To Serve and Defend / Brown V. Board of Education of Topeka

To Serve and Defend, also, Brown V. Board of Education of Topeka. . , To Serve and Defend , Each of the original 13 colonies had the right and the obligation to establish a militia to protect and defend its citizens. Those rights and obligations were subsequently adopted by the Second Continental Congress, when it established the Continental Army in June 1775., Throughout American history, America's sons and daughters have served to protect and defend America's shores, borders, allies and interests around the world. By the end of the year 2001, 42,348,460 Americans had served in the military, including 217,000 in the Revolutionary War; 3,263,363 in the Civil War; 4,734,991 in World War I; 16,112,566 in World War II; 5,270,000 in the Korean War; and 9,200,000 in the Vietnam War., These Revolutionary War documents depict each recruit's oath of enlistment, declaration, and date of death, if the death occurred while in service. Like the millions of service personnel who came after them, they were willing to risk their lives for liberty, freedom, and democracy., The copies of these documents were provided by the National Archives and Records Administration., Brown V. Board of Education of Topeka , Brown V. Board of Education of Topeka, a consolidation of cases before the United States Supreme Court from Delaware, South Carolina, Virginia and Kansas, was the landmark case that challenged the constitutionality of racial segregation of public schools., The attorney who successfully argued the case was Baltimore native Thurgood Marshall (1908-1993). Twenty-three years after this ruling, Marshall became the first black Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, serving with honor and distinction from October 1967 through July 1991., In Thurgood Marshall's words: ,

Education cannot be separated from the social environment in which the child lives. He cannot attend separate schools and learn the meaning of equality.

, In its unanimous ruling on May 17, 1954, the Supreme Court held that "separate educational facilities are inherently unequal," which led to the banning of school segregation and the end of legal barriers to equal education in the United States., Here, in parts, are the words of Chief Justice Earl Warren: ,

Today, education is perhaps the most important function of state and local governments.... It is the very foundation of good citizenship.... It is a principal instrument in awakening the child to cultural values … and in helping him to adjust normally to his environment...., We come then to the question presented: does segregation of children in public schools solely on the basis of race, even though the physical facilities and other "tangible" factors may be equal, deprive the children of the minority group of equal educational opportunities? We believe that it does.

, This article has been reprinted with the permission of the Topeka Capital-Journal.