Alabama Air Force reservists honor civil rights legend

  • Published
  • By Jeff Melvin
  • 908th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
MAXWELL AFB. Ala. --  Every reservist will tell you that unit training assemblies are filled with a million things to do. Despite the workload, it is sometimes best to put the training aside and honor those who came before you and helped make this country better.
 
This past weekend 15 Airmen assigned to the 908th Airlift Wing did just that as they joined the hundreds attending the funeral of Mrs. Johnnie R. Carr, one of the lesser known although most highly regarded leaders of the civil rights movement, who passed away Feb. 22 at age 97.
 
Carr led the Montgomery Improvement Association, an organization formed in 1955 when her childhood friend, Rosa Parks, was arrested for refusing to give up her bus seat to a white man. Parks' arrest sparked the Montgomery bus boycott, and drew national attention to the fight against segregation as well as one of the boycott's leaders, Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. She also helped lead the fight to integrate Alabama schools using the court system.
 
"Her passing was truly a loss for us," said one of the Reservists who paid their respects, Capt. Deana Goudeau. Mrs. Carr was scheduled to be a guest speaker during the 908th AW's Junior Officer Leadership Development Course set for March 27-30; Captain Goudeau is one of the primary organizers of the event.
 
"I had the opportunity to meet one-on-one with her just two weeks before she fell ill from a stroke. Just to sit and listen to her talk is something I will remember for the rest of my life. We only spent a few hours together, but as I listened to each person speak at her funeral, I felt what so many other people she touched were feeling. I felt a connection to history. She will be missed," Captain Goudeau said.
 
Capt. Tonia Stephens, a member of the 908th AW's Human resource Development Council, attended the funeral also. Her comments mirrored Captain Goudeau's. 

"I believe it is important for us, especially the younger population, to understand all the sacrifices made by others," Captain Stephens said. "Mrs. Carr and those that have gone on before, have made it possible for us to be where we are today. We often take for granted the possessions and opportunities we have. In Mrs. Carr's lifetime, she lived with and without a lot of the opportunities we have today. Even so, she was grateful for the trials and triumphs trials that made society better as a whole."