Buffalo Soldiers' service part of enduring legacy

FORT LEE, VA, UNITED STATES

02.04.2016

Story by Terrance Bell  

Fort Gregg-Adams

I've only just a minute,
Only sixty seconds in it.
Forced upon me, can't refuse it,
Didn't seek it, didn't choose it,
But it's up to me to use it.
I must suffer if I lose it,
Give an account if I abuse it,
Just a tiny little minute,
But eternity is in it

FORT LEE, Va. - The poem, by Dr. Benjamin Mays, conveys time and opportunity as commodities that should not be wasted. It is oft sited to students by Captain Paul Matthews, founder and chairman of the Buffalo Soldier National Museum in Houston, Texas. He said the poem serves to remind him of the opportunities afforded him via the blood and toil of people like the Buffalo Soldiers, the U.S. Army fighting men who fought wars, prejudice and discrimination simultaneously after the Civil War to World War II.

Probably named so by natives due to the resemblance to bison, the original Buffalo Soldiers – those of the 10th and 9th Cavalry and later the 24th and 25th Infantry regiments -- helped to settle the west after starting in 1866.

“They were the peacekeepers in the American West,” said Matthews, a Vietnam veteran. “They built camps, forts and railroads and delivered the mail, strung telegraph wires, charted the land, chased down outlaws and Mexican revolutionaries. Without the Buffalo Soldiers, western movement would have been delayed by about 50 years.”

The Buffalo Soldiers’ service during World War II had little bearing on the war itself but was impactful nonetheless.

“The modern Buffalo Soldiers were the men on the vanguard of the modern day civil rights movement,” said Matthews. “These were the individuals who came back from Europe who went to trade schools and HBCUs and became carpenters, electricians, teachers and helped developed a strong middle class.”

Perhaps what gets overlooked in Buffalo Soldier history is the day-to-day determination required to fight the enemy and prejudice. All Buffalo Soldiers should be commended for the amount of strength it took to take up arms while battling on the social and political fronts, full well knowing there would be no immediate benefits, said Matthews.

“They did what they did – not necessarily for themselves – but for those who came behind them,” he said. “I’m a good example of that. In 1968, I marched across the stage and became a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army. I marched across this bridge that I didn’t build. Each one of those bricks were built by those members of the 9th and 10th cavalry and those members of the 24th and 25th Infantry.”

The Buffalo Soldiers made enduring contributions to the country as a whole as well, said Matthews.

"The Buffalo Soldiers stood up for America when America didn't necessarily stand up for them."

Many of the Buffalo Soldier units were deactivated during WWII. Several were later reactivated and are in service today.

For more information about the Buffalo Soldier National Museum, visit http://buffalosoldiermuseum.com/

• Date Taken: 02.04.2016
• Date Posted: 02.04.2016 11:39
• Story ID: 187887
• Location: FORT LEE, VA, US