Buffalo Soldiers Cite Dual
Battle: The Enemy And Racism

By PENELOPE OVERTON | Courant Staff Writer July 17, 2008
This is a photo taken of an elite company of African American soldiers who earned high scores in the Army's entrance exam and were selected to receive advanced technical training in fields such as medicine and engineering. Many of them went on to serve in the Army's 92nd Infantry Division and saw action in Italy during World War II. The 92nd Infantry was dubbed The Buffalo Soldiers, named after the famed African American members of the U.S. Cavalry that saw action during the Indian Wars. Four members of this company reunited in Old Saybrook Wednesday.


OLD SAYBROOK - Four of the remaining Buffalo Soldiers, a group of African Americans who served in the Army's 92nd Infantry Division during World War II, gathered at Saybrook Point Inn Wednesday to reminisce.

They talked about fighting the Germans and Italians in Europe, but it was the racism that dogged them within their own military that had wounded these soldiers the most — ordered to ride in rail baggage cars, banned from all-white bunkhouses and sent on suicidal missions.

"But it didn't diminish our desire to perform," said Frank Seaforth of Windham. "It was like we had two battles. We not only had to fight the enemy, but we also had to fight the crackers and rednecks who were in charge of us."

They were members of an elite platoon of 43 African Americans who scored high on the Army entrance exam and were selected to receive advanced training in technical fields such as medicine and engineering at the now defunct Camp Wheeler in Georgia.



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• Buffalo Soldiers Photo

Many of these men went on to serve in the Army's 92nd Infantry Division, which was dubbed the Buffalo Soldiers. That is the name that American Indians gave the black members of the U.S. Cavalry who fought Indians in the American West.

Members of the Buffalo Soldiers have been gathering for informal reunions every four or five years since they returned stateside at the end of World War II, Seaforth said. The gatherings used to attract a hundred people, but many have died and some are too ill to travel, so it's down to these four.

Their successes illustrate how well most Buffalo Soldiers fared after the war.

Charles Wells of Michigan became assistant superintendent of schools in Detroit. Lawrence Pierce of New York is a retired federal judge. James Curtis of Michigan went on to serve in Korea, and is a retired professor of psychiatry.

And Seaforth, who was known as a soldier's soldier, the one who was always the first to run over any hill or round any corner no matter how dangerous, opened a pharmacy in Willimantic in 1952. Seaforth became a legend at Anchor Pharmacy before he sold it in 1995.

Salesmen used to tell Seaforth he should move to Hartford and serve his own community in an urban setting, but Seaforth waved them off. He said he didn't go to school to learn how to fill a "black prescription," and that "white people needed a good pharmacist, too."

The four buddies don't know when they will get together next. Their wives used to plan their reunions, but they are dead now, and it's up to these old wise-cracking soldiers to plan their next gathering. For now, Wells said, their goal is to remain available for another one.

"Who else will tell the story?" Wells said, smiling. "Believe me, we've got some good ones."

Buffalo Soldiers Cite Dual Battle: The Enemy And Racism -- Courant.com

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For the first time I have seen "History" at close quarters,and I know that its actual process is very different from what is presented to Posterity. - WWI General Max Hoffman.

They fought fascism abroad, prejudice at home African-American WWII vets reunite in Old Saybrook By Matthew Clark Published on 7/17/2008


Old Saybrook - After fighting in World War II, the men of the 92nd Infantry Division went on to become doctors and judges, engineers and educators.
But beyond enduring the perils of battle, these men, all African-American, also had to fight racial prejudice and segregation both in the Army and as civilians.
Four of the surviving members reunited at the Saybrook Point Inn Wednesday to reminisce and enjoy each other's company, as they have done dozens of times since they were discharged more than 60 years ago.
For Frank Seaforth Sr., Charles Wells, Lawrence Pierce, and Dr. James Curtis, their friendship has served as “a mutual admiration society” that helped them through the struggles of segregation and battle.
”I would not have traded my experience with these guys for anything,” Seaforth said.
Seaforth, of Windham, is the group's unelected leader - he often organizes their reunions and is often the bearer of bad news. When one of their group dies, it is Seaforth who usually delivers the news to his comrades.
They kidded Wells about being the only one of the four who doesn't use e-mail.
”I'm retired. I don't need to be contacted in an emergency,” he deadpanned. “Unless it's my emergency.”
The four men, all in their 80s, interacted with the ease and comfort of people who have endured tremendous struggle and lived to joke about it.
Their conversation is marked by gentle ribbing, inside jokes and finishing one another's sentences.
”I forgot to tell you about the contest,” Seaforth said, holding up a dog-eared glossy photograph.
The picture showed a group of about 60 young, black soldiers in the Army Specialized Training Program.
He delivered the punch line, guffawing: “Anyone who can find me wins a million dollars.”
Wednesday afternoon the men recalled their sometimes bittersweet personal histories, the paths that led them to military service and their remarkable friendships forged in the process.
”The idea of loving my country comes with mixed feelings,” said Wells, of Albion, Mich.
After being discharged from the Army, Wells served as the assistant superintendent of the Detroit school system for 21 years.
”I welcomed my experience, but I wouldn't want to go through it again,” he said.
Wells, Pierce, Curtis and Seaforth all shared similar stories of experiencing racial prejudice both in war and at home.
”It's like we had two battles: Not only did we have to fight the enemy - we also had to fight the crackers and rednecks in charge of us,” Seaforth said.
Curtis recalled being forced to ride in the baggage car of the train that carried him and a fellow soldier from Atlanta to Macon, Ga., for basic training. Because of their assignment, they should have been in first class. Pierce, who served as the deputy commissioner of the New York City Police Department and as a federal judge for more than 20 years, said the key is not to dwell on the negative. ”You plow along and you deal with what you encounter,” he said. “You don't spend a lot of time looking back.”

TheDay.com - They fought fascism abroad, prejudice at home

__________________


For the first time I have seen "History" at close quarters,and I know that its actual process is very different from what is presented to Posterity. - WWI General Max Hoffman.