Robert Dixon, Last Surviving Buffalo Soldier, Dies at 103
Source: NYT
A member of one of the U.S. Armys all-Black regiments, formed after the Civil War, he trained West Point cadets in horsemanship during World War II.
By Trip Gabriel
Published Nov. 27, 2024 Updated Nov. 28, 2024, 1:42 a.m. ET
The Rev. Robert W. Dixon Sr., the last known survivor of the U.S. Armys all-Black regiments known as Buffalo Soldiers, died on Nov. 15 near Albany, N.Y. He was 103.
His wife, Georgia Dixon, said he died at a rehabilitation center.
Mr. Dixon was a corporal in World War II stationed at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, where members of the Ninth Cavalry Regiment, composed of African Americans, trained cadets in horseback riding and mounted tactics.
Created after the Civil War, the Armys all-Black cavalry and infantry regiments were nicknamed Buffalo Soldiers by Native Americans who encountered them in the nations Western expansion in the post-Civil War 19th century. The name may have been a reference to the soldiers curly black hair or to the fierceness that buffalo show in fighting. In either case, the soldiers embraced the name.
Robert Dixon in 2002 at Mount Calvary Baptist Church, in Albany, N.Y., where he was a pastor for 36 years. He was the last known survivor of the U.S. Armys Black regiments, known as the Buffalo Soldiers.Credit...Luanne M. Ferris/Times Union
ORIGINAL link: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/27/us/robert-dixon-dead.html
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Historic NY
(38,178 posts)when he was going to West Point.
underpants
(187,707 posts)FailureToCommunicate
(14,358 posts)sinkingfeeling
(53,405 posts)Six117
(246 posts)Rest in Power
LoisB
(9,054 posts)Sneederbunk
(15,468 posts)although they contributed to Native American genocide.
republianmushroom
(18,392 posts)Evolve Dammit
(19,336 posts)Skittles
(160,692 posts)Skittles
(160,692 posts)I sent this article to a West Pointer and he sent back:
They trained my dad, he spoke very highly of them