Thanks to Derrick Smith for the photo and the Bio….
Frederick L. Smith Senior was a patrol guard with the Quartermasters Corps. He was in Oran, Algeria at the time of the picture. He went from there to Italy. He was housed in Mussolini’s former palace (Rome), at one time. Even though he wasn’t Catholic, he had an audience with the sitting pope of the Catholic Church, Pope Pius.He was also in Pisa Italy, and Naples.
Thanks to Tom Caulkins for contacting us and offering to share these photos from the Library of Congress!
For those of you wondering if the site is being monitored, the answer is now, “yes!” It’s been quite some time – apologies for that, sometimes, life gets in the way. I’ll try to do a better job of posting and responding; however, I do need to point out that the 92nd Veterans Association has not been active for almost 10 years – and with good reason, most of the Veterans have passed. There are a few of us, children or grandchildren of the members and a handful of historians, who continue to work to tell the story of the 92nd. We will do what we can with what we have. Thanks for your support!
What a pleasant surprise when Ronald Killingsworth contacted me and asked if he could share a picture of his father, Frederick Douglas Killingsworth, who served in the 365th Infantry Division of the 92nd.
This from Ronald…
Born in Denmark, South Carolina, Fred came to New York City after my Grandfather moved his family to Harlem there. Fred was inducted into the army on the 22 April 1943 in NYC and was a private throughout his service. He departed for the MTO on 1 Oct 44 and served 11 months and 5 days overseas.
Ronald shared with me an interesting twist regarding his father’s service record. Even though his father’s discharge papers say he was in the 365th, his unit is also listed as the 485th Aviation Squadron. And his MOS was a ANTI-TANK GUN CREWMAN 610. He was trained as a crewman on a 57mm antitank gun, and told Ronald’s older brother a story about almost being killed by artillery while operating a 50 cal. machine gun.
It seems that once the war was over, the army sometimes transferred the men to different units rather quickly in order to expedite their discharge rotation!!!
His battles and campaigns are listed as NORTH APENNINES, PO VALLEY, ROME-ARNO.
In addition to the PURPLE HEART his decorations include: the GOOD CONDUCT MEDAL, EUROPEAN-AFRICAN-MIDDLE EASTERN SERVICE MEDAL, AMERICAN SERVICE MEDAL, and the WORLD WAR II VICTORY MEDAL. Also he got his COMBAT INF BADGE GO#6 HQ 365 INF, on 13 Jan 45.
I had the pleasure, and privilege, to attend the V-E Day Commemoration at the National World War II Memorial on May 8th, 2015. Sorry to say, I didn’t see any members of the 92nd there. However, I did get a chance to see this during the National Anthem. And I managed to get a few seconds on camera. You’ll have to watch to the end, but I think it’s worth it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCV0sE5s37A
The Fall 2014 Newsletter is hot off the presses – courtesy of Carolyn Johnston. Plans are underway for this year’s annual reunion October 17th-19th at the Sheraton Silver Spring in Silver Spring, Maryland. You can get all the details by clicking here … and we hope to see you there!
General Colin Powell (Ret.) former Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and former Secretary of State has been a strong supporter of the 92nd, and the Buffalo Soldiers in general. Here he talks about some of the challenges faced by African Americans serving in a segregated military; as well as the impact that their service had on the military – and society at large.
In recognition of Memorial Day, as well as in appreciation for ALL who served and sacrificed, I’ve uploaded my documentary Deeds Not Words: The Buffalo Soldiers in World War II. The documentary follows the Buffalo Soldiers of the Army’s 92nd Infantry Division from their time in basic training, through their tour of combat in the Italian Theater from 1944-1945, and then back home after the war.
Making this documentary was truly an honor. There’s a saying, “war is hell”. These men experienced hell on many levels. It was both awe-inspiring, and awful, to hear how they had to battle the Germans on one side, and then their own officers. And then, after fighting for liberty abroad, to come home and see that those same liberties they fought for for others, did not apply to them…
One other element of this project also breaks my heart. I started work on the documentary in 2004. Of all the members of the unit you see, as of Memorial Day weekend 2014, only one is left – Joseph Hairston.
They say you don’t appreciate something until it’s gone. Many of our WWII vets are already gone, and it’s estimated that another thousand pass away every day. So, whether it’s Memorial Day, Veteran’s Day, or any day that ends in “Y”, please take a moment to pay tribute and offer your appreciation to those who served in the past, and those who are serving today.
It’s been a while since we’ve added any new content to the page, so we’re going to fix that. First and foremost, we’ll be uploading the documentary Deeds Not Words: The Buffalo Soldiers in World War II to the website. The documentary originally aired on The Pentagon Channel in February 2011.
After that, we’ll post other periodic updates during the summer. We’ll have web extras – outtakes from our interviews with the members of the 92nd’s Veteran’s Association. We’ll also post information about this year’s reunion – scheduled for October 17th-19th.
So, as they say in TV-land…stay tuned!