Meet Lt. Allen Brogdon of Kensington

Lt. Allen Brogdon of Kensington

 
How long have you lived in East English Village, and what brought you here?
My wife and I have both always lived in Detroit - Rozetta grew up on the eastside, graduating from South Eastern HS, and Allen on the west side, graduating from North Western HS.  We moved into our home in EEV in September of 1991.  We loved that this area was close to our church, New Rising Star Missionary Baptist.

In over 30 years in the neighborhood, I’m sure you’ve seen a lot of things change.
So many businesses have come and gone, changed and redeveloped since we’ve been here, especially through the E Warren Corridor.  One thing that’s stayed the same is the friendliness and diversity of the neighborhood, which we’ve always loved.  Some of our neighbors have been here just as long as us, and we’ve watched their kids grow up.  It’s wonderful to be in a community where we share friendships with the people around us, and everyone treats each other well. 

Recently, you received a great honor for your military service when you were presented with the Quilt of Valor right here at your home. 
I joined the Navy in 1963, and served for 28 years before retiring at the rank of Lieutenant.  Of the boys in my family, 3 others became servicemen as well, and my father was very proud of that.  I served on 10 ships in that time, the largest being the USS Nimitz out of Norfolk VA, and the smallest being a gun patrol boat in Vietnam.  I was in Vietnam from 1966-68, and was extremely blessed to come home with no wounds or injuries.  Many others were not able to say the same.  The Quilt of Valor is given to veterans and active personnel who have served in war, and I was nominated by a longtime friend of mine. The quilt was presented to me at my home on September 11th. 

Thank you for your service!  What keeps you busy in your well deserved retirement?
After the Navy, I moved on to a career with Ford Motor Company, as my wife was working for AT&T.  Now that we are both fully retired, we spend as much time as possible indulging our love for travel!  We recently returned from New Orleans, and visit Hawaii each year.  We’ve been all over - Paris, Spain, China, and many other places.  We would love to see Dubai one day, and plan to keep adventuring as long as we can.