"Buffalo Soldiers" Reburied at Santa Fe National Cemetery

"Buffalo Soldiers" Reburied at Santa Fe National Cemetery



WASHINGTON (Aug. 18, 2009) - A ceremony memorializing 64 soldiers and
their family members who protected southwestern New Mexico from Apache
attacks in the mid-1800s was held July 28 by the Department of Veterans
Affairs (VA) and the Department of Interior. The remains of the Fort
Craig residents originally buried at the fort's cemetery and disinterred
by the Interior Department in 2007 were recently reburied with full
military honors at VA's Santa Fe National Cemetery.



"This ceremony marks a fitting final resting place for these courageous
people," Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki said. "After
more than 100 years, they are finally recognized with the honors earned
for their honorable service to their country."



The ceremony included a color guard, playing of Taps and a 21-gun salute
by the New Mexico National Guard. Officials of VA and Interior were
principal speakers.



Fort Craig, built in 1854, played a major role in the Civil War and
Indian Wars. Located on the west side of the Rio Grande River,
approximately 40 miles south of Socorro, N.M., it was permanently
abandoned in 1885.



After an investigation by Interior's Bureau of Reclamation revealed
looting of the unmarked graves at Fort Craig's cemetery, the Bureau
worked with VA's National Cemetery Administration to move them to Santa
Fe National Cemetery.



Through analysis and military records, archaeologists identified three
of the soldiers as Private David Ford, Private Levi Morris and Private
Thomas Smith. These men were "Buffalo Soldiers," members of units
established by Congress as the first peacetime all-black regiments in
the regular U.S. Army. They were buried in separate graves marked with
individual headstones.



The remains of the 61 unidentifiable people were buried as a group in
Santa Fe National Cemetery in June, and the site was marked with a
historical monument.



Veterans with a discharge issued under conditions other than
dishonorable, their spouses and eligible dependent children can be
buried in a VA national cemetery. Other burial benefits available for
all eligible Veterans, regardless of whether they are buried in a
national cemetery or a private cemetery, include a burial flag, a
Presidential Memorial Certificate and a government headstone or marker.
Families of eligible decedents may also order a memorial headstone or
marker when remains are not available for interment.



In the midst of the largest expansion since the Civil War, VA operates
130 national cemeteries in 39 states and Puerto Rico and 33 soldiers'
lots and monument sites. More than 3 million Americans, including
Veterans of every war and conflict, are buried in VA's national
cemeteries on nearly 18,000 acres of land.



For information on the Santa Fe National Cemetery, call the cemetery
office at (505) 988-6400.



Information on VA burial benefits can be obtained from national cemetery
offices, from the Internet at www.cem.va.gov
or by calling VA regional offices toll-free at (800) 827-1000.

Buffalo Soldier gets Arlington burial after 100 years

Buffalo Soldier gets Arlington burial after 100 years
Story Highlights
Cpl. Isaiah Mays served as Buffalo Soldier in late 1800s
Mays received Medal of Honor, but was denied federal pension
He died in 1925 in an Arizona state hospital that took care of poor
Group of hospital staff, veterans campaigned for Mays' burial at Arlington
By Bob Kovach
CNN

ARLINGTON, Virginia (CNN) -- It was a journey that took more than a hundred years.

Missing for decades, the remains of Cpl. Isaiah Mays, a Buffalo Soldier and Medal of Honor recipient, were laid to rest Friday at Arlington National Cemetery.

Paying respects were African-American veterans, U.S. Army soldiers and those who rode for days as part of a motorcycle escort -- members of the Missing in America Project, who traveled from as far away as California and Arizona at their own expense to make sure Mays got a proper burial.

Mays was born a slave in Virginia in 1858 but spent most of his life west of the Mississippi, joining the famed Buffalo Soldiers as the black cavalry and infantry troops fought in the frontier Indian Wars.

In 1889, he was part of a small detachment assigned to protect a U.S. Army pay wagon, which was caught in an ambush by a band of bandits. A gunfight ensued and almost all the soldiers were wounded or killed. Mays was shot in both legs. The bandits made off with $29,000 in gold coins.

Despite his wounds, Mays managed to walk and crawl two miles to a ranch to seek help. He was awarded a Medal of Honor on February 15, 1890.

More than 20 Buffalo Soldiers have received the Medal of Honor, the military's highest award for valor. No other unit has won more.
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http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/05/29/missing.soldier.buried/

Medal of Honor:Buffalo Soldier Sgt. Cornelius H. Carlton Buried at Arlington National Cemetery

56 Years Later, Arlington Welcomes A Buffalo Soldier
By JESSE A. HAMILTON The Hartford Courant
November 13, 2008

ARLINGTON, Va. — - Zenobia Penn's uncle is done with his traveling. And her family has learned that sometimes you have to bury a man three times before it's done right.

Penn's Uncle Connie is better known to some by the name on his Medal of Honor citation: Sgt. Cornelius H. Charlton. Now that name will be carved into one of the white stones on the green slopes of Arlington National Cemetery — more than half a century after the family said racism turned the soldier away from this resting place of many of the country's honored heroes.

It's bittersweet, this victory. The family finally gets to see its own Korean War hero put in the place they always thought he should be. But it took so long, a 56-year wait, ended by a little administrative tenacity by Penn, who lives in New London.

Penn, the daughter of Charlton's older sister Fairy Mae Papadopoulos, never knew her uncle. She was a month shy of being born when Charlton was killed taking Hill 549 near the village of Chipo-ri. But she knew his story, the one told around kitchen tables as far back as she can remember. The family's honest-to-goodness hero, awarded the country's highest military honor, handed to his folks by President Harry Truman.
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Brothers in arms: WWII veterans bask in trip to Washington, hero's welcome home

Brothers in arms: WWII veterans bask in trip to Washington, hero's welcome home
WASHINGTON -- The people thanked him for his service and wished him well. They shook his hand and patted his back. John B. Williams was practically a celebrity. His hat was the key. It announced to everyone that he had served in World War II.

John Williams got his wish to meet Gen. Colin Powell during his visit to the World War II memorial in Washington, D.C.

So as he strolled the grounds of the National World War II Memorial, all sorts of people approached him. The tourists appreciate the veterans and want them to know it.

John could have impressed his well-wishers. He could have told them about how he was a Buffalo Soldier, one of only a few hundred African-American men still alive who served with the famed black cavalry.

He could have told them how, after the Buffalo Soldiers traded their horses for tanks, he and the 7th Army invaded southern France in Operation Dragoon, the war's second D-Day.

He could have told them how he's spent a lifetime fighting for civil rights and racial equality.

Instead, every time someone acknowledged his service, he said this, or something like it:

"Well, thank you. Now let me tell you about my brother."

Just as they've done everything else, John and his brother, Robert F. "Bob" Williams, visited Washington together on Nov. 1. They were among 63 veterans on Honor Flight, a national program that flies World War II and terminally ill veterans to Washington free.
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