Buffalo Soldiers

“For the Common Defense, a military history of the United States from 1607-2012” is a military historic book written by Allan R. Millet, Peter Maslowski, and William B. Feis. Millet is a historian and a retired colonel of the Marine Corps. Maslowski is a professor at the University of Nebraska. Feis is a professor at Buena Vista University. This book was published in September 2012. It focuses on chronologically describing the changes of the United States military for over 400 years. Even though that is the main purpose, it does include political information. Although this book does not have an exact thesis, its purpose is to inform readers of the creation and enhancements of the US military. At almost 700 pages, this book educates about

Before WORLD WAR I, military service represented a source of black pride. Black educators, clergymen, and the press frequently referred to Negro heroes of America’s past wars. After the Civil War, the U.S, Army maintained four regular Negro regiments –the 9th and 10th Calvary and the 24th and 25th Infantry. These units included veterans of the civil war and the frontier Indian fighting regiments. Retired sergeants often became respected, conservative leaders in their communities. This history set a foundation for black support and involvement in America’s future wars.

Buffalo Soldier is a song written by Bob Marley and Noel G. Williams in 1980. It is about the African slaves who were brought to America to serve in the military. Bob Marley discoursed the themes of human rights and social justice to draw attention to black slavery. The term ‘Buffalo Soldier’ was used for the black cavalry soldiers fought against the Native Americans during Indian War between 1867 and 1870. As a singer who is considered as the political voice, Bob Marley once again emphasized on an important social issue of the history.

Alfred M. Green delivered a speech during the first month of the Civil War that addressed the issue of African Americans enlisting in the Union Army. Green believed that African Americans deserved the opportunity to prove their value to the Union. Throughout his speech, Green persuades black people to enlist in the military using an appeal to their emotions and logic.

Despite having dealt with unwritten laws known as the, “Jim Crow” laws, many African American Soldiers still decided, without being drafted, to enlist in the military, only to be met with more segregation, separation and deference. Many of them worked in supporting roles in the service. One such supporting role was called the Service Force. George was one of those soldiers serving in the Service Force. George believes the Service Force was just as important as any other role in the military. He states, “I can work with a certain satisfaction that my work behind the ‘lines’ is the only direct support that the men ‘Up Front’ have.” I believe George had the hoped that when returning from the War, African Americans would have earned equality and respect from their fellow countrymen. In writing a letter to his sister, George states, “we hope that the American people won’t forget that if we can work and fight for the Democratic Way, that we are entitled to enjoy every privilege it affords when this mess is

The Armed Services has always been a microcosm of the US people. Nowhere else will you find a more diverse group living and working together in close proximity. It has been seen from history that whatever program and policies that the Army institutes within its ranks, the civilian population eventually follows suit. Racial

In a nation with a rich history of racism and inequality projected towards minority groups, many minorities were opposed to serving in any capacity during the Civil War. There were a few, however, that maintained an openness to the idea of aiding the Northern Union’s cause. Their willingness to fight for a shared dream, though, was not enough to put them on the frontlines. In fact, many willing African Americans were not permitted to join the ranks solely due to the color of their skin. This in and of itself was a discouraging reality for many African Americans of the time. The common question rang out: If they could not be accepted even as a soldier, how could they possibly be accepted as anything more later on? Advocate Alfred M. Green, however, had a different outlook. In short, Green decided that it was too soon to be giving up on the future. In his speech delivered to African Americans in Philadelphia, he hopes to inspire many to maintain their passion and join the Union forces. Primarily through emotional and logical appeal, Green constructs a persuasive case enticing many African Americans to continue fighting for the opportunity to join the Union army.

Buffalo Soldiers provides a beautifully illustrated chronicle of the contributions made by African American troops to the U.S. military--from the post-Civil War era to the racial integration of the military after World War II. The name Buffalo Soldiers was given to the African American troops because of the similarity in their fierce relentless fighting spirit and of their hair which paralleled that of the buffalo.

For centuries African American have been struggled against racial in America. During World War II the U.S. government asked for volunteers to join the army of defense, over 2.5 million of black men registered for the draft World, around 1 million served as draftees or volunteers in the armed forces within all branches. But didn’t received the same opportunity to serve in the same manner as white soldiers. They were to segregated combat support groups. In 1942, President Franklin Roosevelt and civil rights organizations pressured U.S Navy to recruited blacks for service.

The author believes that the war had a positive outcome but it was unnecessarily disturbing. The accomplishments made during the war has indeed undermined the failures, with misconstrued views. People today think this war was “The best war ever.” Adams creates a realistic picture of the war by describing the major aspects as well as topics that have little coverage to the masses. This includes; the development of teen culture, treatment of homosexuals who took part in the armed forces, minority combat during the war, the physical and mental scars, and economic reorganization of war production.

The U.S. Army, given the size of the force, was pressed by American public alert, and even more by the develops of Lt. Col. Theodore Roosevelt, a New York official, and his First Volunteer Cavalry Regiment, a collection of western cowboys and eastern elites recognized as the “Rough Riders” (Robert, 1993, p. 74).

Not every man who 's fought in a war planned on doing so. In fact, not all of them even want to. It 's rare to find enough people voluntarily willing to lay down their lives for their country, so more often than not militaries used what we would call “citizen soldiers.” Citizen soldiers are exactly what they sound like, regular citizens taken from society and turned into people capable of serving in the military. Although it may seem obvious when plainly written out, citizen soldiers had vastly different experiences compared to career soldiers, and Stephen Ambrose attempted to pin down that specific experience in his book Citizen Soldier. Ambrose uses oral interviews from World War II veterans and other materials to explain the experiences of the common American soldier who served in WWII between D-Day and the eventual surrender of the German forces. However, when examining his book, it 's important to ask how successful Ambrose was in painting an accurate picture of this kind of soldier 's life during his service. Is the information he uses specific to the men who served in Europe, or can it also be linked back to the soldiers in the Pacific? This paper will evaluate his work by comparing it to oral interviews from WWII veterans both from the same areas that Ambrose 's veterans serve in and in locations not included in his work.

According to Arlington National Cemetery, Colonel Charles Denton Young, a child of former slaves, grew up craving military involvement after his father enlisted as a private in the 5th Regiment of the Colored Artillery Volunteers. He got accepted into the U.S. Military Academy at West Point after graduating from an all white high school with honors at age 16. Graduating with honors at 16 was already a challenge in itself, but Charles proved to overcome that challenge, also while being the only african american in his class. After learning a lot from West Point, he graduated in 1864 as the 3rd african american to ever do so in history. Charles literally went the extra mile by graduating from both high school and West Point in the top of his class when some people treated him like he wouldn’t be

Buffalo Soldiers were made up of former slaves, freemen and black Civil War Soldiers. Buffalo Soldiers got their names from the Indians because of the way they looked. Their short curly hair and their dark faces reminded Indians of buffalo. Another reason they were called Buffalo Soldiers is because of their fierce way of fighting reminded the Indians of the way the buffalo fought. The last reason they were called the Buffalo Soldiers was because they often wore thick coats made of buffalo hide in the cold of winter. In 1867 there were four black regiments: the 9th and 10th Cavalry units and the 24th and 25th Infantry units called the Buffalo Soldiers. The first black regiment to get the name of “Buffalo Soldiers” was the 10th cavalry.

Then, in 1991 Colin Powell was appointed to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under President George H.W. Bush. In this position he excelled to a national figure during Desert Shield and Desert Storm, because of the speed of the operations forcing Saddam Hussein’s forces out of Kuwait (Biography.com, 2010). Once again, it shows the courage, competence, and commitment needed to fulfill the plan of the operations. He also was reappointed to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs under President Clinton. He remained in this position until he disagreed with President Clinton’s policy about homosexuals in the military. Powell later compromised with President Clinton with the “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy (Biography.com, 2010). After this incident Powell