Buffalo Soldiers Ride Again
Every time the Buffalo Soldiers and Troopers Motorcycle Club mounts up, they ride to honor the black soldiers who were first called Buffalo Soldiers after the Civil War
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six black units consisting of the 9th and 10th Cavalry and the 38th, 39th, 40th and 41st Infantry regiments. The four infantry regiments were later consolidated into the 24th and 25th Infantry regiments.
Though African Americans had been serving in the U.S. military since the Revolutionary War, this was the first time a standing army of black soldiers had been authorized in the U.S. during peacetime.
The term Buffalo Soldiers was given to the units by the Native Americans who thought the soldiers’ hair resembled that of the buffalos and as a compliment to their bravery and skill.
Over time, the term came to be used to label the Army’s African American units through World War II.
While African Americans in uniform made less than their white counterparts and were not afforded all of the same privileges, military service still provided a better way of life, says Paul Matthews, the founder and executive director of the Buffalo Soldiers National Museum in Houston.
“If you were black in America prior to the Civil War,” he says, “you were basically doing four things: picking cotton, cutting sugar cane, working in tobacco fields or working in a rice paddy.
“Guess what you’d be doing after the Civil War? Picking cotton, cutting sugar cane, working in tobacco field or working in a rice paddy. The military offered an opportunity for black men to go out West, have a uniform on, carry a rifle, making $13 a month, being able to take care of their family, being a citizen, demonstrating patriotism. It was a wonderful thing.”
While the Buffalo Soldiers came to fame in their battles against Native Americans, Matthews says none of the Black troops took part in the murderous campaigns.
“The Buffalo Soldiers that went out West were peace-keepers,” says Matthews. “They protected the settlers from the Native Americans and protected the Native Americans from the settlers. They built camps, forts and railroads, and put up telegraph wires. That’s what they had done 90 percent of the time. None of the battles was related to the massacre-type or genocidal-type things that happened.”
Although the Oahu chapter is still in its formative stages, it is looking to have an impact on the Island.
“What we would like to be able to do is to go to schools in the community and offer an opportunity to talk to students,” Johnson said.
And though he didn’t expect it at the time, their bikes have turned into conversation pieces with youngsters.
“The younger students are interested because they like motorcycles. A lot of times they come over and look and ask questions. We feel that the motorcycles are an added value to the club.”
While it may not seem evident at first glance, the black soldiers after World War II mirror in many ways those of Hawaii’s famed 442nd Regimental Combat Team. Both left for war with their citizenship questioned and came back determined to lead the change in their communities.
“The soldiers that came back to America after World War II were on the vanguard of the civil rights movement,” says Matthews.
“These were the individuals who went to Europe, fought in France, fought in Italy and came back, and they said we have earned our rights. When I was coming up and the soldiers came home in their uniforms, they came to the churches, and the people stood up. It was a source of pride. It was a demonstration of patriotism.”
According to buffalosoldiers.net, the African American units had the lowest rate of desertion in the Arm,y even though the soldiers often had to deal with harsh discipline and inadequate equipment and food.
Johnson says the history of the Buffalo Soldiers is the history of America, and that is something that cannot be forgotten.
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