9690: Buffalo Soldiers Ride On.

From The Los Angeles Times…

Buffalo Soldiers tell their stories

Two Buffalo Soldiers speak at the Autry museum, recalling their experiences as black men in the then-segregated Army. It was one of many L.A.-area events honoring the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

By Ari Bloomekatz, Los Angeles Times

When James Cooper was a teenager in segregated Louisiana, he worked at a factory for $2 a day and didn’t see a bright future.

So he entered the military, attracted by such benefits as free lodging and meals, and eventually joined the ranks of one of the first African American regiments in the U.S. Army, becoming what was known as a Buffalo Soldier.

“Why did I join the Army? Survival. At 17, I looked at the Army and it was better than what I had,” Cooper, now 89, told a small audience Sunday at the Autry National Center of the American West, in one of many events commemorating the birthday of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

A program in Culver City featured a panel discussion, poetry, choral and jazz music and a staged reading of a play called “The Dreamers” featuring Margaret Avery, an actress best known for her role in “The Color Purple.” In Exposition Park, the California African American Museum kicked off a two-day program with a celebration called One Dream, a National Influence, a World of People.

At the Autry, Cooper spoke of the need to tell younger people about the Buffalo Soldiers as time rapidly shrinks their ranks.

“I want them to remember what we accomplished as a black people … and that we’re still marching on,” he said.

The first African American regiments in the Army were authorized by an act of Congress in 1866.

Buffalo Soldiers guarded the Western frontier and fought in the Spanish-American War, both world wars and other conflicts. The all-black regiments disbanded in the early 1950s as the military desegregated.

Cooper and fellow Buffalo Soldier Andrew Aaron spoke in front of the Autry museum’s exhibit on Henry O. Flipper, the first African American cadet to graduate from West Point. The two men talked about their experiences fighting in Korea, Japan and Italy, and they wore high blue hats, blue jackets adorned with medals and yellow ties decorated with images of Buffalo Soldiers.

Their audience of about two dozen included children — some squirmy and some eager to take photos. One child asked whether Cooper and Aaron were the first Buffalo Soldiers, to which the 80-year-old Aaron replied: “Weren’t the first, one of the last.”

It is unclear how many Buffalo Soldiers are still alive. Charles L. Davis, who helps organize some of their public appearances, called their story “a treasure that we’re letting fade away.”

“If you don’t keep that bandwagon going,” Davis said, “people will throw dirt over your history.”

9613: G.I. Janet.

From The New York Times…

Black Women Enlisting at Higher Rates in U.S. Military

By James Dao

Black women are enlisting in the military at far higher rates than are white or Hispanic women, and they now represent nearly a third of all the women in the armed forces, a new study by the Pew Research Center has found.

The study found that of the 167,000 enlisted women in the military, 31 percent are black, twice their percentage in the civilian female population. Black men represent about 16 percent of the male enlisted population, roughly equal to their proportion in the civilian population.

White women, by comparison, represent 53 percent of women in the military, while accounting for 78 percent of the civilian female population.

The study, which is based on demographic data collected by the Defense Department, confirmed what military experts have known for years: that black women are a crucial source of new recruits for the armed forces, especially for the Army and the Air Force.

Why black women enlist at higher rates than white women or black men has not been extensively studied, said Beth J. Asch, a senior economist and defense manpower specialist at the Rand Corporation. But she suggested that the military tries to attract high school graduates who are looking for job training, good benefits and help with college tuition — and that a high percentage of black women fit that bill.

“That is the group the military targets,” Ms. Asch said.

There were more than 200,000 female enlisted and commissioned officers in the military in 2010, up from about 55,000 in 1973. Women now represent 14 percent of the enlisted ranks and 16 percent of commissioned officers.

The study, which also drew on surveys conducted by the Pew Center this year with 1,873 veterans, showed that women in the military differ from their male counterparts in several ways.

Military women, for instance, are less likely than military men to be married, 46 percent to 58 percent. But while nearly half of the married women in the military have spouses who are also in the military, just 7 percent of married military men have wives in the forces.

The study also found that women were far more likely than men to serve in the Air Force, but far less likely to join the Marine Corps. That probably reflects the central role of the infantry in the Marines, since women are barred from ground combat units.

Though nearly a third of the women in the military are in administrative jobs, the study found that many more were being assigned to combat areas than in the past: 24 percent of women who served since 1990 spent time in combat zones, compared with 7 percent before 1990.

It also found that even though women were less likely than men to have served in a combat zone, they were almost as likely to report having had traumatic experiences or difficulties readjusting to civilian life.

Women in the military were also more critical of the recent wars than their male peers, the survey showed: 63 percent of women said the Iraq war was not worth fighting, compared with 47 percent of men; 54 percent of women said the same about Afghanistan, compared with 39 percent of men.