Raleigh civil rights pioneer is laid to rest with full military honors

Beloved Raleigh military and civil rights pioneer Millie Dunn Veasey was buried Monday with full military honors.

Veasey was interred following a ceremony that included a color guard and military gun salute at the Raleigh National Cemetery.

She died March 9, weeks after basking in the praise of family, friends and admirers at a 100th birthday party on Jan. 31 at a North Raleigh restaurant.

Veasey will be best remembered as one of the first African American women to enlist in the Women's Army Corps during World War II and as the first female president of the Raleigh NAACP.

Father Jemonde Taylor, rector at St. Ambrose Episcopal Church in Raleigh, where Veasey was a member, described her as someone who "embodied the Christian faith and lived out the ideals of Jesus Christ" while keeping her prayer book and Bible close by on her nightstand.

Taylor said Veasey was an active member who taught Sunday School to the congregation's eighth-graders and tried to get to church when she could, "which was every Sunday."

Taylor said Veasey was a role model for both young and old church members.

"They saw her kneeling and praying," he said. "She was always so encouraging. She would tell me, 'Father Taylor, we can do this. You can do this.'"

A Raleigh native and one of six children, Veasey graduated from Washington High School in 1942 and enlisted in what was then known as the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps.

“I didn’t weigh more than 102 pounds and didn’t know how to tie my tie,” she wrote in a living history of her life.

Veasey enlisted with three other African American women from Raleigh. All four were stationed in Colorado for basic training.

During World War II, she was a member of the 6888 – the “Six-Triple Eight” – Central Postal Battalion. The unit was the only all-black, all-female battalion to serve overseas during World War II. Veasey served in France and England with the unit, which sorted and routed mountains of mail for millions of American service members and civilians.

Veasey was selected for Officer Candidate School at the war’s end, but she discharged in 1945 to continue her education. She returned to Raleigh and attended St. Augustine’s College on the G.I. Bill. She graduated in 1953 with a degree in business administration and a minor in English. She taught business education and eighth grade English in Matthews, Va., then came back to Raleigh, where she worked as secretary to the St. Aug’s president, James Boyer, before retiring in 1986.

Taylor pointed out that Veasey had sat beside Dr. Martin Luther King at the 1963 March on Washington, where he delivered his immortal "I Have A Dream" speech. He said that event was aptly flanked in later years by another moment that was, in part, fulfillment of the nation's civil rights struggle.

"She was so proud," Taylor said, "when she met President Obama and he saluted her."

Thomasi McDonald: 919-673-5036, @thomcdonald

This story was originally published March 19, 2018 at 2:26 PM with the headline "Raleigh civil rights pioneer is laid to rest with full military honors."