California Senate Bill SCR128 Amended / Bill

 BILL NUMBER: SCR 128AMENDED BILL TEXT AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 27, 2016 INTRODUCED BY  Senator   Mendoza   Senators   Mendoza   and Hall  APRIL 6, 2016 Relative to the Buffalo Soldiers. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SCR 128, as amended, Mendoza. The Buffalo Soldiers. This measure would honor the Buffalo Soldiers for changing the face of the United States Armed Forces forever through their record of unique accomplishments. Fiscal committee: no. WHEREAS, On July 28, 1866, by an act of the United States Congress, African American men were allowed to join the post-Civil War army in special segregated units -- the 9th and 10th Cavalry Regiments of the United States Army; and WHEREAS, Comprised of former slaves, freemen, and black Civil War soldiers, the Buffalo Soldiers were the first African Americans to serve in the United States Army during peacetime. During the latter period of the nineteenth century, the soldiers of the 9th and 10th Cavalry Regiments were assigned to Fort Riley, Kansas, and other areas of the Midwest, where they  helped   endeavored  to maintain order between Native Americans and the  settlers,   settlers arriving in those areas,  built forts and roads, patrolled borders, and protected mail coaches and railroad construction crews; and WHEREAS, Out of respect for their courage and fighting spirit, as well as for  their dark curly   the dark curly appearance of their  hair and the thick coats made from buffalo hide that  they   these soldiers  wore during winter, the Native Americans of the Midwestern plains honored the  soldiers   members  of the 9th and 10th Cavalry Regiments with the nickname of "Buffalo Soldiers"; and WHEREAS, When the Indian Wars ended in the 1890s, the Buffalo Soldiers went on to fight in Cuba  in  during  the 1898 Spanish-American War and  thereafter  acted as rangers in Yosemite and Sequoia  national parks;   National Parks;  and WHEREAS, The Buffalo Soldiers of the regular African American army regiments were among the first to serve as park rangers in the newly created National Park Service; and WHEREAS, Approximately 500 Buffalo Soldiers from the 9th, 10th,  24th   24th,  and 25th  regiments   Regiments  served in Yosemite and nearby Sequoia  national parks,   National Parks,  with duties  ranging  from evicting poachers and timber thieves to extinguishing forest fires; and WHEREAS, The accomplishments of the Buffalo Soldiers as park rangers include building the first trail to the top of Mount Whitney in Sequoia National Park, building the first arboretum in Yosemite National Park, and clearing miles of trails and building roads into the national parks for visitor enjoyment; and WHEREAS,  Colonel  Charles Young, the third African American graduate of West Point, served as acting military superintendent of Sequoia National Park in 1903; and WHEREAS,  Even though   Despite  the Buffalo Soldiers  wore   wearing  the uniform of the United States Army,  the performance of   performing  their duties presented challenges  to overcome  due to racial prejudice. Buffalo  soldiers   Soldiers  serving in Yosemite and Sequoia  national parks   National Parks  had to fulfill their duties using  perseverance and  diplomacy; and WHEREAS, During World War II, members of the Buffalo Soldiers branched out and formed into famous units, including the 24th and 25th Infantry Divisions, the famed Tuskegee Airmen that included the 99th  Fighter (Pursuit) Group,   Pursuit Squadron  the  larger  332nd Fighter "Red Tails" Group,  and  the 761st Tank Battalion of the  third Army;   Third Army, plus nearly the entire 92nd Infantry Division;  and WHEREAS, Due to  an executive order   Executive Order 9981  issued in 1948 by President Harry Truman eliminating racial segregation and discrimination in the United States Armed Forces, the last all-black units disbanded during the first half of the 1950s, and, in 2005, the nation's oldest living Buffalo Soldier,  First Sergeant  Mark Matthews, passed away in Washington, D.C., at 111 years of age; now, therefore, be it Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, the Assembly thereof concurring, That the Legislature honors the Buffalo Soldiers for changing the face of the United States Armed Forces forever through their record of unique accomplishments, which testify to their skill, discipline, integrity, and heroism, and recognizes and thanks their families and descendants for sharing an inspiring legacy that speaks to the sense of excellence, potential, and patriotism shared by all Americans; and be it further Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.