the Pentagon he spoke last year prior to him we have one of our fraternity Brothers who’s a one star
General in the Oklahoma National Guard um he’s deceased now but he he was one of our speakers and we’ve had in between there we’ve had several other speakers from just the community various ranks and various branches of service and so that’s what we try to do we just try to
Highlight the talent that we have here in Oklahoma City of veterans uh males and female veterans and specifically African-American veterans so that’s kind of where it came from I little Carl try in if I’ve missed anything no you did a great job Tony I think uh as Tony
Mentioned brother Randy hunt tasked us with trying to put this thing together and when we first got started on it I think the biggest thing we were thinking about was you know how could we make this work where we could highlight the achievements of individuals in particular a lot here in Oklahoma City
And we started looking around and we saw that there is a rich history of uh individuals in nooma city in the surrounding area who have served this country and first of all since we’re both military brats per se you know we just looked at our own fathers but as
Tor was saying as I thought about my family I had uh two uncles one Air Force One navy I had uh two brothers one Army One navy and I started to think you know just how ingrained I I am in regards to the military and the services that
They provided to help me be what I wanted to be over here in this country and remain free so that kind of motivated me to want to be a part of the program and and from year to year I just uh gain more knowledge about you know people within the service especially
African-Americans and what they’ve done and it just makes me feel like you know I owe a lot and I’m trying to give back as much as I can exactly exactly and I you know something else that would add to that as well like we were saying a
Lot of black veterans um from maybe well actually from 1776 you know the first person to give their life for this country was a black man chrispus ausus he died in 1776 when the first shots were fired uh during the Revolutionary War so blacks have played
A prival role in the military from the founding of this country until current with the uh Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and even currently as things are going on in current events as you’re watching here today but what we found too is even as brother Carl was saying in our own
Families a lot of veterans don’t talk about their service the real the only time you really find about that someone’s a veteran maybe at your church or your family or friends is when you’re unfortunately at their funeral services and you’re looking at their obituaries and you say I didn’t know she served I
Didn’t know he served and so to kind of prevent that here in OKC he’s like we need to honor and pay homage and recognize black veterans now why they’re still walking around most of them are going to be in their 60s and 70s and then we got a whole another one or two
Generations coming up behind them as Carl was saying Oklahoma City has a rich black history and not only a rich black history uh but um a rich history with veterans there’s a park here in Oklahoma City called Pitts Park you may have heard of Pitts Park you need to go by
There and look and and look on the walls that was a black veteran in fact it’s not only just a black veteran this veteran uh Captain Leroy pittz served in the United States Army he was a captain in the United States Army during Vietnam um his Camp was overrun by the enemy and
He was unfortunately killed and that in that battle he not only that he received the most highest honor you can receive from the United States government he was a medal of honor winner a black Medal of Honor winner right here from Oklahoma City pits Park go down there and look you’ll see his
Medals I think you got several Purple Heart bronze star medal of honor when you get the Medal of Honor normally um if you’re deceased and you know he was killed in battle your family flies to Washington DC you’ve probably seen it on TV and the president puts the the metal H around
Their neck his wife and his family went up and received that award there’s another one uh Sergeant Ruben Rivers out of tumsa Oklahoma he served in World War II in the 761st I think uh tanker Battalion that’s tanks in World War II fighting the Germans uh he was killed in battle uh he
Received the Medal of Honor winner uh Medal of Honor as well uh from uh I believe it was President Bill Clinton I believe it was so these are two right here in Oklahoma City and if you know uh that Sergeant Rivers has many descendants still here in Oklahoma City
A lot of them in Spencer Oklahoma a couple of them go to my church I attend church with them so these are and these are just two uh black um honor Medal of Honor winners I think there’s only I can’t remember how many since the existence but not very many people get
The Medal of Honor that’s the highest award that you been can be given for your service and for your Valor and many have given their lives they get that metal post humorous humorously which means they get that medal after they die they’ve died their family gets that
Metal so that’s what we wanted to highlight with the alpas salutes our veterans program it’s not just an alpha program we we’ve uh Incorporated over the years several churches Civic social organizations other fraternities and sororities now are joining us and highlighting the veterans in their chapter and um the sororities are
Highlighting the females in their chapter that served and so it’s just like beginning to grow and we’re hoping that it will grow more and uh and yeah it’s a it’s I think it’s a really exciting thing and a lot of veterans get together and they’re able to start a
Network with another there’s a couple black veterans organizations here in Oklahoma City Legion Post 157 and as well as uh um Legion Post 157 the National Association of black um black veterans and these are some of the oldest um organizations that are predominantly black but there not all
Black but predominantly black would that the black veterans serve in the other thing we do is uh each year we invite a a different High School Color Guard team to come out and present the colors for us in the past we have us Star Spencer that was some while ago
That was our I think the very first program we did we used our Spencer Color Guard through your Air Force Roc program I think you guys have out here uh this year we’re going to use Douglas High School uh in the past we’ve also used the Northeast well Old Northeast class in
SAS now at Northeast uh Dale City High School colard has been out and done things for us so we’d like to invite high school students out so they can hear this information as well and begin to you know put things together in their mind as to you know what their future
Could be if they chose the military another thing about Oklahoma is we have a rich history of the military here in Oklahoma as well you have Fort Seal you have Tinker Air Force Base you have air force base in alus Oklahoma so uh and if
You look at it little be known El Reno back in the day was a mil Bas in itself uh you have to understand that Fort Seal the first individuals who helped establish Fort Seal were the Buffalo Soldiers and who were the Buffalo Soldiers they were African-American
Males who were sent out to the frontier to help deal with the Indian population the Native American in terms of what they were doing at that time so the Buffalo Soldiers were instrumental in form and force Hill I did not know that that’s very AAL yes thank you you’re welcome
Well before we end this H would youall like to give us some contact information about the veteran program yeah let me let me just share one thing that we neglected to share uh this year once again so um share with your network and family and friends about our Veterans Day program that
We’re hosting once again it’s open to the public it’s open to all veterans um so come up to prospect Missionary Baptist Church or Prospect Baptist Church here in Oklahoma City it will be this Thursday Thursday uh November the 2nd at 7 pm our guest speaker this year is Lieutenant Colonel Alvin Jones who
Happens to be the um staff uh assist assistant staff instructor for the RC program at Northeast High School um or class and SAS high school at Northeast so he’s going to be our speaker this year again it’s open to the public uh you’re wear you’re welcome to wear your
Favorite hat you see me sporting my favorite army hat or or if you can wear your uniform I might wear my dress blue uniform but if you’re welcome to wear your uniforms your hats your pens your vests whatever you have if you don’t have that just come on out if you have a
Fav favorite veteran your grandpa your uncles your mom your auntie your grandma bring them out so that they can fellowship with everybody and it’s a great program we’ll have videos this year we’re highlighting uh the desegregation of the military uh this was the 75th Anniversary uh this year’s
The 75th Anniversary where Harry EST Truman uh wrote the proclamation 9980 9981 that desegregated the military which means they didn’t just have black serving over here and white serving over here the military was desegregated and everyone was integrated on one force fighting force so that’s pretty much
What we had thank you guys for this time we appreciate it thank you very much I personally enjoy talking to you too cuz it was I learned a lot cuz I did not know all this information so thank you very much you’re welcome you’re welcome I’m Robin Shirley I’m M reporting at
Star Spencer high school thank you back to the news station
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