One of the last of the Buffalo soldiers was laid to rest on Friday; Private Tomie Louis Gaines was 93 years old.
The last of South Carolina’s Buffalo soldiers, Gaines was a remarkable man.
Private Tomie Louis Gaines, 93, one of the last of the Buffalo Soldiers, the black Army men who helped settle the West on horseback and fought in two world wars, was laid to rest Friday at M.J. Dolly Cooper Cemetery in Anderson.A medic during World War II, Gaines served in the 2nd Calvary and spent time in Italy, Japan and the Philippines. He tended soldiers on the beaches of Normandy on D-Day, patched wounds in a field hospital in Italy and was injured by German bombers in the aftermath of a raid.”He was a good soldier,” said State Sen. Karl Allen, who spoke at Gaines’ funeral in Greenville Friday.And he was also more. A longtime Nicholtown resident, Gaines was married to his wife, Clara, for 51 years. He was a dedicated member of VFW Post #6734, a former truck driver, a retired painter.
According to Greenville online,
Others said Gaines was a living piece of history, the last of the Buffalo Soldiers, a regiment of African-American soldiers commissioned the year after the Civil War ended.
Watch:
I wonder what Gaines made of Bob Marley’s song about buffalo soldiers.
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