James Black

James Black was drafted into the United States Army in 1970. He achieved the rank of Field Artillery Specialist 4 (SP4) and received an Honorable Discharge in 1972.

Mr. Black grew up in College Point, Queens, New York. He was the middle child of eight brothers and sisters. He attended St. Fidelis Grammar School and then went on to Thomas Edison High School. During his teenage years, he played drums in a band of four with his fellow high school friends. They would play at local and surrounding community events and school dances, in addition to a few summers in Upstate New York, at various Catskill Mountain resorts.

After high school, he had planned on starting a career as a long haul truck driver, but he started working locally, right out of high school, for his brother’s manufacturing business in College Point.

Mr. Black comes from a family with a long line of men who proudly served in the military. His father, brother, uncles and some cousins all served during either WWII, or the Korean or Vietnam wars. Once Mr. Black was drafted into the Army, he began Basic Training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri.

He received Advanced Individual Training (AIT) for Radio Mechanics at Fort Benning, Georgia and trained in Artillery at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, prior to being shipped to Vietnam on New Year’s Day 1971. Mr. Black served as Field Artillery Specialist 4 (SP4) for 10 months and was returned to the United States at Fort Hood, Texas before being Honorably Discharged in January 1972.

For his time and service to our Nation, Mr. Black earned numerous medals and commendations, including the National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal w/1 Bronze Service Star, Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal, and the Sharpshooter Rifle.

Upon discharge, Mr. Black returned to College Point and continued to work for his brother’s business for approximately 32 years.

Over the course of those years, Mr. Black has coached Little League and was the Commodore of Skyline Sportsman Club for 15 years. He is a veteran member of the College Point Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post 885 for over 40 years, and the current Commander for the last two years.

He met his wife at a school dance; they have been happily married for 47 years. He considers being inducted into the New York State Senate’s Hall of Fame both a privilege and an honor.