America at 250: Oklahoma veterans share hope for where the country is headed

Raymond Queen remembers watching the events of Sept. 11, 2001 unfold as a teenager.

By then, he’d already considered entering the military. It was the family tradition, he told The Eagle. He knew he would be following in the footsteps of his father, grandfather and cousin, Michael Summers.

As America’s 250th birthday arrives this Fourth of July, Queen said this holiday is more than an opportunity to “hang out and shoot off fireworks.” It is a time for reflection on where the country has been and where it’s going.

Speaking with the Eagle a few days before July 4, he recalled his time serving the country in the military. Witnessing the events of Sept. 11 solidified his belief that it was the right path for him. 

Ultimately, enlisting became a way out of the small Texas community where he grew up. Joining the military in 2006 at the age of 19 would open his eyes to life outside of what he described as a very poor, “backwoods” area where people had “some very backward ideas.”

“When you join the military, it gets thrown for a loop because you’re around everybody. It’s what started opening my eyes,” Queen said.

His military career includes a 15-month stint in Baghdad before serving two years in the National Guard. 

‘Build an equitable society moving forward’

While he will always be proud of his time serving, Queen said his political views have shifted more than 15 years after leaving the military.

“I don’t necessarily agree with the reasons why we were in Iraq or anything like that anymore, but I was there to protect the guy next to me,” he told The Eagle. “It was a very eye-opening experience.”

Today, Queen is the director of veteran impact and engagement at The Coffee Bunker, a Tulsa nonprofit organization helping veterans transition to life after the military. The organization hosted its Independence Day celebration at its midtown headquarters Thursday.

As much as he spent time reflecting, he’s also looking forward to what America’s future has in store. 

“I truly see this as our starting point to make changes, to learn from our past and to build an equitable society moving forward,” he said. “And I think we finally have the ability to do so. I think the American people are ready for that.”

He said the country is in a transition period but “we have the ability to come out stronger. And I believe that people are finally starting to see that.”

‘I’m very hopeful’

John Davenport, an Air Force veteran and volunteer with The Coffee Bunker, told The Eagle he is dissatisfied with the way that the country is being led under the current presidential administration.

“When we’re in the military, we’re apolitical, we’re not political. And that’s the way I carried myself,” he said. “I’m very ashamed today because of what’s going on.”

But he still has faith that the trajectory of things can change in the next few years. 

“It will get better. Our reputation will get better. It can’t get any worse,” he said. “I try to be positive. So, I’m very hopeful. I can’t wait until our country gets better.”

Davenport said his first impressions of the U.S. military date back to when he was a young child living in an orphanage in a small town near Seoul, South Korea. 

“The Army would come and give us food, milk and cereal, clothing, everything,” he recalled.

Before long, he was adopted and raised in Amityville, a village in Long Island, New York. 

It was while watching the TV show “I Dream of Jeannie” with his new family when Davenport was further inspired to pursue a military career. 

“Major Nelson, he had all these ribbons on his chest. I was 9 years old,” he recalled. “I saw all these ribbons and I said, ‘I want that.’”

By the age of 22, he fulfilled that dream by enlisting in the Air Force. For 23 years he served as a military police officer.

Davenport feels immensely blessed to have had the career he did. Serving in the military is the source of some of the proudest moments of his life.

Today, he has found a new purpose in helping veterans get the disability benefits they need. 

“The greatest joy is when I could get the veteran more than what they have,” he said. “I tell the veterans, ‘You served our country. Now it’s the country that needs to serve you.’”

Despite their disappointment in the state of the country, both Davenport and Queen said they’re choosing to pour their energy into making change where they can — doing their part to help other veterans transition to civilian life.

“Hope is hard to find. It really is,” Queen said. “And so working in this job, despite everything I see on the news and everything else, this gives me hope.”