Maj. Gen. Marcia Anderson is the first black woman to hold that rank in the history of the U.S. Army. She assumed the position last September, and before that she was already the highest-ranking African American female in the military branch.

Anderson grew up in a poor community in East Saint Louis, Illinois. The 30-year veteran dedicated her historic promotion to her father, who had dreamed of flying bombers in WWII during his time in the Army but could not due to his race.

WATCH MARCIA ANDERSON INTERVIEWED ON MSNBC

“This is for people like him who had dreams deferred,” Anderson told the Associated Press.

Marcia Anderson is making history as… the highest-ranking African American woman in the U.S. Army. Her historic trajectory to the top is not lost on thousands of veterans who were not able to seek those heights in decades past.

What’s next for Marcia?

Today, Anderson works in her citizen-soldier position as the Clerk of Bankruptcy Court, Western District of Wisconsin in Madison, Wisconsin.