By John Ramos
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OAKLAND, California (KPIX) — It’s been 80 years since World War II ended and the number of veterans still with us is dwindling rapidly.
But on Saturday, in Oakland, a man who served in that conflict turned 100 years old and had some things to say about the country that called him to duty.
Five generations of family and friends gathered at the Hiram Masonic Hall in Oakland to mark the centennial milestone of Floyd Payne, Sr.
His daughter, Sharon Grisby, said it’s nice to be able to celebrate loved ones while they’re still among us.
“You know, it’s good to have a family reunion because that’s what this is. besides somebody dying and us getting together,” she said. “But my mother treated my father’s birthday like it was a holiday, which it was because it used to be George Washington’s birthday.”
It’s been 80 years since World War II ended and the number of veterans still with us is dwindling rapidly.
But on Saturday, in Oakland, a man who served in that conflict turned 100 years old and had some things to say about the country that called him to duty.
Five generations of family and friends gathered at the Hiram Masonic Hall in Oakland to mark the centennial milestone of Floyd Payne, Sr.
His daughter, Sharon Grisby, said it’s nice to be able to celebrate loved ones while they’re still among us.
“You know, it’s good to have a family reunion because that’s what this is. besides somebody dying and us getting together,” she said. “But my mother treated my father’s birthday like it was a holiday, which it was because it used to be George Washington’s birthday.”
“They would always have White guys over the Black soldiers. He was a soldier too, but they didn’t trust Black people to run the warehouse,” said Payne. “Should have given the Black man the same chores as they give the other ones, you know? If they made a White sergeant somewhere, I feel like they ‘ought of have made a Black soldier a sergeant, too.”
Payne grew up in Lousianna, so to him, it was just a fact of life.
Later, he moved to California, worked for years at the Mare Island shipyards, married the love of his life, Leatha Mae, and raised a big family.
Now, except for a sore back, Payne said it feels pretty good to reach 100, but he admitted that he’s concerned about where the country is going.
“Some things are better, some going backwards, to me,” he said. ” What happened yesterday, they don’t seem to remember today. And so they’ll go right back into the same thing that you were just in that trouble, what the hell did you go back for? I think there’s a lot of prejudice. I think a lot of people still don’t trust Black folks.”
Payne never stormed a beach or faced enemy fire, but that doesn’t mean he’s afraid of a fight. In fact, he’s involved in one to this day.
The Army neglected to pay him everything he was owed and his grandson Darrell Smith said the mild-mannered truck driver hasn’t forgotten about it.
On Friday, Floyd asked Smith to take him to a local V.A. office to fill out the forms to reclaim his back pay.
“He still has a bucket list, let’s just say that,” said Smith. “Yeah, yeah, it’s still on his bucket list. He still wants his compensation.”
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