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FORT CARSON, Colorado – When retired Command Sgt. Maj. George Payton Jr. arrived in 1983 to Fort Carson to join the 4th Squadron, 10th Cavalry Regiment, he discovered a part of history he’d never previously known.
The legacy of the Buffalo Soldiers, which originated when the 10th Cav and five other segregated African American units were formed in 1866, was heralded by his new unit. Payton was immediately inspired.
“It gave me a surprising appreciation of history because I had not heard of the Buffalo Soldiers before, didn’t know anything about them even though I was born and raised in Texas,” said Payton, now 79 and a resident of nearby Fountain, Colorado.
With 4th Squadron, Payton eventually became the Army’s last black Soldier to be promoted on horseback, one of the long-held traditions of the original 10th Cavalry Soldiers.
Now, on the 150th anniversary of the formation of the original six segregated black units on July 28, Payton helped commemorate the new Buffalo Soldier Community Memorial monument at Memorial Park in Colorado Springs.
The ceremony afforded the former cavalryman, who now serves on the local Buffalo Soldiers Committee, a chance to meet current leaders of the only remaining active 10th Cavalry unit while celebrating the fruition of a community-wide effort to honor a key part of U.S. frontier and military history.
“This memorial is like a new lease on life, even though I’m fading away and getting older. This means a lot to me to know that we’re going back and recognizing some of the people that helped settle the American West,” he said. “They helped settlers, farmers and ranchers do things that we were not privy to doing because we were ex-slaves and thought of as ex-slaves until we started proving ourselves in combat.”
The new memorial, which stands among a number of monuments at Memorial Park honoring the sacrifices of veterans of wars past, bears the history of the Buffalo Soldiers on one side and the silhouette of a buffalo on the other.
Legend says the Buffalo Soldiers earned their name in a respectful nod by the Cheyenne warriors they fought against while defending frontier settlements. The Cheyenne respected the Cavalry Soldiers’ tenacity, that they were as tough as a buffalo, while some say it also was because the texture of their hair reminded them of the revered animal.
Regardless, the legacy of the Buffalo Soldiers continues on with the current 4th Squadron, where the history of their forebears lines the hallways of the unit at the 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team headquarters here. A buffalo statue sits in the lobby while paintings, newspaper clippings and other relics of the 10th Cav’s original warriors – including 26 Medal of Honor recipients – are on proud display.
“The troopers take pride in the unit’s history,” said 1st Sgt. Rodney Harris, senior noncommissioned officer of Troop C, who like Payton also has gained an appreciation of the past upon his arrival to the Black Jack Squadron.
“The history comes into play with my Soldiers. I try to preach to them to look at where we came from and look at where we are now. We’re making history every single day, every time we go to the field, deploy, step foot in a different country. “Everybody is part of it, and we take pride in it,” he added.
During the dedication ceremony at Stargazers Theatre in downtown Colorado Springs, Payton received a 4th Squadron coin by current unit commander Lt. Col. Chad Foster.
“We’re all just standing on the shoulders of a lot of great people who came before us,” said Foster, whose unit’s motto is “Ready and Forward.” “Our history not only gives people pride in the unit, but that pride also manifests itself in determination to continue to work hard today. We look back so that we can be better going forward.”
| Date Taken: | 08.02.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 08.03.2016 13:19 |
| Story ID: | 205950 |
| Location: | COLORADO SPRINGS, CO, US |
| Hometown: | FOUNTAIN, CO, US |
| Web Views: | 245 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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