This brave soldier was born a slave in Virginia in 1840. And 85 years before my own lifetime began, Sgt. Carney was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.
On July 18, 1863, during the Battle of Fort Wagner in South Carolina, Sgt. William Carney miraculously helped lead the safe retreat of his men after Colonel Robert Gould Shaw was shot down. The 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, the “colored” regiment you saw in the movie “Glory,” was pinned down and pushed back by deadly Confederate force. It happened in 1863 during the Civil War, but William Carney didn’t receive the award until 1900, making him the twenty-first African American recipient.
Sgt. Carney achieved this feat at the age of 23, sending a resounding message to me that the young are capable of great things under pressure.
