CHESTERFIELD, Va. (AP) - John Joseph Nichols served as a Buffalo Soldier alongside baseball great Jackie Robinson and boxer Joe Louis in the 1940s.
Now, the 91-year-old Chester resident visits schools, churches, community events, museums and elsewhere, teaching the history of Buffalo Soldiers and sharing his own war stories from World War II.
The Army veteran of 22½ years said he decided to share his story after a few people urged him not to let the memories fade away.
“They said, ’You are depriving our people of their history,’ ” Nichols said. “They said, ’It’s not taught in schools, and when you die, your history dies with you.’ Well, I didn’t like that.”
“My job is to teach it,” he said.
In 1866, after the Civil War, a law authorized the U.S. Army to form two cavalry units and four infantry units made up of only black men. Members of these regiments became known as the Buffalo Soldiers and members of the regiments continued to be called that into the 1940s.
Now, 150 years later, Nichols, along with members of a group he founded and a Richmond-based motorcycle club, is trying to keep the history of the Buffalo Soldiers alive.
The Buffalo Soldiers served in the 9th and 10th cavalries, and the 38th, 39th, 40th, and 41st infantry regiments, according to historians. The soldiers would travel west, escorting settlers, cattle herds, railroad crews and others. They also would fight against Native Americans to aid westward expansion. In 1868, the four infantry regiments were reorganized into the 24th and 25th infantry units. The last Buffalo Soldier units were active until 1948.
Nichols’ desk in his home is cluttered with historical novels about African-American contributions to the military, pictures and paper clippings of events he attended in uniform, and various war memorabilia, such as medallions, pins, patches and more.
A small white paper sign with the typed words “John Nichols, Staff Sgt., U.S. Army” hangs off the edge of his desk. He’s eager to share his stories and uses the information scattered about to provide context for the history of Buffalo Soldiers.
While he’s proud to have served his country, Nichols said he’s still bitter about some of the treatment he received in the service. Nichols said he remembers numerous occasions when he would go to sign up for combat or different divisions within the Army and was turned down because blacks weren’t allowed to join those sections at the time.
“I feel that I have to tell them about it and to bring them up so they know and can be proud,” Nichols said of telling children of the soldiers’ legacy. “I want them to know.”
Nichols also helped found the Petersburg chapter of Buffalo Soldiers in Virginia, which is one of roughly 43 groups nationwide dedicated to preserving and sharing the history of Buffalo Soldiers. The local group has about 50 members, most of whom are veterans, Nichols said.
Several Buffalo Soldiers from Virginia received the Medal of Honor, according to Aubrey Phillips Sr., president of the Petersburg chapter.
One theory of how Buffalo Soldiers got their name is for their tenacity in a fight, similar to a buffalo. Another is that they would cover themselves with buffalo hides during the winter when they went into battle out West, bearing a resemblance to charging buffaloes. While almost all of the Buffalo Soldiers were men, a few women sneaked into the units disguised as men, the most famous being Cathay Williams, who served under the pseudonym William Cathay.
Riding all over the country on their motorcycles in honor of the two cavalry units, members of the Buffalo Soldiers of Richmond motorcycle club also work to preserve the Buffalo Soldier story. The motorcycle club is one of 111 chapters worldwide, with eight chapters in Virginia. When they ride, they wear uniforms similar to those worn by Buffalo Soldiers.
“When we talk about soldiers, they’re used to hearing about Stonewall Jackson and how he was so brave, and these guys (Buffalo Soldiers) were just as brave as everybody else, but nobody was saying anything about them,” said Chester Davis, who is president of the motorcycle club and served in the military.
“It also gives to young people (role models) they can look up and see that we weren’t just slaves and that we had other contributions - that we fought in wars in this country like everybody else. . So stuff like that I felt needed to be known.”
The motorcycle club, founded in 2003, works with schools and churches and plans fundraisers, among other outreach efforts.
Recently, the club put on a golf tournament to raise money for scholarships and for kids to go to camp. It also does a lot of work with Armstrong High School, including back-to-school events, and with the Carol Adams Foundation, which provides emergency services for women and children of domestic violence, Davis said. Davis said their uniforms and motorcycles help start a conversation with youth and community members across the country when they ride.
“We’re very much trying to help these kids, and by them knowing their history of Buffalo Soldiers, that tells them we were something more than what they see in the streets,” Davis said.
“Every major battle there were significant contributions from African-Americans,” said Richard Britford, a member of the motorcycle club. “Sometimes the contributions get overlooked, but our goal here is to keep that heritage alive. They did it on horses, we do it on motorcycles, but it’s not just about motorcycles.”
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Information from: Richmond Times-Dispatch, https://www.timesdispatch.com
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