Career
In later life he worked for the cause of affirmative action and donated much of his time to help those in need. Vernon Sport enlisted in the United States. Army Air Corps immediately after graduating from high school. He requested a posting at Moton Field in Tuskegee, Alabama, the home field of the Tuskegee Airmen.
Each time, he was turned down for lacking a college degree.
In retrospect, "it was an exercise in determination. He continuously requested to try out for the airmen.
He didn’t have a college education at that time, but he was very well-read," Doctor Alfred Wyatt, Sport"s son-in-law, would note later. Eventually, he would prevail, rising to the rank of captain squad commander.
After leaving the Air Corps, Sport would earn a bachelor"s degree from Suffolk University and a master"s degree from Goddard College.
Sport moved to Massachusetts, where he worked in the state courts as an affirmative action officer, helping to ensure equal access for African-Americans. He also served on the boards of such notable organizations as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the American Heart Association and the American Cancer Society. Sport retired and moved to Conyers, Georgia in 1988, but that didn"t stop him from helping others
He worked with an Atlanta-area charity, the Angels of Mercy, which provided food and support to homeless persons, for many years.
Vernon Sport died in Conyers, Georgia on September 8, 2008, of complications from Alzheimer"s Disease.