Oldest Buffalo Soldier laid to rest at age 111

[underpants]

Oldest Buffalo Soldier Laid To Rest
http://www.kwtx.com/home/headlines/1727876.html


Sgt. Mark Matthews, who at 111 was the last surviving Buffalo soldier, was laid to rest during services Monday in Washington, D.C.

Buffalo soldiers were troops who served in the all-black 9th and 10th Cavalry regiments.



Matthews joined the legendary unit in 1910 at the age of 16 and served under Gen. Joseph Pershing as the Army pursued the notorious Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa.

He went on to serve in the South Pacific during World War II.




Buffalo Soldier a Patriot to the End
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/19/AR2005091901780.html

He was 111 when he died last week, believed to be the oldest of the Buffalo Soldiers -- the black Army men on horseback who helped settle the West and fought abroad even as they were denied personal freedoms at home.

Mark Matthews was born in 1894, when Grover Cleveland was president, 28 years after the federal government had formed six regiments of black soldiers, largely to acknowledge the contribution they made during the Civil War.

[Squatch]

1. Happy trails, Sergeant

[TyeDye75]

2. I bet he couldve told some tales

[wildhorses]

3. old soldiers and horses...Salute!!!

:patriot:

[DemocracyInaction]

4. Wow

What living history. How sad that he dies just as America bares it's ugly racist hypocracy again in the flood waters of New Orleans.

[AspenRose]

5. Buffalo Soldier-Bob Marley

Buffalo soldier, dreadlock rasta
There was a buffalo soldier
In the heart of America
Stolen from Africa, brought to America
Fighting on arrival, fighting for survival

I mean it, when I analyse the stench
To me it makes me a lot of sense
How the dreadlock rasta was the buffalo soldier
And he was taken from Africa, brought to America
Fighting on arrival, fighting for survival

If you know your history,
Then you would know where you coming from
Then you would’nt have to ask me
Who the heck do I think I am

I’m just a buffalo soldier
In the heart of America
Stolen from Africa, brought to America
Said he was fighting on arrival
Fighting for survival

:patriot:

[underpants]

6. RIP Sgt. Mathews

:patriot:

[Brother Buzz]

7. He served in the 93nd Division during WWII

The 93nd Division was the only 'coloured' unit to serve in the Pacific Theatre of Operation during the Second World War. The unit patch of the 93rd Division during WWII was a blue Casque Adrien helmet (French Army helmet) because its four Regiments served under French command during WW I.



The all-black 93rd division, a rag-tag outfit that was initially issued Civil War uniforms, were assigned to French command by General John Pershing during WWI. The French desperately needed fresh troops and Pershing was able to satisfy France's needs by getting rid of his own problem - black soldiers. The 93d Division turned in their American equipment and were issued French rifles, bayonets, helmets, packs, and other equipment of the French soldier. They were then organized, trained, and commanded as a French unit, the first unit in US history to serve under foreign command.

The 93nd division fought as part of the French army, where, ironically, it found acceptance, respect, and glory, eventually winning the Croix de Guerre, only to return to America and find Jim Crow laws alive and well.

A salute to a tough old Sergeant from a soldier that served in a 'Buffalo Battalion', one of the last remnants of your sister unit, the 92nd Division. They tried to scour that bit of history from the books, but we know.

[underpants]

8. Very interesting

Thanks for that knowledge.

[Guaranteed]

10. That's really fascinating. nt

[goclark]

9. Real Patriots That Gave Their Lives for Our Country

May he rest in peace.