Retired Brigadier General Velma Von Richardson
Bennettsville native Brigadier General Velma Von Richardson, U.S. Army Retired, will receive a special honor in March.
Richardson and six others will be inducted into the Hall of Fame for the U.S. Army Women’s Foundation on March 22 at the National Museum of the U.S. Army.
Richardson is the second Black female general officer in the history of the U.S. Army and the first Black female officer to obtain the rank of brigadier general in the Army’s Signal corps.
At the time of her retirement from the Army in 2003, she was the senior African American woman in the active Army.
Throughout her 31-year Army career, she has always been a strong advocate for soldiers, male and female, and their personal and professional development. She received her Bachelor of Science degree from Livingstone College in Salisbury, N.C. (1973), and attended the U.S. Army War College at Carlisle Barracks, Pa., from 1993 to 1994.
She received a master of arts degree from Pepperdine University in human resources management.
In a phone interview with the Herald-Advocate, Richardson said she was very humbled and excited about being inducted into the U.S. Army Women’s Foundation Hall of Fame.
“I had a wonderful career in the Army and to get that honor means so much to me,” she said.
Richardson joined Lockheed Martin on the day after she retired from the Army. She worked there for 10 years and retired in 2013.
She is a resident of Florida but still has family in South Carolina.
Richardson grew up in Bennettsville. At age 5, her grandmother came to Evans Metropolitan AME Zion Church.
Richardson’s mother joined her and taught school at Adamsville Elementary for several years until she passed. This is what brought us to Bennettsville.
Richardson said she attended elementary school at Marlboro Elementary School (now the Marlboro School Community Center) and graduated from Eastside High School in 1969.
She was a member of the very last high school graduating class from Eastside.
Richardson was very appreciative of Marlboro County.
“The education I received at Marlboro Elementary and Eastside was instrumental in moving me forward and allowing me to be successful,” she said. “I really have a lot of gratitude toward those who encouraged me and moved me on.”
She added she was pleased that the community was interested in engaging in preserving Marlboro School Community Center and Eastside property.
Founded in 1969, the U.S. Army Women’s Foundation (formerly the U.S. Women’s Army Corps Museum Foundation) is the oldest woman veteran’s organization in the U.S.
The U.S. Army Women’s Foundation Hall of Fame ceremony and 2023 scholarship awards are also airing live on the Army Women’s Foundation Facebook page.