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James Major Gates, Jr. - R.I.P.

By Ray Parrish

James Major Gates Jr. died on March 20, 2004 at the age of 69, alone in the hallway outside his studio apartment. He survived Korean combat, numerous atomic bomb tests, a 27-year-long career in a racist military and 26 years of living on a bare veteran's pension and fighting for his retirement and compensation after the Army lost his records. When he died he had been waiting for a decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims. He was a longtime member of VVAW and an activist with the Alliance of Atomic Veterans. We could always count on seeing him at Chicago demos and marches until his health failed him. He was my friend and comrade since 1989, when I filed his appeal with the VA. He was client #1 in VVAW's Military Counseling Service case files. His courage, self-sacrifice and generosity have been my inspiration and he will be missed by many.

Ray Parrish

Ray Parrish and James Gates, 2001