Boston Holds First In-Person Black Veterans Brunch Since 2020, Presents Three Awards

BOSTON — July 19, 2026 — Boston's Office of Veterans Services held its fifth annual Black Veterans Appreciation Brunch on February 26, 2022, the first in-person gathering since the pandemic halted the event in 2020. Commissioner Robert Santiago presided, presenting three awards: the Veteran Community Award to Air Force veteran and Zoning Board of Appeals alumnus Bruce Bickerstaff; the Lieutenant Colonel Jarod Eric Hill Legacy Award to Vietnam Purple Heart recipient Ernest Washington Jr., founder of Vanguard Parking and General Services Corporation; and the City of Boston Veteran Outstanding Service Award to Army veteran Barry Reeves, the BPDA's inaugural Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Mayor Michelle Wu, City Councilor Erin Murphy — newly named chair of the City Council's Veterans and Military Affairs Committee — state Senator Nick Collins, Representative Liz Miranda, and Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden were among the officials present. A panel discussion featuring Bickerstaff, Washington, and Colonel Anthony Henson, moderated by Reeves, explored the mental health toll of service on Black veterans, the scarcity of Black officers in specialized military branches, and the need to recruit younger members into veteran organizations. Colonel Andrea Gail Bennett, Retired — the first African American female colonel in the Massachusetts Army National Guard — delivered a pre-recorded address describing the institutional isolation she experienced as one of the only senior women of color during her 2009 Iraq deployment, arguing that "loneliness or isolation undermines a ready and reliable force."