"I didn't see it as breaking a barrier. I saw an opportunity was presented to me and I took advantage of the opportunity." (Video Interview, 25:43)

Solomon Reed

Solomon Reed, 2003 War: Vietnam War, 1961-1975; Persian Gulf War, 1991 Branch: Navy Unit: USS Concord (AFS 5); USS Yellowstone Service Location: Great Lakes, Illinois; Jacksonville, Florida; MacDill Air Force Base, Florida; London, England; Miramar, California; Washington, DC Rank: Command Master Chief

His dream as a sharecropper's son was to join the Navy and see the world. What Solomon Reed didn't know as a teenager enlisting in that branch of service was that he would be given an opening to train in technical skills he might not have received in civilian life. He served in intelligence support during the most intense years of the Vietnam War, stationed in England. But he did see the effects of that war up close, on two brothers who served in combat. Reed held fast to his faith in the Navy, in spite of antiwar sentiments back home and racial tensions on board ships.