Praised for her military service and ongoing Civil Rights and community work, Springfield's 2024 Veteran of the Year Toni Hendrix was among those who marched Monday in the city's annual Veterans Day parade.
Hendrix, now 59, said she joined the U.S. Army when she was 17 and stayed in the service almost a decade. In that time she said, she experienced some of the best and hardest lessons of her life.
"I learned to be a leader. I learned to be humble. I learned to think strategically. I learned to care about people," Hendrix said, adding, "so that was the best of times, right? The worst of times was there wasn't an "ism" that I didn't suffer."
As a woman of color, Hendrix said the Army taught her a lot about social justice. She is only only the fourth woman to receive the city's honor in its 38 years of annually honoring a veteran in Greater Springfield.