Courtesy Photo | Melvin Pender Jr. earns a gold medal at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico by being a...... read more read more
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The U.S. Military Academy celebrated Black History with its annual luncheon observance on Feb. 17 at the West Point Club.
The luncheon was hosted by the Office of Diversity, Inclusion and Equal Opportunity (ODIEO) and included a talk by Melvin Pender Jr.
Pender was born in 1937 and is a native of Atlanta. He is an Olympic gold medalist and U.S. Army veteran. During his remarks, Pender spoke about his journey in the Army, trip to the Olympics and the resilience he had to learn to be successful in life.
Pender’s early influences came from the Tuskegee Airmen and the novel/movie, “To Hell and Backˮ by Audie Murphy.
Pender smiled as he whispered, “I knew that Murphy was one of the highest decorated Soldiers in the United States Army during the Second World War. This guy was unbelievable.”
“I wanted to be like Murphy,ˮ Pender added. “I wanted to win medals. I wanted the Bronze Star.”
As Pender walked amongst attendees during his speech, he began to speak about his childhood and curiosity about why things were the way they were.
“When I was a kid, I always asked my mom why things were different for black people than it was for white people. Why do we have to go to different schools? Why do the black troops have to be on one end of the train and the white troops on the other end of the train? Why? We’re fighting the same war,” Pender said.
His mother encouraged him to get an education and be the example of the change he wanted in the country.
While navigating a segregated school system, he had enough. At 17 years old, he decided to join the U.S. Army. Before leaving off to bootcamp, his grandfather told him that things would be different for him because of the color of his skin and that he must do everything to do things to the best of his ability.
While stationed in Okinawa, Japan, he played football and found himself ready to show that ability to be the best. By request of his football coach, he raced against some of Japan’s best track athletes.
“They had starting blocks. I had to dig two holes in the ground. Then the gun went off,” Pender said.
He had changed his life forever. Pender ran a sub-10-second 100-meter sprint and was then selected to the 1964 Olympic games. He was hampered by injury and finished seventh in the 100 meters at Tokyo.
A few years later after completing Army Officer Candidate School, he received notification that he would compete as part of the 1968 U.S. Olympic team.
Pender not only earned a gold medal in the 4x100-meter relay race, but also set a new relay world record during the games.
Pender explains that during the 1968 Olympics, Tommie Smith and John Carlos, each raised their fist during the playing of the United States national anthem as an equal rights demonstration.
“They were crucified because we were trying to show the world that we’re all people,ˮ Pender said. “It doesn’t matter if you’re black, brown, yellow or green ... We are still people.”
After returning from the Olympics, despite being selected for flight school, Pender was slotted to go back to Vietnam in just two weeks.
“They thought I was involved in the demonstration in Mexico. I was the oldest guy there on the team, but I was a spokesman,ˮ he said. “I was not involved because I knew better because I was in the United States Army. I knew better and my career was very important to me.”
Instead of deploying to Vietnam immediately, he found himself back at Fort Bragg with the 82nd Airborne Division where he took command of his first company.
After his deployment rotation in which he was awarded his Bronze Star and then nine months as courier for Ambassador William Colby, he received orders to serve at the U.S. Military Academy.
Pender describes his time at the academy as the best assignment of his life.
“The best time of my life was to be around (the cadets) ... It was the most important assignment of my life,” Pender said. “There were only like 40 black athletes here, but they were the best. I gave them the same workouts I did. Especially the sprinters. If they couldn’t do my work out, they couldn’t make the team.”
Although he describes West Point as an amazing experience, Pender shared a personal experience that deeply hurt him while serving as the track team assistant coach.
“The most shocking thing happened to me in my life. I was told that I could not be the head coach here because of the color my skin,” Pender said. “I sucked it up. I persevered. I didn’t let that stop me.”
Pender called on cadets to understand their moment and become role models for the next generation.
“I believe in loving and treating everybody the same. One day you are going to be leading ... different nationalities,ˮ Pender said. “You are protecting your country and the greatest country in the world — the United States America.ˮ
The talk ended with the presentation of a small gift of appreciation from West Point that was presented by Brigade Respect Captain, Class of 2022 Cadet Mennat-Allah Mohamed.
| Date Taken: | 02.24.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 02.24.2022 09:50 |
| Story ID: | 415198 |
| Location: | WEST POINT, NEW YORK, US |
| Web Views: | 35 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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