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Remoshay Nelson    

U.S. Air Force Captain, First Black Woman to Wear the Emblem of the Thunderbirds

Capt. Remoshay Nelson made history in 2020 as the first Black woman to wear the emblem of the Thunderbirds, an elite U.S. Air Force squadron that had only counted a total of 12 African Americans in its numbers since it was established in 1953—all of them men. The Howard alumna and Delta Sigma Theta soror says her experience at the HBCU helped imbue her with the confidence to break high ground as an African-American woman, to "walk into the world knowing where I come from and where my people come from, and where we can go." That confidence—and eight years of mostly overseas service with the Air Force—propelled Nelson to her current rank as an officer of the gravity-defying Thunderbirds, known for their flyover jet demonstrations.

While also serving as the Thunderbirds' public affairs officer, she has joined them in giving salutes from the sky to health care workers and everyday people across the country, continuing to spread hope and inspiration even during the coronavirus pandemic.

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