BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — As we take a deeper acknowledgment of Black History in our nation this month, 7 News’ is looking at a new way the Queen City is honoring Black men and women who have served the country even during a time when black lives were considered to be lesser.
A monument facing Buffalo’s waterfront, known as The African American Veterans Monument, was officially unveiled in September 2022.
7 News’ Pheben Kassahun spoke with one of the veterans behind its creation, and what it means to current and retired military personnel.
Twelve concrete pillars standing 10 feet tall, facing the occasional sunset this winter on Buffalo's waterfront.
The pillars have been strategically placed in a timeline sequence, detailing the dates of each of the 12 military conflicts the united states has been involved in.
"The significance of Buffalo is that I guess, we just came in with the idea of having a veterans monument. The more research we did, we realized that African Americans have served in every conflict from the Revolutionary War to the War on Terrorism, where we are now,” Warren Galloway said.
African American Veterans Monument board of directors chairman and Vietnam Veteran, Warren Galloway hopes the nation's first ever Black veteran's monument honors and educates.
"I think it's more important because this monument not only honors African American veterans, but it also gives a history of what African Americans did in every war, especially in this time and age, where you have so many states are trying to limit the African American history to their students,” Galloway said.
The tops of each pillar lights up at sunset, which represents candles that families would put in their windows until their soldier came home, but also an eternal reminder of the commitments made by African American veterans.
Galloway said, “When military guys went off to war, families put candles in their windows until they come."
You see, honoring Black veterans in the nation has not always been the norm.
After World War II, many Black veterans were denied their G.I. benefits and some returned home to abuse and in some cases, lynching between 1865 and 1950. The original GI Bill ended in July 1956. By that time, nearly 8 million World War II veterans had received education or training, and 4.3 million home loans worth $33 billion had been handed out. But most Black veterans had been left behind, according to History.com. This widened the racial wealth gap for African Americans.
So much that, veterans like Roger Moss hid the fact that he was a veteran for 45 years.
Roger Moss said, "But I am proud to be a veteran. I am proud that I went to Vietnam. When I talk to other veterans that served in Vietnam, they talk about how we were treated when we came back. That probably was the underlying reason why I didn't go to the VA. I actually didn't want to be identified as a veteran for many years."
Moss served in the military for seven years from 1965 to 1973, first as a sergeant staff for the air force to go to Vietnam, then joined the Air National Guard.
Pheben: As an African American man to have served in the military and see this monument come to fruition, how does it make you feel?
Roger shared, “This is just wonderful. This is one project that Black people are going to be proud of from now on. This would be here. There is nothing like this anywhere in the rest of the country."
The same goes for younger veterans like Navy Reserves Commander Haji Ibn Akmal Shareef. He served just under 25 years in the Navy, on sand and on water, doing multiple deployments.
"The significance of it is honestly astounding. It's great that they showed things that weren't necessary conflicts (i.e. the Indian Wars that weren't really a war, war). The fact that it shows that our legacy is the same legacy as the entire country. We've been here since before it was country,” Shareef said.
For the first monument of its kind to be in his hometown makes the honor even sweeter.
"For the current veterans, it's finally something that is for us. That represents us, that takes the time to honor our sacrifices, especially when our sacrifices didn't include rights us. For the greatest honors of the country's history, we were fighting for the rights of others, not for the rights of ourselves,” Shareef said proudly.
The Monument is selling pavers for a one time fee of $250.
Veterans or family members of veterans who are interested can buy an engraved brick for the veterans. It would have the name of the veteran, their rank, what service they were in and when they served.
The marker is permanent that is placed on the base of the Monument. For more information, click here.
RELATED STORIES:
