Fort Hamilton soldiers recall Martin Luther King Jr.’s march for justice
Soldiers stationed at the Fort Hamilton Army Base commemorated the birthday of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. by taking part in a march around the Bay Ridge military installation and stopping at various points along the way to listen to speakers talk about the legacy of the slain civil rights leader.
Walking proudly behind a banner bearing a portrait of King, dozens of soldiers and civilian workers took time out of their day on Jan. 17 to pay tribute to a man who inspired a nation.
“Let’s do this march and do it right!” Command Sgt. Maj. Hector Prince, who led the procession, told the participants at the starting point outside the fort’s headquarters building.
The idea of the march around the base was to give participants a sense of what it was like back in the 1960s when King and his followers held protest demonstrations across the south to demand equality and justice in jobs, housing, and political life, organizers said. The fort march took place four days before the national holiday in remembrance of King on Jan. 21.