More than 80 Sailors at Surface Warfare Officers School Unit Great Lakes (SWOSU GL) celebrated Black History Month in Building 236, coinciding with the monthlong national observance, Feb 24.

This year, the theme "Success Always Leaves Footprints," a quote from Booker T. Washington, recognizes and celebrates the exceptional and distinctive contributions and the unique histories and cultures our African-American/black shipmates bring to the U.S. Navy.

"It is important to celebrate Black History Month -- along with all other heritage months -- so that we better understand the people we work with, we can better get along, and we can better understand ourselves," said Cmdr. Eric Williams, commanding officer of SWOSU GL. "Whether out in the fleet or here at Surface Warfare Officers School Unit Great Lakes, a critical part of teaching is understanding each other, and that makes us an even more effective fighting team."

The guest speaker for the event was LeArthur Dunlap, a 94-year-old World War II veteran and 1942 graduate of the first black U.S. Navy recruit company in Great Lakes.

Following boot camp, Dunlap was the honor graduate of his electrician's mate (EM) class in Hampton, Virginia; and was the first black EM and the first black Sailor to earn a regular Navy rating other than a steward position. Dunlap served aboard minesweeper USS Egret (AMC 24) during the war.

"I wouldn't have done anything different," Dunlop said. "We knew that we were going to suffer discrimination. We knew we were going to suffer segregation, but I knew I wanted to join and be a Sailor to protect our country."

After World War II, Dunlap worked as a civilian with the State Department, assisting the American embassy and reconstruction efforts in Germany. He then enlisted in the U.S. Army and eventually achieved the rank of chief warrant officer 4 (CWO4), the highest CWO rank at that time. Dunlap has lived to personally witness the desegregation of the U.S. military and the civil rights movement in America.

"It is important that nobody forgets the 'firsts,'" Dunlap said. "There are a lot of people out there who were the first to break barriers. It is up to us to remind people that those barriers to prevent us from creating new ones in the future. I fought against racial prejudice to help bring about freedom, liberty, and fairness for all U.S. Navy personnel."

As a trailblazer, Dunlap is an example to others who shows when it comes to Sailors' careers, the sky is the limit.

"As an engineer, a young enlisted Sailor going to different schools, I needed to see the Mr. Dunlap," Williams said. "I needed to see the other trailblazers that are out there to give me that motivation that later strived me to be a petty officer, chief petty officer, and now commanding officer. Those trailblazers let everyone see that no matter who you are, or where you are from, there is opportunity."

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