What's Your Story?

There's probably something you could tell the world and there's no doubt you are uniquely qualified to tell it.

My friend Doug heard a story.

It was the story of his great grandfather, Ben.

Ben was a Black man from the East who boarded a train that led him to Wyoming.

Once there Ben got on with life.

In time, Ben and his wife had three children.

But then one day, Ben’s wife died.

There was Ben. Three kids. A modest career. No wife.

Ben’s only son said to him, “Daddy, I want to be like you. I want to be a military man. I want to be a general.”

Ben Sr was indeed a military man. But he was rejected from West Point. It was the disappointment that compelled him to get on that train to Wyoming. Ben Sr didn’t have the heart to tell Ben Jr that the objective was damn-near impossible.

But impossible, as they say, is just an opinion.

So Ben Sr mustered up the strength and wherewithal to raise Ben Jr as a soldier and a leader.

Ben Jr made it to West Point. Graduated with honors.

He then went on the lead the famous Red Tails squadron in World War Two.

He then innovated and worked his way up to become a general.

The first Black general in the US Air Force.

He’d join his Dad, who’d become the first Black general in the US Army.

The odds were stacked against them.

Unbelievably so.

But it happened.

This is an incredible African-American story.

A remarkable American story.

A phenomenal human story.

This was the story my friend Doug heard and had in his heart for a while.

He then decided to write it down.

All 70,000+ words of it.

It just launched as a book titled, “Invisible Generals.” You can buy it here.

Everyone has a story.

What’s yours?