In 1960, at 16, Rudolph Thomas Sr. came to America with his grandmother from Trinidad. He lived in his grandfather's house on Decatur St. in Bedford-Stuyvesant and, after graduating Franklin K. Lane High, he was drafted into the United States Army on March 8, 1965.

He did basic training in Fort Gordon, Ga., advanced individual training at Fort Dix, and then volunteered for the Army Airborne jump school at Fort Benning, Ga.

"In 1967, I was stationed in Fort Bragg with the 82nd Airborne when I got my orders to go to Vietnam," says Thomas, who lives in Flatbush. "When I reported to leave they said they couldn't send me because I was not a United States citizen."

Rudolph Thomas Sr., who was awarded three Purple Hearts, has given a great deal to his adopted country, including his son, Officer Rudolph Thomas Jr., who was shot dead in 1993.