The Buffalo

On May 12, 1943, The Buffalo published its first issue at Fort Huachuca, Arizona. An editorial by Colonel Edwin N. Hardy, Post Commander, stated, “It gives me great pleasure to welcome you to Fort Huachuca. We are proud of Fort Huachuca for many reasons, the principal one of which is that there is assembled here the largest number of Negro soldiers at one place in the world.” The Buffalo’s Editor was Pvt. Earl Mason.

Fort Huachuca, located just 14 miles from Arizona’s southern border with Mexico, was the home of the African American soldier in the United States. From 1866 until integration of the Army was mandated by Executive Order 9981 by President Truman on July 26, 1948, African American soldiers had a continuous presence at the remote desert installation.

The 92d Infantry Division gathered at Fort Huachuca to merge its three combat troops into a cohesive fighting force. The 379th Combat team came from Kentucky; the 371st from Arkansas; the 365th from Indiana; and the remaining units came from Fort McClellan, Alabama.

Prior to this assemblage, another division, the 93d Infantry Division, had trained at the fort between September 1942 and January 1943. The 93d Blue Helmet [LCCN: sn 95060757] newspaper documents that division’s time at Fort Huachuca. Just months after the 93d Division cleared out, the troops of the 92nd began to arrive.

During their years of service throughout WWII, African American soldiers were segregated into all-black units. The soldiers were organized, trained, and housed in separate facilities than their white counterparts. Many soldiers found the same old prejudice and inequality in the Army that they left behind at home. In The African American Soldier At Fort Huachuca, Arizona, 1892-1946, historian Steve D. Smith writes, “…all aspects of African American military history are tightly bound and intractably woven into the history of the African American struggle for equal rights and racial prejudice.”

A series of seven front page articles about the activities at Fort Huachuca, and the training of the 92nd Infantry Division, appeared in The Arizona Daily Star [LCCN: sn 84020668] between November 28 and December 16, 1943. The series was written by journalist, Bernice Cosulich. In one of the articles, dated December 5th, Cosulich quotes Major Gen. Edward M. Almond, commander of the division, who said every man in the 92nd Infantry Division must be, “brave, deadly, tough and tricky.”

The nickname “Buffalo Soldiers," was originally given to the 10th Calvary, but over the course of time it evolved to include members of the 92nd and 93rd Infantry Divisions. Fort Huachuca uses the term “Buffalo Soldier” to honor all black soldiers who served at the fort between 1892 and 1945 regardless of their unit affiliation.

In Huachuca Illustrated, a Magazine of the Fort Huachuca Museum, Vol. 9, author James P. Finley writes, “Like the men of the 93d Division before them, the soldiers of the 92d felt a gnawing uncertainty about the role their unit was to play in the fighting. Rumors that the division would never see combat for political reasons sapped their motivation.” However, after leaving Fort Huachuca, the 92nd Infantry Division, the "Buffalo Division”, served in combat during the Italian campaign.

Prior to the 92nd Infantry Division’s arrival at Fort Huachuca, The Buffalo (Vol. 1) was published at Fort McClellan, Alabama. After the division's departure from the fort, between Aug. 25, 1945-Sept. 15, 1945, The Buffalo was published in northern Italy.