Lieutenant Colonel James C. Braye, USA (ret.) “is a black triple retiree, husband, father of five, grandfather of four, and fifty-five-year member of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity. He has at times been a soldier, businessman, counselor, singer, cantor, politician, and with this effort, a writer. He was born during the Great Depression, though no one told him about his limited prospects for success in life. He holds a bachelor’s degree in education from Colorado College and a master’s degree in counseling from Virginia State University.”  Lieutenant Colonel James C. Braye is the author of Marching to the Music.

According to the book description of Marching to the Music, it “traces the life of James C. Braye (Pepper) from humble beginnings as a black waif in the tenements of Harlem, New York, through careers as an Army officer, corporate executive and educator. It is a story of love, race relations, broad career swings, and religious awakenings. On other levels, the book chronicles war and peace, travel and adventure, and courage and doubt, sprinkled with bravery and hesitation. The reader will get caught up in the close family relationships that the author maintained with his wife and five children despite the nomadic lives they lived in places like Germany, France, and South Korea.”