A CENTURY OF SERVICE
For just a few months beyond a century, you will find the name of Corbett E. White among the names of those veterans who have served our country. In fact, on that infinitely long list, you will Corbett E. White three times with yet another one undergoing training to continue the tradition of service four members of a Montrose, Georgia family.
It all began on July 28, 1918, when Corbett White was inducted into the United States Army. Private White, a share-cropping farmer went “over there” as an infantryman in the liberation of France. White served for nearly thirteen months before coming back home to Laurens County.
The tradition was revived in 1961, when his son, Corbett E. White, I, joined the army and was assigned as a paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne Division. White trained at Fort Benning and Fort Bragg and Cam Ranh Bay, Vietnam in the early years of the Vietnam Era. As one of the relatively few African-American paratroopers, White served in a dangerous role as a forward observer.
The third Corbett White, joined the United States Air Force, in which he served from 1993 to 2015. Corbett, the II, was a communications specialist who served aboard AWACS surveillance planes and worked with drones during the Gulf Wars of Desert Storm, Desert Shield and Iraqi Freedom.
Next in line is Corbett White, III. Young white is currently enrolled in an R.O.T.C. program in a Washington, D.C. High School.
We will have to wait for another generation to see if there is fifth Corbett White to serve our nation. Let us all hope that if yet another Corbett White serves our country, that it will be during peace time.
So on this Veteran’s Day, let us salute Corbett White , Corbett E. White, I, and Corbett E. White, II, and Corbett E, White III for a century of service to the United States of America. And, to the Corbetts and all of those who have served and still serve our country, we say a loud and heart felt “thank you for you for your service.”
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