Senate Resolution No. 5852

BY: Senator COMRIE

LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION memorializing Governor
Andrew M. Cuomo to proclaim July 28, 2018, as
Buffalo Soldiers Day in the State of New York

WHEREAS, It is the custom of this Legislative Body to recognize
official days that are set aside to increase awareness of events which
evoke the historical, social and cultural development of this great
State, and to pay tribute to the memory of individuals of remarkable
courage and strength of character, whose purposeful lives embodied the
spirit of the principles upon which this Nation was founded; and

WHEREAS, Attendant to such concern, and in full accord with its
long-standing traditions, this Legislative Body is justly proud to
memorialize Governor Andrew M. Cuomo to proclaim July 28, 2018, as
Buffalo Soldiers Day in the State of New York, in conjunction with the
observance of National Buffalo Soldiers Day; and

WHEREAS, Buffalo Soldiers Day is observed annually on July 28th;
this day commemorates the formation in 1866 of the first regular Army
regiments comprising African-American soldiers; and

WHEREAS, Buffalo Soldiers, one of many African-American regiments
raised during the Civil War, were established by Congress as the first
peacetime all-black regiments in the regular United States Army; and

WHEREAS, Mark Matthews, who is now buried at Arlington National
Cemetery, was the oldest living Buffalo Soldier at 111 years old when he
died on September 6, 2005; and

WHEREAS, The segregated regiments were disbanded during the 1940s
and 1950s as the United States armed forces embraced integration; and

WHEREAS, On the first Buffalo Soldiers Day in 1992, a monument to
the Buffalo Soldier was dedicated at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas by General
Colin Powell; and

WHEREAS, Our Nation's veterans deserve to be recognized, commended
and thanked by the people of the State of New York for their service and
for their dedication to their communities, their State and their Nation;
now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to
memorialize Governor Andrew M. Cuomo to proclaim July 28, 2018, as
Buffalo Soldiers Day in the State of New York; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be
transmitted to The Honorable Andrew M. Cuomo, Governor of the State of
New York.