Trooper
Fred D. Jones fresh out
of high school in 1942 found a job in his hometown of
Cincinnati, Ohio as a messenger for the War Department.
I made $90 a month and was exempt from the draft. But
after only six months on the job, I quit and joined the
Army. All of my friends were getting drafted, and I wanted
to go with them.
On March 6, 1943 I
and about 100 new recruits boarded buses for the induction
center at Fort Thomas, Ky. I remember the ride well
because. I was with some of my high school buddies.
When we got off the bus at Fort Thomas, the sergeant
who met us immediately separated the whites recruits
from the black recruits. “That was the way it was back
then”.
After processing,
the Black recruits were sent to Camp Lockett,
Calif., a sprawling military base on the Mexican border
about 60 miles southeast of San Diego. At the time,
we had no idea where we were. I remember this guy came
up to me and said. “You’re in the cavalry”. Because
I knew something about the history of the black cavalry,
the ideal of being a horse soldier appealed to me. As
a member of the newly organized 28th Regiment, I expected
that, along with the long-standing 10th Cavalry. We
would be part of a proud tradition of combat service
as a Buffalo Soldier. But the white commanding officers
at the camp had no such illusions.
Col. Waldemar Falck
probably knew the 10th and 28th would never see action
as a unit in World War II, even though the Army considered
the regiments “disciplined, enthusiastic and combat-ready".
Most theater commanders opposed using black troopers
in battle. And although some black combat units had
been shipped oversea with a few exceptions most were
assigned to service units. Many others were still at
training centers around the country. For 18 months,
black troopers of the 10th and 28th cavalry trained
in the mountains of eastern San Diego County, preparing
for the day they would be called upon to fight for their
country.
In North Africa, 1944
the all black 9th & 10th and 28th regiments were
deactivated, and ended, one of the most honorable units
in US Army.
Trooper Jones died
this year. He was a retired L.A. County Worker and lived
in Los Angles with his family. He was the
President of the L.A.
Chapter of the Ninth & Tenth (Horse) Cavalry Association
between 1998 - 2003, the Chapter will miss him greatly,
You could find him at all chapter’s events and sometimes
a guess speaker at many local events, but always telling
the story of the “Buffalo Soldiers of the old west and
WWII”.
