Brooke dedicated his life to serving his country. After graduating from Dunbar High School and Howard University in his native Washington, D.C., he shipped off to Italy, where he earned a Bronze Star for his service with the segregated 366th Infantry Regiment in World War II.
Before he passed away, Brooke said he was “thankful to God” he lived to see the election of our nation’s first black president. In 2009, when Brooke was presented with the Congressional Gold Medal, President Obama honored the contributions of Brooke as “a man who’s spent his life breaking barriers and bridging divides across this country.”
Five years earlier, Brooke had been honored by President George W. Bush with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, for his work that bridged racial and political divides.
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