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Army Recognizes Contributions of Black Seminole Indian Scouts Fri Oct 30, 2009 Buffalo Soldiers and Others Participate in Ceremony WASHINGTON--(Business Wire)-- A formal Army recognition ceremony was recently conducted by the U.S. Army`s Freedom Team Salute program on the campus of Saint Elizabeths Hospital in Washington, D.C. to honor the legacy of the Black Seminole Indian Scouts. William Shields, one of the scouts, was buried in the cemetery on the hospital`s campus in 1910. Freedom Team Salute helped dedicate a new headstone for Shields and recognized members of the Buffalo Soldiers with Freedom Team Salute Commendations. William "Dub" Warrior, Chief of the John Horse Band of Black Seminoles; Colonel David Griffith, Director of Freedom Team Salute; Buffalo Soldiers; and a historian participated in the ceremony. "The Black Seminole Indian Scouts were considered one of the toughest units in the Army," explained Colonel Griffith. "Amazingly, not a single one of their men was killed or seriously wounded during their tenure with the Army. Four of the Scouts were Congressional Medal of Honor recipients." "I never thought this day would come," said William "Dub" Warrior. "It`s beyond words. William Shields was just a plain man. He would be exhilarated to know he has become somebody. We never know how things will turn out." Black Seminole Indian Scouts served in the Army in the 1870`s during the height of the Indian Wars until 1914 when the unit was disbanded. The majority of their service was spent in Texas. Saint Elizabeths Hospital cared for members of the Armed Forces for over nine decades from 1855 to 1946. The cemetery includes approximately 2,050 military service members who died at the Hospital between 1873 and 1983. U.S. Army Freedom Team Salute was established in 2005 by the Secretary of the Army and the Army Chief of Staff to give the public the opportunity to thank all U.S. Army Veterans for their service by recognizing them with Commendations. The program also honors and recognizes the Parents, Spouses, Employers, and Supporters of Active Duty, Army Reserve and National Guard Soldiers. Over 2.2 million individuals have been honored with Army Freedom Team Salute Commendations. For more information on the Army`s Freedom Team Salute program, please go to www.freedomteamsalute.com. U.S. Army Freedom Team Salute David Thompson, 703-325-3963 Cell: 301-785-7670 David.Thompson57@conus.army.mil or Saint Elizabeths Hospital Tamil Perry, 202-645-1079 Cell: 202-669-8289 Tamil.Perry@dc.gov Copyright Business Wire 2009 Matthew Gilmore H-DC list co-editor, web editor dc-edit@mail.h-net.msu.edu http://www.h-net.org/~dclist/ [list website] http://www.h-net.org/lists/subscribe.cgi?list=H-DC [subscribe to H-DC] Remember to check http://h-net.msu.edu/cgi-bin/logbrowse.pl?trx=lm&list=H-DC for past list messages.
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