NEW YORK, Nov. 12, As the United States on Friday celebrated Veterans Day, a former St. Vincent and the Grenadines Deputy Consul General in New York and one of the country’s cultural ambassadors, who served in the Vietnam War, says the U.S. Army and the U.S. Veterans Administration (V.A.) have made significant contributions to him and his family “in a very positive way.”
“I am proud to call myself a veteran, and I pray every day for my fallen brothers and sisters,” Cyril “Scorcher” N. Thomas, also a retired public school teacher in Brooklyn, New York, who spent 11 months in Vietnam, serving from July 26, 1969, to July 25, 1971, told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) on Friday.
Thomas, also a renowned Vincentian calypsonian, said while in Vietnam, he spent six months with the 199th Light Infantry Brigade in Long Binh and five months with the 25th Division in Cuchi.
He said he hopes the names of veterans and their service will “never be forgotten.
“Long live America, long live all veterans!” proclaimed Thomas, who ended his term of service with the rank of Specialist. His Military Occupations Specialty (MOS) was 11 Bravo, commonly called “11 Bang Bang” in the U.S. Army.
While in Vietnam, Thomas said he received the National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal; Combat Infantry Badge; Army Commendation Medal; Vietnam Campaign Medal with 60 Device; Bronze Star Medal; Sharpshooter Badge Rifle M16; and the Good Conduct Medal.
On returning to the US, Thomas said he ended his term of service at the 6th Armored Cavalry Regiment, Fort Meade, Maryland.
Afterward, he matriculated at Brooklyn College, taking advantage of the G.I. (Government Issued) Bill and earning Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in Arts in political science.
While in college, Thomas said the V.A. “got me a job” in the US Postal Service.
After graduating from Brooklyn College, Thomas said they took extra credits in education and served as a high school teacher for 18 years.
Thomas said he also received an advanced certificate in educational administration and supervision from Brooklyn College and a permanent certificate from the State of New York in school district administration and supervision.
Before migrating to New York, Thomas said he represented St. Vincent and the Grenadines national football (soccer) team as a goalkeeper from 1967 – 1968.
Thomas said he started singing calypsos in public in 1973, when “a great Vincentian nationalist,” Mary Neverson-Morris, gave him his first opportunity to perform before a live audience, at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, during her annual St. Vincent and the Grenadines Cultural Extravaganza.
He said some of his “preferred” hits include: “Party Fever,”; “The Legend of Soca,”; “Cultural Resistance,”; “The Pipelayer,”; “Sweetness Is My Weakness,”; “We Still In Slavery,”; “Don One”; “No Rain Could Stop The Carnival”; “Scorcher Don’t Go”; “Fork Up The Beaches”; and “We Only Dancin’.”
Thomas served as Deputy Consul General, under Consul General Cosmus Cozier, from October 1, 2001, to May 31, 2011.
He was appointed Cultural Ambassador of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, by Prime Minister Dr. Ralph E. Gonsalves, on November 23, 2014.
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