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Oldest Buffalo Soldier marks 108th birthday
CNN ^
| 8/7/2002
Posted on 08/07/2002 8:13:35 PM PDT by ArcLight
The oldest living member of the 10th Cavalry Buffalo Soldiers marked his 108th birthday Wednesday with a trip to the State Department.
Retired 1st Sgt. Mark Matthews met with Secretary of State Colin Powell, a long-time advocate of commemorating the Buffalo Soldiers -- black soldiers who served in segregated outfits on the Western frontier in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: blacksoldiers; heroes; history
1
posted on
08/07/2002 8:13:35 PM PDT
by
ArcLight
To: ArcLight
Enlisted in 1910. That's unreal!
To: ArcLight
He ought to visit the home of the Buffalo Soldier - Fort Huachuca.
3
posted on
08/07/2002 9:18:52 PM PDT
by
FrogMom
To: ArcLight; mhking
Bump.
To: ArcLight
Bump for the 10th and their living legend.
5
posted on
08/07/2002 11:31:51 PM PDT
by
wasp69
To: ArcLight; mhking
ping and a bump.
To: First_Salute
You beat me to mhking. Sorry I didn't read the whole thread before I pinged.
To: rdb3; Khepera; elwoodp; MAKnight; condolinda; mafree; Trueblackman; FRlurker; Teacher317; ...
Black conservative pingIf you want on (or off) of my black conservative ping list, please let me know via FREEPmail. (And no, you don't have to be black to be on the list!)
Extra warning: this is a high-volume ping list.
8
posted on
08/08/2002 5:26:02 AM PDT
by
mhking
To: mhking
Wow, 108! And he was a Buffalo soldier. That man must have some very good genes, and wouldn't you just love to hear the stories he must have to tell? Somebody get that man's life story down on tape, if it hasn't already been done! Living history like this man is, should be recorded before he leaves us.
9
posted on
08/08/2002 6:18:32 AM PDT
by
xJones
To: FrogMom
The museum at Huachuca (surprisingly lot of history there) and the Pima Air Museum north of it were my favorites.
Hope both are still operating and, if they are, recommend both to anyone driving through S. Arizona.
10
posted on
08/08/2002 6:19:13 AM PDT
by
norton
To: mhking
YOW! What an amazing story about an amazing man. Thanks very much for the ping.
11
posted on
08/08/2002 7:05:43 AM PDT
by
Gumlegs
To: JennysCool
I wonder what our childrens generation will do for the surviving WWII vets in the year 2030
To: ArcLight
Reminds me of the Bob Marley song.
13
posted on
08/08/2002 7:13:14 AM PDT
by
1Old Pro
To: ArcLight
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, old soldier!
for dixie,sw
To: ArcLight
Forward at the gallop! HO!
To: Pistolshot; SLB; Wally Cleaver
Scouts out!!
To: ArcLight
The 10th was, at one time, based at Fort Davis, Texas. There is also a museum dedicated to the Buffalo Soldiers there.
Fort Davis also hosted the only Camel Corps in the history of the U.S. military...
17
posted on
08/08/2002 11:44:10 AM PDT
by
okie01
To: norton
Both are still operating.
18
posted on
08/08/2002 3:15:31 PM PDT
by
FrogMom
To: ArcLight
My 3rd-grade teacher was extraordinarily old. I commented on her life (she died in 1994 at age 97) to an e-mail friend just last week:
Of "Miss Dessie:"
-- if there had been a newspaper account of the Wright Brothers' flight at Kitty Hawk, she'd have been old enough to read it.
-- When she was 72, she watched Neil Armstrong walk on the moon.
-- If she'd been a man, she could have been cannon-fodder in the First World War.
-- While it's hard to imagine her adopting this image, as a young woman during the "Roaring 20's," she could have been a flapper doing the Charleston in a speakeasy.
-- She was a middle-aged woman when Pearl Harbor got bombed. (Or was that Pearl Bailey?)
-- When she talked about President Roosevelt, you had to ask her which one, as she remembered both.
-- Finally retired from teaching sometime in the 70's, she spent her last ambulatory years as a "pink lady" at the local hospital.
As kids we thought she was weird, but years later we knew she was just what we needed.
Rest in peace, Miss Dessie.
To: FrogMom
Thanks, I remember when the Pima museum was a couple of WW2 bombers rolled up to the perimeter road at DMAFB. And, the parade ground at Huachuca set my mind's image of a perfect frontier fort. (Way better than Old Main at U of A)
20
posted on
08/09/2002 7:01:26 AM PDT
by
norton
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