An "Untold" Story??
Abraham Lincoln, in the Emancipation Proclamation, authorized black slaves to bear arms, in uniform, in defense of the United States. Crispus Attucks, in 1770, is perhaps the first black to die in defense of what would become the United States; in the Boston Massacre. Lincoln started something new. Whites in this country, because of Haiti's defeat of the French for their Independence, and fear of slave revolts, wrote laws and pursued policies to deny non-whites the right to bear arms. Following the Civil War, white soldiers went back to their pre-war lives, by and large, but, having no past to return to, the newly armned black soldiers were sent, by the hundreds of thousands, "out West" to make that part of our country safe for the railroads. Their territory extended essentially from the Mississipi River to the California Sierras, and from the Canadian Border into Northern Mexico.
I met my first real "Buffalo Soldier" at Fort Meade, Md, in 1962. An Army Major, and his wife be-friended my young family and became "adopted parents and grand-parents" almost immediately. They met, and were married in Bixby, Arizona in 1941, where he was enlisted at nearby Fort Huachucha. He was picked to become an Army Cavalry Officer in 1941, and served a long military career lasting from World War II through several tours in Viet Nam.
A raucous "all-nighter" of story-telling in a basement lounge of a home in Yellow Springs, Ohio, is one of my fondest memories; and a time when I learned things about WWII, not written anywhere. Among those things was the history of the Army campaign to prove that "Negros" were unfit for roles other than menial servants in our nation's military. Eisenhower, I was told, was one of the officers involved. But their major disgust was held for General Mark Clark, and his treatment of non-whites during the Italian Campaign.
Before the Army finds some excuse to get rid of it, everyone should visit their outstanding Museum at Ft Huachucha. That's where the Army hid black troops from the general public for decades. That is where "Black Jack" General Pershing used those troops to fight Pancho Villa, after they returned from taking San Juan Hill in Cuba, allowing Teddy Roosevelt to take credit; and later engage in ugly racism in order to win the Presidency. New Mexico was the location for more than 19 forts housing Buffalo Soldiers, and where the Army issued more than 30 Medals of Honor for the battle records of those soldiers. All except one, Lt Tipper, were kept under control of white officers.
Because Fort Meade's commanders decided to seize the new housing provided for Joint-Service officers, and use that housing for their own officers; other service officers (from Navy Admirals to Air Force junior officers) were pushed into old Wherry (WWII) housing. That policy formed a peculiar "ghetto" on Post that included enlisted Army and a hand-full of Joint-service officers. It became a community that worked closely together to support families. Those bonds lasted for our entire careers, even though most of us returned to our respective services.
Hollywood; from John Wayne to Steven Spielberg, have consistently managed to keep this part of our history hidden.
Stay Vigilant! Happy Easter!
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