Photo By Staff Sgt. Robert Adams | Maj. Gen. Rodney Boyd, the Assistant Adjutant General – Army of the Illinois...... read more read more
Subscribe
SPRINGFIELD, Illinois – Maj. Gen. Rodney Boyd, the Assistant Adjutant General – Army of the Illinois National Guard and the Commander of the Illinois Army National Guard joined with Chicago Public School officials and the 8th Infantry Illinois National Guard Association in awarding the 2023 Captain Walter Dyett Award to high school junior and musician Eugene Shelby.
“Today we get to celebrate a student’s achievement and character while honoring a great Soldier and teacher, Captain Walter Henri Dyett,” Boyd said during the inaugural Captain Walter Dyett Award Ceremony at the Walter Dyett High School for the Fine Arts on Chicago’s South Side. “Today the members of the 8th Infantry are keeping the memory of one of our own alive and celebrating the legacy of Captain Walter Dyett in a way we think he would appreciate. By honoring a student that exhibits the values he lived by.”
The award, co-sponsored by the 8th Infantry Association and the National Guard Association of Illinois (NGAI), goes to a high school fine arts student that best exemplifies the creativity, discipline, hard work, selfless service, respect, and integrity that Captain Walter Dyett brought to his military career leading the “Fighting” 8th Infantry Regimental Band and as a music educator in the Chicago Public Schools for decades.
“To go to this school and to understand who Walter Dyett was not only as a captain, but as an educator in the South Side of Chicago gives me a lot of inspiration to know that one day I could become something, I know I can become something,” said Shelby, a junior at the Walter Dyett High School for the Fine Arts.
Walter Dyett High School Principal Doreatha “Dory” Butler nominated Shelby for the award and he was selected by the 8th Infantry Association in conjunction with NGAI. The award was presented by 8th Infantry Association President Ron Murdock and Lt. Col. (retired) Dr. Donald Harris, a member of the 8th Infantry Association and Senior Army Instructor for King College Prep High School and its JROTC Jaguar Battalion.
“We are here to today to celebrate Captain Walter Dyett who himself was a father of the 8th Infantry, as well as a musician and educator,” said Ron Murdock, President of the 8th Infantry Association. The 8th Infantry Association also presented Shelby with a new computer to help him with his studies.
The Jaguar Battalion presented the colors for the ceremony and the King College Prep High School Band performed at the ceremony along with the Illinois Army National Guard’s 144th Army Band, based on the South Side of Chicago in the historic General Richard Lee Jones Armory.
Capt. Walter Dyett directed the Illinois National Guard Band’s 8th Infantry Regiment Band and served as music director and educator within the Chicago Public Schools from 1931-1962 on the South Side of Chicago. Captain Dyett fostered the growth of jazz and Black musicians in Chicago. He led the Pickford Orchestra, Washington Park summer concerts, the DuSable-ites, the “Hi-Jinks,” and many others. From 1931 to 1962, Dyett taught classical, military, and jazz music to more than 20,000 students at Wendell Phillips and DuSable High Schools. Jazz greats including Nat “King” Cole, Dorothy Donegan, Joseph Jarman, Dinah Washington, Johnny Griffin, and Mwata Bowden credit Dyett for their early musical training.
“His students were his children and he taught them to be resilient and tough, while also loving them with all his heart. He inspired them to find a path from poverty and prejudice. He taught them to believe in themselves and he believed in them,” said Director of Student Life and Partnerships for Walter Dyett High School Cinque Cullar. “His motto was ‘You are what you think you are.’”
Boyd said the same values Dyett lived by are the values the Illinois National Guard tries to instill in all of its Soldiers and Airmen. “The Illinois National Guard is a part of our communities and its strength comes from our communities,” said Boyd. “This is very true here at the South Side of Chicago and has been for a very long time.”
Boyd said the Illinois National Guard will remain an integral part of the South Side of Chicago.
“As we turn to the voices and impacts of leaders and train blazers this Black History Month, I’m proud to stand with you all and raise up Captain Walter Dyett for making his mark and contributing to this chapter of Black history, our community’s history, our state’s history and our nation’s history,” said Boyd, who is the first person of color to be promoted to major general in the nearly 300-year history of the Illinois National Guard.
| Date Taken: | 02.22.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 02.24.2023 14:46 |
| Story ID: | 439144 |
| Location: | SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS, US |
| Web Views: | 97 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, ILLINOIS NATIONAL GUARD JOINS COMMUNITY IN HONORING CAPTAIN WALTER DYETT AND A CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOL STUDENT, by SSG Robert Adams, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
