Tito was the third of nine Jackson children, which include global superstars Michael and sister Janet, part of a music-making family whose songs are still beloved today.

“It’s with heavy hearts that we announce that our beloved father, Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Tito Jackson is no longer with us. We are shocked, saddened and heartbroken. Our father was an incredible man who cared about everyone and their well-being,” his sons TJ, Taj and Taryll said in a statement posted on Instagram late Sunday.

The Jackson 5 included brothers Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon and Michael. The family group, which was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1997, produced several No. 1 hits in the 1970s including “ABC,” “I Want You Back” and “I’ll Be There.”

The Jackson 5 became one of the biggest names in music under the guidance of their father, Joe Jackson, a steelworker and guitar player who supported his wife and nine children in Gary, Indiana. As the family’s music careers took off, they relocated to California.

Born on Oct. 15, 1953, Toriano Adaryll “Tito” Jackson was the least-heard member of the group as a background singer who played guitar. His brothers launched solo careers, including Michael, who became one of the world’s biggest performers known as The King of Pop.

Michael Jackson died at age 50 on June 25, 2009.

Speaking to The Associated Press in December 2009, Jackson said his younger brother’s death pulled the family closer together.

“I would say definitely it brought us a step closer to each other. To recognize that the love we have for each other when one of us is not here, what a great loss,” he said, adding he would personally never “be at peace with it.”

“There’s still moments when I just can’t believe it. So I think that’s never going to go away,” he said.

In 2014, Jackson said he and his brothers still felt Michael Jackson’s absence in their shows, which continued with international tours.

“I don’t think we will ever get used to performing without him. He’s dearly missed,” he said, noting that Michael’s spirit “is with us when we are performing. It gives us a lot of positive energy and puts a lot of smiles on our faces.”

Days before his death, Jackson posted a message on his Facebook page from Germany on Sept. 11, where he visited a memorial to Michael Jackson with his brothers.

“Before our show in Munich, my brothers Jackie, Marlon, and I, visited the beautiful memorial dedicated to our beloved brother, Michael Jackson. We’re deeply grateful for this special place that honors not only his memory but also our shared legacy. Thank you for keeping his spirit alive,” he wrote.

Tito Jackson was the last of the nine Jackson siblings to release a solo project with his 2016 debut, “Tito Time.” He released a song in 2017, “One Way Street,” and told the AP in 2019 that he was working on a sophomore album.

Jackson said he purposely held back from pursuing a solo career because he wanted to focus on raising his three sons, TJ, Taj and Taryll, who formed their own music group, 3T. Jackson’s website offers a link to a single featuring 3T and Stevie Wonder titled, “Love One Another.”

Tito Jackson also is survived by his brothers Jermaine, Randy, Marlon and Jackie, his sisters Janet, Rebbie and La Toya and their mother, Katherine. Their father died in 2018.

Jackson’s death was first reported by Entertainment Tonight.

His family posted the news of his death to his Instagram account. A cause of death was not given.

“He lived his life with pure soul as one would say, and for us, no one did it better,” the statement said. “He lived for his music, family and friends.”

Earlier this year, Beverly announced a farewell tour with a handful of dates. He said he would go on the road one last time and then retire.

“Thank you so much for the support given to me for over 50 years as I pass on the lead vocalist torch to Tony Lindsay,” Beverly said in a statement to Billboard at the time. “The band will continue on as Maze Honoring Frankie Beverly. It’s been a great ride through the decades. Let the music of my legacy continue.”

Beverly, long a favorite at the Hampton Jazz Festival, played there with his band 18 times, according to a city newsletter. His last festival performance was in 2019, though he and Maze played in Norfolk in late 2022 and at Hampton Coliseum this past January.

It would be difficult to count the number of artists who have cited Beverly’s music as inspiration or sampled from his ever-expanding playbook of infectious melodies and harmonies, but many have lovingly covered his work — some with more fanfare than others.

Beverly’s 1981 song “Before I Let Go,” which The New York Times described in 2021 as having a unique ability to gather and galvanize, was covered by Beyoncé on her live album “Homecoming” in 2019.

In 1970 in Philadelphia, Beverly formed the group Raw Soul and soon moved to San Francisco. Marvin Gaye eventually took the group under his wing, according to Beverly’s official website. Gaye also suggested the group change its name to Frankie Beverly and Maze.

The group released a debut album in 1977 under Capitol Records and released at least eight more albums, not including live recordings, over the next few decades, including “Silky Soul” in 1989 and “Back to Basics” in 1993.

The Virginian-Pilot contributed to this report.

Pearson is the founder and president of Project 1619, a nonprofit that has played a crucial role in correcting the narrative about the arrival of enslaved Africans in English-speaking North America. The organization notes the first enslaved Africans, who were kidnapped from Angola, first landed at Point Comfort, today’s Fort Monroe in Hampton, not in Jamestown.

“Calvin’s passing is a monumental loss,” said Melinda Steele, Project 1619’s vice president. She said “correcting the narrative” of the first Africans in America was a passion of his.

“We’re going to miss him dearly,” Steele said. “He was such a pioneer.”

Pearson was born in Newport News and grew up in Hampton.

Hampton School Board member Ann Stephens Cherry recalled Pearson’s longstanding commitment to preserving Black history. Friends since the 1960s, Cherry remembered when Phenix High School — a school for Black students during segregation — was renamed Pembroke High School in 1968 and the school staff started throwing trophies and other Phenix memorabilia into the trash. She said Pearson went “dumpster diving” to retrieve as many trophies and awards as possible to preserve the school’s history.

“I’ll miss the fact that he was genuine,” she said. “He had no ulterior motive, and what he said, you could take it to the bank. Didn’t matter whether you agreed with him or not. He was genuine. You don’t have a lot of that now.”

Project 1619 also researched and promoted African history before slavery and Hampton’s African-American history.

Fort Monroe Authority Chief Executive Officer Glenn Oder described Pearson as “dogmatic and persistent” about the importance of identifying Point Comfort as the site where the first Africans landed. Oder said he was one of the driving forces behind promoting an accurate narrative and a “new understanding of history.”

Pearson was also instrumental in development and planning of the African Landing Memorial — an ongoing $9 million project to honor the first documented Africans brought to English North America in 1619. Oder said Pearson was involved in committee work, site selection, the design process and the selection of the artist.

“He wasn’t afraid to share his position,” Oder said. “He wasn’t afraid to express his opinion if something wasn’t going in the direction that he felt would correctly tell the story. He was a force of nature when it came to telling the story.”

Pearson was also chairman of the National Juneteenth Grassroots Enslavement Legacy Commission and a frequent speaker at conferences nationwide — sharing his knowledge about the horrors and long-lasting impact of slavery.

Project 1619 board member Larry Gibson, who grew up with Pearson, commended his lifelong friend for his advocacy in telling truthful history.

Due to human trafficking and slavery, Gibson said it felt like the culture and history of Black people living in America were being erased. He believes Pearson’s work highlighting the history and culture of Africans before enslavement and the acknowledgment of “where we came from” created a space for African descendants to find reconciliation and healing.

After decades of friendship, Gibson said he will miss having one-on-one conversations with Pearson.

“I’ll miss the personal engagement with him, but the things that we’ve shared and the things that he’s done — that’ll be with me for the rest of my life,” he said.

William “Bill” Wiggins, who co-founded Project 1619, is the organization’s new president.

“To have (Pearson) gone is going to be a huge void, but Project 1619, Inc. will continue and move forward,” Steele said. “We’re going to continue with his legacy.”

A funeral service will be held 11 a.m. Tuesday at First Baptist Church of Hampton. Entombment will follow at Hampton Memorial Gardens.

Josh Janney, joshua.janney@virginiamedia.com

Ehmer joined Waffle House in 1992 and quickly rose to senior leadership, becoming president of the company in 2002, and later adding the titles of CEO and chairman, according to information from Georgia Tech, his alma mater.

“His leadership, dedication and warmth touched the lives of many, both within the Waffle House family and beyond. He leaves behind a remarkable legacy,” Mayor Andre Dickens said in a news release.

The board of directors for Waffle House issued a statement Sunday afternoon saying Ehmer died after a long illness. “He will be greatly missed by his entire Waffle House family,” the statement said.

Ehmer was chair of the Georgia Tech Alumni Association Board of Trustees from 2012 to 2013 and served numerous organizations, including the Georgia Tech Foundation Board and the Georgia Tech Advisory Board.

The Waffle House chain of around-the-clock diners opened in 1955 and now boasts more than 1,900 locations in 25 states.

Ehmer is survived by three children, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

___

This story was first published on Sept. 8, 2024. It was updated on Sept. 9, 2024, to correct the name of Waffle House CEO Walt Ehmer’s alma mater. It is Georgia Tech, not Georgia Tech University.

Darren died in his sleep at a Los Angeles hospital, his son Jim Moret told news outlets.

Moret told The Hollywood Reporter that Darren was supposed have had an aortic valve replacement but was too weak for the surgery. “I always thought he would pull through,” his son told the entertainment trade, “because he was so cool. He was always cool.”

In his long career, Darren acted, sang and built up a successful behind-the-scenes career as a television director, helming episodes of such well-known series as “Beverly Hills 90210” and “Melrose Place.” In the 1980s, he was Officer Jim Corrigan on the television cop show “T.J. Hooker.”

But to young movie fans of the late 1950s, he would be remembered best as Moondoggie, the dark-haired surfer boy in the smash 1959 release “Gidget.” Dee starred as the title character, a spunky Southern Californian who hits the beach and eventually falls in love with Moondoggie.

“I was in love with Sandra,” Darren later recalled. “I thought that she was absolutely perfect as Gidget. She had tremendous charm.”

The film was based on a novel that a California man, Frederick Kohner, had written about his own teenage daughter and helped spur interest in surfing — one that influenced pop music, slang and even fashion.

For Darren, his success with teen fans led to a recording contract, as it did with many young actors at the time, among them Tab Hunter and Annette Funicello. Two of Darren’s singles, “Goodbye Cruel World” and “Her Royal Majesty,” reached the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 chart. (“Goodbye Cruel World” also appeared in Steven Spielberg’s 2022 semi-autobiographical film, “The Fabelmans.”) Other singles included “Gidget” and “Angel Face.”

Darren was the only “Gidget” cast member who appeared in both its sequels, 1961’s “Gidget Goes Hawaiian” and 1963’s “Gidget Goes to Rome.” Dee was replaced by Deborah Walley in the second film and Cindy Carol in the third. (“Gidget” later became a television show, launching the career of Sally Field. )

“They had me under contract; I was a prisoner,” Darren told Entertainment Weekly in 2004. “But with those lovely young ladies, it was the best prison I think I’ll ever be in.”

As a contract player at Columbia Studios, Darren appeared in grown-up films, too, including “The Brothers Rico,” “Operation Meatball” and “The Guns of Navarone.”

By the mid-’60s, when Darren appeared in “For Those Who Think Young” and “The Lively Set,” his big-screen acting career was almost over. He appeared in just a handful of movies after the 1960s ended, last appearing in 2017’s “Lucky,” directed by John Carroll Lynch.

But he remained active on television, appearing as a lead on the sci-fi show “The Time Tunnel” in the late 1960s, and doing guest spots and small recurring roles in TV shows such as “The Love Boat,” “Hawaii Five-O” and “Fantasy Island.”

Darren was a series regular for four seasons of the William Shatner-starrer “T.J. Hooker” in the 1980s. While appearing on the show, he noticed that no director was listed for an upcoming sequence and asked if he could try out for it.

“When it was shown, I got several offers to direct,” he told the New York Daily News. “Soon I was getting so many offers to direct, I kind of gave up acting and singing.”

For almost two years, Darren directed episodes of “Walker, Texas Ranger,” “Hunter,” “Melrose Place,” “Beverly Hills 90210” and other series. He returned to acting in the 1990s with small roles in “Melrose Place” and “Star Trek, Deep Space Nine.”

Darren was born James Ercolani in 1936 and grew up in South Philadelphia, not far from such fellow teen idols of the 1950s and ’60s as Fabian and Frankie Avalon. Singing came easy to him, and at 14 he was appearing in local nightclubs.

“From the age of 5 or 6 I knew I wanted to be an entertainer, or famous maybe,” he said in a 2003 interview with the News-Press of Fort Myers, Florida. He noted that such luminaries as Eddie Fisher and Al Martino had lived in the same area as he did, “a real neighborhood. It made you feel you could be successful, too.”

According to a 1958 Los Angeles Times profile, he got a break when he went to New York to get some pictures taken and the photographer’s office put him in touch with a talent scout.

He was soon signed by Columbia Pictures, and the newspaper said that after a few appearances, his fan mail at the studio was running “second only to Kim Novak’s. … The studio now feels that the young man is ready to hit the jackpot.”

Darren married his first wife, Gloria, in 1955 and together had Moret, an “Inside Edition” correspondent and former CNN anchorman. After a divorce he married Evy Norlund, who came to the U.S. as the Danish entry in the Miss Universe contest. They had two sons, Christian and Anthony.

He was also the godfather of Nancy Sinatra’s daughter A.J. Lambert. Sinatra, his “For Those Who Think Young” co-star, posted The Hollywood Reporter obituary on her X page, with a broken heart emoji.

___

Bob Thomas, a longtime Associated Press journalist who died in 2014, was the principal writer of this obituary.

The announcement was made by the team on their official website, as well X, formerly known as Twitter.

“The Columbus Blue Jackets are shocked and devastated by this unimaginable tragedy. Johnny was not only a great hockey player, but more significantly a loving husband, father, son, brother and friend. We extend our heartfelt sympathies to his wife, Meredith, his children, Noa and Johnny, his parents, their family and friends on the sudden loss of Johnny and Matt.

“Johnny played the game with great joy which was felt by everyone that saw him on the ice. He brought a genuine love for hockey with him everywhere he played from Boston College to the Calgary Flames to Team USA to the Blue Jackets. He thrilled fans in a way only Johnny Hockey could. The impact he had on our organization and our sport was profound, but pales in comparison to the indelible impression he made on everyone who knew him. Johnny embraced our community when he arrived two years ago, and Columbus welcomed him with open arms. We will miss him terribly and do everything that we can to support his family and each other through this tragedy.

“At this time, we ask for prayers for the Gaudreau family and that their privacy be respected as they grieve.”

In 763 over 11 seasons, “Johnny Hockey” compiled 73 points with the Flames and Blue Jackets after being drafted by Calgary in the fourth round, 104th overall, at the 2011 NHL Draft. He was the Hobey Baker Award winner with Boston College in 2014 and helped lead the Eagles to a national title in 2012.

The New Jersey native won the NHL’s Lady Byng Memorial Trophy in 2017, and he played in the All-Star Game in 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018. He also added in a handful of world competitions to his lengthy resume, representing Team USA, that includes a gold medal at the 2013 IIHF World Junior Championship.

©2024 Advance Local Media LLC. Visit masslive.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

NHL player Johnny Gaudreau and his younger brother were killed on the eve of their sister’s wedding when they were hit by a suspected drunken driver while riding bicycles in their home state of New Jersey, police said Friday.

New Jersey State Police said the Gaudreau brothers were cycling on a road in Oldmans Township on Thursday night when a man driving an SUV in the same direction attempted to pass two other vehicles and struck them from behind about 8 p.m., less than a half-hour after sunset. They were pronounced dead at the scene some 35 miles south of Philadelphia.

Gaudreau, 31, and brother, Matt, 29, are Carneys Point, New Jersey, natives and were set to serve as groomsmen at their sister Katie’s wedding that was scheduled for Friday in Philadelphia.

Police said the driver, 43-year-old Sean M. Higgins, was suspected of being under the influence of alcohol and charged with two counts of death by auto, along with reckless driving, possession of an open container and consuming alcohol in a motor vehicle.

Higgins told a responding officer he had five or six beers prior to the crash and admitted to consuming alcohol while driving, according to the criminal complaint obtained by The Associated Press. He failed a field sobriety test, the complaint said, though his blood-alcohol level was not immediately available.

Higgins was jailed at a Salem County facility and will remain there until his pretrial detention hearing, which is scheduled for Sept. 5. A court spokesperson said Higgins at his first appearance Friday was represented by a public defender but indicated he planned to hire his own attorney. Public defenders in New Jersey do not comment on cases.

Johnny Gaudreau, known as “Johnny Hockey,” played 10 full seasons in the league and was set to enter his third with the Columbus Blue Jackets after signing a seven-year, $68 million deal in 2022. He played his first eight seasons with the Calgary Flames, a tenure that included becoming one of the sport’s top players and a fan favorite across North America.

“Just devastating news for all of us connected with the Gaudreau family,” Jerry York, who coached the Gaudreau brothers at Boston College, said in a phone interview with the AP. “Both Matty and Johnny were terrifically admired by all of us. Wonderful young guys, and they impressed a lot of us off the ice.”

York raved about parents Guy and Jane and the family’s dedication to their children and hockey. Gaudreau had been married to his wife, Meredith, since 2021, and they have two children under 2, Noa, who was born in September 2022, and Johnny, who was born in February.

“We want to let everyone know we are receiving your messages of love and support, and we appreciated your continued thoughts and prayers,” an uncle, Jim Gaudreau, said in a statement on behalf of the families involved. “We ask for your continued respect and privacy during this very difficult period of grief.”

Fans laid flowers and hockey sticks for Gaudreau outside Nationwide Arena in downtown Columbus and outside the Flames’ home rink in Calgary. Tributes reverberated near and far, with moments of silence in Cincinnati before a Major League Baseball game between the Reds and Milwaukee Brewers and prior to an Olympic qualifying hockey game between Slovakia and Hungary in the Slovakian capital of Bratislava.

The Blue Jackets said Gaudreau “was not only a great hockey player, but more significantly a loving husband, father, son, brother and friend.”

“Johnny played the game with great joy which was felt by everyone that saw him on the ice,” the team said in a statement. “He brought a genuine love for hockey with him everywhere he played.”

Gaudreau’s death is the latest off-ice tragedy for the Blue Jackets. Goaltender Matiss Kivlenieks died in July 2021 when he was struck in the chest by a firework while attending the wedding of then-Blue Jackets goaltending coach Manny Legace’s daughter in Michigan.

Gaudreau, at 5-foot-9 and 180 pounds, was part of a generation of hockey players who thrived in an era of speed and skill that made being undersized less of a disadvantage. Winner of the Lady Byng Trophy in 2017 for sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of play, he scored 20-plus goals six times and was a 115-point player in 2021-22 as a first-time NHL All-Star when he had a career-best 40 goals and 75 assists.

“While Johnny’s infectious spirit for the game and show-stopping skills on the ice earned him the nickname ‘Johnny Hockey,’ he was more than just a dazzling hockey player; he was a doting father and beloved husband, son, brother and teammate who endeared himself to every person fortunate enough to have crossed his path,” NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said.

NHL Players’ Association executive director Marty Walsh said players and staff were devastated by these losses, calling Johnny “a beloved teammate and friend in both Calgary and Columbus (and) a joy to watch during his 10 years and 763 games in the NHL.”

A fourth-round pick by Calgary in 2011, Gaudreau had helped Boston College win the NCAA championship in 2012 and took home the Hobey Baker Award as the top college player in the country in 2014 — a season he and his brother played together for the Eagles.

Gaudreau was a nearly point-a-game player with 776 points in 805 regular-season and playoff games since breaking into the league. In 2022, he left the Flames to sign a big contract with the Blue Jackets that put him and his young family in central Ohio, closer to his family in New Jersey.

Social media was full of messages about Gaudreau, from USA Hockey to the Flames and beyond the sport itself. Former Flames teammate Blake Coleman posted that he was “completely gutted. The world just lost one of the best.” Retired goaltender Eddie Lack called Gaudreau one of his favorite teammates.

“Always happy, always spreading positivity around him,” Lack said. “Rest in Peace my friend and prayers for your wonderful family.”

NBA superstar LeBron James, who is from Akron, Ohio, said he instantly got sad after seeing the news.

“My thoughts and prayers goes out to the Gaudreau family,” James said. “May Johnny and Matthew fly high, guide/guard and bless their family/s from the heavens above.”

The tragedy comes as the Blue Jackets and other NHL teams prepare to open training camp for the season in about three weeks.

“We will miss him terribly and do everything that we can to support his family and each other through this tragedy,” the team said.

___

AP Sports Writer Dan Gelston, Associated Press writer Bruce Shipkowski and AP Hockey Writer John Wawrow contributed.

___

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/NHL

But his family said the liverwurst was contaminated, and the 88-year-old Newport News resident died a few weeks later.

Morgenstein — a retired Newport News hair stylist — was admitted to Riverside Regional Medical Center on July 8 after growing short of breath, and died there 10 days later.

“I think we’re all just still in shock, and just like completely mind blown, that this is how he died, because of lunch meat,” his son, Garshon “Shon” Morgenstein, said Saturday.

Though the elder Morgenstein was set to be released from the hospital a day or two after being admitted, his wife of 50 years, Peggy Morgenstein, questioned that decision.

“My mom was like, ‘I don’t think he should come home, because something is just off about him,’ ” said Shon Morgenstein, 49, of Virginia Beach. “He doesn’t look right, and he seems super weak.”

Riverside did more tests to get to the cause of the issue. A blood culture came back positive for Listeria monocytogenes.

Around that time, the family saw a news report about a major meat recall, to include the Boar’s Head Stassburger Brand Liverwurst made at a plant in Jarratt, about 75 miles west of Norfolk.

“Then we put two and two together,” Shon Morgenstein said.

According to the July 26 recall notice, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service recalled the liverwurst after finding that the Boar’s Head product made at the plant between June 11 and July 17 may be “adulterated with Listeria monocytogenes.”

The USDA warned that eating the contaminated food can cause listeriosis, an infection that begins in the gastrointestinal tract and leads to fever, muscle aches, headache, confusion, loss of balance and flu-like symptoms.

“Serious and sometimes fatal infections can occur in older adults and persons with weakened immune systems,” the report added.

Other meats made on the same line also were affected, with more than 200,000 pounds of meat ultimately recalled.

While his father’s liverwurst packaging had long been thrown away, Shon Morgenstein tracked the June 30 purchase to the Harris Teeter grocery store, on Warwick Boulevard in Newport News’ Hidenwood section.

Morganstein consumed the liverwurst “one or more times” between June 30 and July 7, according to Tony Coveny, an attorney with a Texas law firm that is representing the family in the case.

Despite being treated with antibiotics at the hospital, Gunter Morgenstein kept feeling worse.

“We said, ‘You just have to try to keep fighting, don’t give up,'” his son said. “I know you want to go home, but just keep fighting … But he never really spoke again after that.”

Morgenstein died July 18 at Riverside.

His death and his family’s contentions about the food poisoning were first reported Friday by WAVY-10.

Elizabeth Ward, a vice president for communications at Boar’s Head Provisions Co., could not be reached Saturday for comment. A spokeswoman for Harris Teeter declined to comment.

The family is in touch with Coveny, who works for Ron Simon & Associates, a Texas law firm that represents victims in food poisoning claims.

“We have not yet filed the lawsuit, on this or any of the other victims we represent, but will make that decision in the coming weeks,” Coveny said. ”

Gunter Morgenstein survived the Holocaust, and left Germany in 1954. After emigrating to Canada, he moved to Newport News more than 50 years ago and became a “master hair designer.”

He leaves behind a son and two daughters, three grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

“He showed his courage in facing life challenges with a smile, and stayed strong until the end,” the family’s obituary said.

Peter Dujardin, 757-897-2062, pdujardin@dailypress.com

Gregg became the first living person in modern American history to have a military installation named for him, when Fort Lee became Fort Gregg-Adams on April 27, 2023, the Army said. The installation just outside Petersburg, the home of the Army’s logistics training, was renamed for Gregg and another Black officer, Lt. Col. Charity Adams, as part of a Congress-led effort to strip the service of honors for Confederate soldiers, including former namesake Gen. Robert E. Lee.

Gregg attended the renaming ceremony last year at the post and was known to frequent the installation since the name change, according to the Army news release announcing his death. He was last at Fort Gregg-Adams on July 31 for a change-of-command ceremony.

“Lt. Gen. Gregg will continue to inspire all who knew him and those who serve at Fort Gregg-Adams now and in the futurem,” Maj. Gen. Michelle Donahue, the installation’s top commander, said in a statement. “His dedication and leadership will never be forgotten. Our deepest condolences to his family and loved ones during this difficult time.”

Gregg broke several glass ceilings for Black soldiers. In 1972, he became the service’s first Black brigadier general in its quartermaster corps. Five years later, he became the highest-ranking Black soldier — at that time — with his promotion to lieutenant general. In 1981, he retired as the Army’s deputy chief of staff for logistics, capping a 35-year career.

Gregg grew up in South Carolina on a 100-acre farm that grew cotton and tobacco, according to an Army profile.

Inspired by the Black soldiers who fought in World War II, Gregg enlisted in the Army in 1946 and was quickly deployed to occupied, post-war Germany to support supply operations, according to this service biography. In 1949, one year after President Harry S. Truman ordered the military desegregated, Gregg entered officer candidate school.

His first assignment as an officer, in 1950, was at Camp Lee, which would become Fort Lee later that year.

His career took him to Japan, several assignments in Germany and jobs at the Pentagon, including as the Joint Chiefs of Staff’s logistics director. In 1966, Gregg commanded the 96th Quartermaster Direct Support Battalion in Vietnam — one of the Army’s largest battalions in the country boasting some 3,600 troops, according to service records.

Gregg said his command experience in Vietnam was “the most significant point” in his storied career.

“It was four-times the normal battalion size, and I’ll tell you, those young people worked their fannies off to build a logistical base and provide logistical support to our forces in Vietnam,” Gregg said in a 2023 Army release. “I was so proud of them.”

Last year, as the Army settled on renaming Fort Lee to Fort Gregg-Adams, Gregg said he was supportive of the effort to strip Fort Lee and eight other southern Army posts of the names of Confederate generals, many of whom were slave owners. However, he said, he was surprised his name would be considered to replace Lee’s.

“I was very honored that they felt I was worthy but, you know, you don’t take it too seriously,” Gregg said at the ceremony to rename the post. “I was aware that there were a number of really outstanding people up for consideration. When the decision was made that the post would be redesignated Gregg-Adams, I was just overwhelmed.”

The so-called Naming Commission, which led efforts to strip honors for former Confederates from the U.S. military, wrote Gregg proved an officer of “great skill, leading by example and embarking on a career of excellence” in announcing its decision to name the base for him and Adams.

“Though Gregg and Adams served on different missions and in different conflicts, consistent themes of leadership, dedication, and problem solving united their service,” the commission wrote in its August 2022 final report to Congress. “Moreover, in overcoming the sustainment obstacles caused by war, they also helped overcome the social obstacles caused by segregation. Their service simultaneously supported mission success and societal progress.”

Kennedy said he would work to remove his name from ballots in 10 swing states where he believes he does not have a chance of winning but where his presence on the ballot could affect the outcome in favor of the Democratic ticket led by Vice President Kamala Harris.

He said he would remain on the ballot in other states where the outcome is less in question, and encouraged his supporters to still vote for him there — suggesting an outlandish possibility that an electoral college tie between Trump and Harris could result in him being named president.

At the same time, Kennedy said he was “joining the Trump campaign” after Trump promised, if he wins, to bring him into his administration to combat chronic illness among American children — which Kennedy has long suggested is due to “Big Pharma” and “Big Ag” pumping “toxins” into the nation’s food supply.

“President Trump has told me that he wants this to be his legacy,” Kennedy said. “I’m choosing to believe that this time he will follow through.”

Kennedy also said Trump promised to tackle two of his other top priorities — by immediately ending the war in Ukraine and by confronting political and media “censorship,” which both he and Trump, famous wealthy men with powerful platforms, routinely claim to be victimized by.

Trump did not immediately respond to Kennedy’s announcement Friday.

Kennedy’s announcement came in a nearly 50-minute, grievance-laden speech in which he claimed he would have won the presidency in a fair race, that national media had become “mouthpieces” for Democrats, and that Harris’ elevation to the top of the Democratic ticket was the result of a “palace coup.”

The move by the scion of America’s greatest Democratic political dynasty to back a Republican who many Democrats loathe was expected, given recent remarks from him and Trump that they would be open to an alliance, efforts by Kennedy’s team to begin removing his name from ballots, and a Pennsylvania court filing earlier in the day where Kennedy noted a looming endorsement of Trump.

The decision promised to have an immediate effect on the tight race between Trump and Harris. Both hoped to benefit — or at least not suffer too much — from the coming realignment of Kennedy’s supporters.

How that shift will play out remains unclear.

A Pew Research Center poll this month suggested that Harris has already picked up some would-be Kennedy supporters. It appeared that backing came in some measure from women and nonwhite voters who previously were leaning toward Kennedy.

But Trump allies say the Kennedy endorsement would be a victory for their candidate. “Fox & Friends” host Brian Kilmeade claimed Friday morning that Trump would pick up a critical 2 or 3 percentage points with Kennedy’s support. That would be enough, Kilmeade said, to swing the race back into the GOP’s favor.

Trump is campaigning in Arizona on Friday and posted on social media that he would have a “special guest” at an afternoon rally. On Thursday, Kennedy withdrew from the ballot in Arizona.

Kennedy, a 70-year-old Los Angeles resident, entered the race in April 2023 with a burst of media attention. He showed unusual strength in some early polls for a candidate with no experience in elected office. But his support flagged after Harris emerged last month as the Democrats’ apparent nominee.

Kennedy’s thoughts about leaving the race became public in recent days, when his vice presidential running mate, Nicole Shanahan, discussed those talks. She said Kennedy might accept a position in a Trump administration, in particular if he thought it could help combat what she called an epidemic of chronic disease.

The transition to Trump stalwart will be greeted with skepticism in many circles, given Kennedy’s political DNA and his past description of the Republican as “unhinged” after Trump went on a social media tirade, accusing Kennedy of being a “Democrat plant” and “wasted protest vote.”

“When frightened men take to social media they risk descending into vitriol, which makes them sound unhinged,” Kennedy wrote on X in April. “President Trump’s rant against me is a barely coherent barrage of wild and inaccurate claims that should best be resolved in the American tradition of presidential debate.”

Kennedy’s partial exit from the race comes 16 months after he stood before the media in Boston, scene of many political triumphs for previous generations of the Kennedy clan, which included his father — the U.S. senator from New York and U.S. attorney general — and his uncle, President John F. Kennedy.

The longtime environmental attorney initially ran as a Democrat. But by October 2023, Kennedy said that he would run as an independent, because party nominating rules made it too difficult to compete, particularly against an incumbent like President Joe Biden.

Many members of his famous family have taken public stands against his campaign, endorsing the Democratic ticket.

After his speech Friday, five of his siblings — Kathleen Kennedy Townsend and Courtney, Kerry, Chris and Rory Kennedy — issued a joint statement reaffirming their support for Harris.

“Our brother Bobby’s decision to endorse Trump today is a betrayal of the values that our father and our family hold most dear,” they said. “It is a sad ending to a sad story.”

Kennedy suggested in his own remarks that his endorsement of Trump also may not sit well with others in his family, including his wife, actor Cheryl Hines.

“This decision is agonizing for me because of the difficulties it causes my wife and my children and my friends, but I have the certainty that this is what I’m meant to do, and that certainty gives me internal peace, even in storms,” he said.

He did not say what those “difficulties” were.

Kennedy said his independent status would allow him to break the grip on power held by a virtual “uniparty” — the Democrats and Republicans — and that he would be in a better position to cut out-of-control government spending, to take on “Big Pharma” and other corporate interests and to invest more in reversing America’s epidemic of chronic illness.

Even after his shift to an independent campaign, and as he courted support from smaller political parties, polls showed Kennedy unable to move within reasonable striking distance of his big-party rivals.

Kennedy argued that he should be allowed into the June debate between Biden and Trump, but he could not persuade the other candidates or networks that he had earned a place on the stage.

Kennedy’s campaign also spent abundant time and money trying to qualify for the ballot in all 50 states. He suffered a setback last week when a New York judge ruled he shouldn’t appear on the ballot in that state because he listed a “sham” address on nominating petitions.

Though he presented himself as a pragmatic problem solver not beholden to big interests, Kennedy’s views on some issues — particularly vaccines — were extreme. A particularly problematic example: when he compared Biden’s vaccine policies to the Holocaust. He suggested that Jews, including Anne Frank, had more freedom under the Nazis than Americans living with COVID-19 mandates.

That drew rebukes from many Jewish groups and even a complaint from Hines, who called the Frank reference “reprehensible and insensitive.” Kennedy apologized.

Though born into what some viewed as an American political “Camelot,” Kennedy struggled as a young man, particularly with his 14-year addiction to heroin. The candidate sought to use that ordeal to his advantage, saying that his 40 years in recovery made him uniquely qualified to bring new solutions to the nation’s addiction crisis.

But other aspects of his past, including his relationships with women, became fodder for new criticism.

That included the revival of a 2013 New York Post story, after the tabloid somehow acquired a journal that RFK Jr. allegedly kept in 2001. It included a log of 37 women whom he had sex with when he was married to Mary Richardson Kennedy, the Post and other outlets reported.

(Kennedy’s wife had killed herself in the year prior to publication of the story, but she had reportedly found the journal at some point.)

Early last month, reports about the disturbing behavior resurfaced in a Vanity Fair profile, in which a former family babysitter described how Kennedy groped her when she was in her early 20s and taking care of Kennedy’s four children with Mary. Text messages revealed that the candidate apologized to the former babysitter after publication of the article, though he told reporters he recalled nothing about the alleged misconduct.

Then, in August, a New Yorker profile revealed an odd Kennedy prank. As a grown man, the man known — like his father — as Bobby once retrieved a dead bear cub from a roadside and deposited the corpse in New York’s Central Park. The carcass provoked a mystery that consumed the city a decade ago.

Kennedy faulted both Biden and Trump as he crisscrossed the country, trying to spark the kind of momentum his father did in the 1968 race for the White House. But he increasingly lashed out at Biden and the Democrats more, infuriated by the challenges they lodged to his ballot petitions.

As recently as Wednesday, the candidate sent messages like a man still in the fray. One came via a video posted on social media, when he invoked Abraham Lincoln and said “we must realign ourselves with the founding spirit of our nation.”

On Thursday, Shanahan again nodded to the duo’s possible exit from the race. She seemed to relish the way some of her friends pleaded with her not to support Trump.

“My old Dem buddies have been flooding me with frantic calls, texts, and emails,” she wrote on the social media platform X. “The message was clear: they’re terrified of the idea of our movement joining forces with Donald Trump. When I point out what the Democratic Party and their super PACs have done to sabotage our campaign, their response is always, ‘but Trump is worse.’ Here’s an idea: stop suing us. Let us debate.”

She then suggested, without providing evidence, that the Democrats somehow were “rigging the media and the polls” — the sort of accusations Trump has made many times in the past.

_____

©2024 Los Angeles Times. Visit at latimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.