Buffalo Soldiers plan monument for National Infantry Museum & Soldier Center

While doing a research paper at the United States Army Sergeants Major Academy in Fort Bliss, Texas, Grady Snell discovered a dusty book in the library that contained history about blacks in the military. As he thumbed through the pages, he learned about the Buffalo Soldiers, who served the nation from 1866 to 1953 as the first peacetime all-black regiments in the U.S. Army.

Since that experience in 1991, Snell has been on a campaign to preserve the legacy of the Buffalo Soldiers for future generations. He is now the founder and president of a local group called the Global Association of the Buffalo Soldiers Recognition and Riding Club of Fort Benning, Georgia. Last week, the organization signed a contract with the National Infantry Foundation in Columbus that will pave the way for a monument to be erected at the museum's Memorial Walk of Honor in recognition of the Buffalo Soldiers' military accomplishments.

Snell, a 64-year-old retired veteran, said there's nothing at the museum now honoring the Buffalo Soldiers, even though some were stationed at Fort Benning with the 24th Infantry Regiment from 1922 to 1942. He said the organization will have to raise $60,000 for the project.

But a plot has already been purchased for $3,000, and he's optimistic that the monument will be erected by 2017.

"Rather than complain about it and moan and cry, we decided we would take the initiative and do something about it by raising funds and building a monument back there," Snell said Thursday while visiting the site where the structure will be erected. "If we get this monument the way that we want it erected, we feel that we would have recognized and honored the Buffalo Soldiers to our full extent and it will last forever."

Snell and other veterans in the group -- most of them motorcycle riders -- consider themselves modern-day Buffalo Soldiers. They have been very visible throughout Columbus, wearing military attire reflecting the Civil War and other eras. In recent weeks, they have been collecting donations in exchange for thank-you pens and DVDs about the organization. So far, they've raised $2,000.

Cyndy Cerbin, director of communications for the National Infantry Foundation, said the foundation is excited about the group's plans for the monument. The Walk of Honor is located to the south of the Parade Field, which opened in 2010 and is anchored by the 173rd Airborne Memorial. She said the walk currently has about 38 monuments, which were purchased by various units and associations to honor their groups. There are 12 plots left for future monuments, and the Buffalo Soldiers project will be the latest addition.

"The Buffalo Soldiers have always been very supportive of the National Infantry Museum," she said. "They visit frequently. They hold programs out here. And they've raised money and donated it to the museum. We've always considered them some of our strongest supporters. So, we're real happy to hear that they're going to be putting a monument on the Walk of Honor."

Cerbin said there's currently no recognition of the Buffalo Soldiers at the museum because the story that would be typically told is of their formation years, and that will be part of a new "early years" gallery that is currently under construction.

"There will be a section of a gallery that will be devoted to the story of the Buffalo Soldiers in the new gallery that will be opening in probably January of 2016," she said.

Buffalo Soldiers is the nickname for those who served in six black army units that were established through an act of Congress in 1866. The units were the 9th and 10th Cavalry and the 38th, 39th, 40th, and 41st Infantry Regiments. The four infantry regiments were later reorganized to form the 24th and 25th Infantry regiments.

"The recruits came from varied backgrounds including former slaves and veterans from service in the Civil War," according to information from the Buffalo Soldier National Museum in Houston, Texas. "The nickname buffalo soldiers began with the Cheyenne warriors in 1867. The actual Cheyenne translation was Wild Buffalo. The nickname was given out of respect and the fierce fighting ability of the 10th Cavalry. Over time, Buffalo Soldiers became a generic term for all African American soldiers."

Snell said the 25th Infantry Regiment, which consisted mainly of Buffalo Soldiers, was also the only bicycle corps in the U.S. Army. The monument at the Memorial Walk of Honor will depict a Buffalo Soldier with a bicycle.

In 1896, the Army was preparing to test the bicycle against the horse for transportation for the infantry soldiers, he said. Buffalo Soldiers rode bicycles from Montana to Missouri, traveling more than 1,900 miles. Snell said they took 41 days, averaging about 50 miles a day.

"To me, the bicycle won because the bicycle didn't have to be fed. It didn't get sick and it didn't make a lot of noise, and it didn't make a lot of dust," he said. "But due to technology and the way things were moving, the bicycle never became a main source of transportation like the horse because we had the jeeps and other wheeled vehicles come in."

Snell said the Buffalo Soldiers paved the way for other blacks in the military, which led to the Triple Nickel Soldiers of the 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion and the 761st Black Panther Armor Battalion, as well as the 332nd Fighter Group, better known as the Tuskegee Airmen, and its Red Tail Squadron.

"If they had failed, the question I ask myself is, 'Would I have been able to be in the United States Army? Would I have been able to retire and receive the same retirement benefits that every other soldier in retirement receives?'" asked Snell, who retired in 1995 after more than 24 years in the Army. "I feel indebted to them as an African American."

Snell is also the founder of the Motorcycle Club of Columbus, Georgia, which he founded in September of 2009. The Global Association of the Buffalo Soldiers Recognition and Riding Club of Fort Benning, Georgia, started in January 2012 and has expanded to include ambassadors in Florida and San Diego, Calif., Snell said.

The organization donates $1,000 to Johnson Elementary School annually so fifth-graders can visit the National Infantry Museum & Soldier Center, with local Buffalo soldiers as escorts, Snell said. A group took the field trip on Thursday.

The organization also has a partnership with the Chattahoochee County High School ROTC program, which teaches students about the Buffalo Soldiers. Both the fifth-graders at Johnson and the ROTC students are given quizzes about the soldiers' history, with prizes awarded by the organization.

Snell said the group also participates in many civic and patriotic activities and donates money to the Wounded Warriors and other nonprofit organizations. On Saturday, the group planned to lay flags at the graves of fallen soldiers at the Fort Mitchell National Cemetery.

The group has about 12 members, but it has supporters all over the world, Snell said.

"And everybody works; there's nobody just riding along free and wearing the colors and looking good," Snell said. "Everybody's got to put out. So that's why we're able to do the things that we do."

Alva James-Johnson, 706-571-8521. Reach her on Facebook at AlvaJamesJohnsonLedger.

This story was originally published May 23, 2015 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Buffalo Soldiers plan monument for National Infantry Museum & Soldier Center."