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Dozens gathered on Veterans Day at the Harriet Tubman
Underground Railroad State Park in Maryland's Dorcester County
for a formal ceremony making Tubman a one-star brigadier general
in the state's National Guard.
Gov. Wes Moore called the occasion not just a great day for
Tubman's home state but for all of the U.S.
“Today, we celebrate a soldier and a person who earned the title
of veteran," Moore said. "Today we celebrate one of the greatest
authors of the American story.”
Tubman escaped slavery herself in 1849 and settled in
Philadelphia. Intent on helping others achieve freedom, she
established the Underground Railroad network and led other
enslaved Black women and men to freedom. She then channeled
those experiences as a scout, spy and nurse for the Union Army
during the Civil War, helping guide 150 Black soldiers on a
gunboat raid in South Carolina.
Nobody would have judged Tubman had she chosen to remain in
Philadelphia and coordinate abolitionist efforts from there,
Moore said.
“She knew that in order to do the work, that meant that she had
to go into the lion’s den,” Moore siad. “She knew that
leadership means you have to be willing to do what you are
asking others to do.”
The reading of the official order was followed by a symbolic
pinning ceremony with Tubman's great-great-great-grandniece,
Tina Wyatt.
Wyatt hailed her aunt's legacy of tenacity, generosity and faith
and agreed Veterans Day applied to her as much as any other
servicemember.
“Aunt Harriet was one of those veterans informally, she gave up
any rights that she had obtained for herself to be able to fight
for others,” Wyatt said. “She is a selfless person.”
Tubman's status as an icon of history has only been further
elevated within the last few years. The city of Philadelphia
chose a Black artist to make a 14-foot (4.3-meter) bronze statue
to go on display next year. In 2022, a Chicago elementary school
was renamed for Tubman, replacing the previous namesake, who had
racist views. However, plans to put Tubman on the $20 bill have
continued to stall.
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