July 2023

Veteran of the Month, July 2023

Staff Sergent, US Army (Retired) Bonita E. Crawford

Staff Sergeant (Retired) Bonita E. Crawford was born June 18, 1950, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  She is the daughter of Oliver A. Thomasson, a Steelworker at the Edgar Thompson Steelworks in Braddock, Pennsylvania who worked there as Foreman at the steel mill for 40 years, and Gloria Delores Estella Jackson-Thomasson, who sold Avon to the local community. 

 Sergeant Crawford enlisted in the United States Army on December 2, 1976, and served on Active Duty through January 1, 1997, as a Chaplain Assistant.  She entered the military at a time when it was not popular for women to enlist in the old Women’s Army Corps (WAC).  Her class was the last WAC class to graduate from Fort McClellan, Alabama.  She attended Advanced Individual Training (AIT) at Fort Wadsworth, (Staten Island) New York and then began her first duty assignment at Fort McPherson, Georgia.  She also served at Yongsan (Seoul) Korea, Fort Gillem, Georgia, Wuerzburg, Germany, Desert Storm and at the United States Army Chaplain Center and School, at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, and Fort Jackson, South Carolina.

 After retiring from military service, Sergeant Crawford obtained a BA in Religious Studies from Saint Leo University, Fort McPherson.  She then went on to become the Division Secretary to the Dean for the Office of Humanities and Fine Arts at Atlanta Metropolitan State College for 13 years, giving back to the community and mentoring students.  Sergeant Crawford retired from the college in 2013.

 Sergeant Crawford currently serves as President for the City of Morrow Neighborhood Watch program and as President of the Brookwood Estates Homeowners Association.  She is also the Scribe for the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) for the City of Morrow.  She ran for Mayor in the City of Morrow, and despite not being elected continues to serve the citizens of Morrow to ensure a better quality of life for all.  She also serves as Recording Secretary for the Atlanta Metro Chapter of the National Association of Black Military Women (NABMWATL) and is a member of the VFW 5080 supporting other veterans’ organizations.

 Sergeant Crawford has a daughter, five grandchildren and five great-grandsons.