Lest We Forget : County vets honor black soldiers
Subject
Cemeteries, Veterans, African American, Mount Moor Cemetery
Creator
Source
Date
1990-02-12
Text
LEST WE FORGET
Staff Photo/Kathy Gardner
Damian Rainsford, 6, and Nicholas DePriest-Bishop, 7, stand at the grave of veteran Solomon E. Miller at the Mt. Moor Cemetery in West Nyack. With them is Richard Farinelli of the 5th New York Infantry, a civil war reenactment group.
County vets honor black soldiers
By Cathy Carroll
Staff Writer
In 1881, there probably was little or no ceremony for the burial of Layfette Logan, a Civil War veteran.
So Rockland veterans and a Civil War re-enactment group made up for that yesterday, at his grave in Mount Moor Cemetery in West Nyack.
Being black, Logan probably wasn't given the recognition he deserved as a veteran. This February, designated as
Black History Month, seemed like a good time to change that, said Jerry Donnellan, president of the Rockland Chapter of the
Vietnam Veterans of America.
Until 1948, black soldiers were segregated in U.S. services, he said. "They fought and died but never got the recognition. We all bled red, as they say."
Logan was a member of the 54th Regiment of Massachusetts, one of four regiments of black men in the U.S. Army.
That regiment is the subject of the acclaimed current film "Glory," starring Matthew Broderick, Denzel Washington
and Morgan Freeman.
"The movie 'Glory' focused so much attention on that regiment, we wanted people to know that they were not strictly from Massachusetts," said Donnellan. "They picked up black volunteers on their way to the Carolinas."
More than 600 soldiers were killed and 2,000 wounded when the regiment charged Fort Wagner in South Carolina.
But Logan survived the battle. He died in 1881 at age 49.
Former Rockland Legislator Hezekiah Easter also attended the ceremony at the cemetery, where his father, Hezekiah
Easter Sr., a World War I veteran, and his brother, L.C. Easter, are buried.
"This being Black History Month, it is very important for the Afro-Americans who have given up their lives in defense of
this country to be remembered," he said.
Staff Photo/Kathy Gardner
Damian Rainsford, 6, and Nicholas DePriest-Bishop, 7, stand at the grave of veteran Solomon E. Miller at the Mt. Moor Cemetery in West Nyack. With them is Richard Farinelli of the 5th New York Infantry, a civil war reenactment group.
County vets honor black soldiers
By Cathy Carroll
Staff Writer
In 1881, there probably was little or no ceremony for the burial of Layfette Logan, a Civil War veteran.
So Rockland veterans and a Civil War re-enactment group made up for that yesterday, at his grave in Mount Moor Cemetery in West Nyack.
Being black, Logan probably wasn't given the recognition he deserved as a veteran. This February, designated as
Black History Month, seemed like a good time to change that, said Jerry Donnellan, president of the Rockland Chapter of the
Vietnam Veterans of America.
Until 1948, black soldiers were segregated in U.S. services, he said. "They fought and died but never got the recognition. We all bled red, as they say."
Logan was a member of the 54th Regiment of Massachusetts, one of four regiments of black men in the U.S. Army.
That regiment is the subject of the acclaimed current film "Glory," starring Matthew Broderick, Denzel Washington
and Morgan Freeman.
"The movie 'Glory' focused so much attention on that regiment, we wanted people to know that they were not strictly from Massachusetts," said Donnellan. "They picked up black volunteers on their way to the Carolinas."
More than 600 soldiers were killed and 2,000 wounded when the regiment charged Fort Wagner in South Carolina.
But Logan survived the battle. He died in 1881 at age 49.
Former Rockland Legislator Hezekiah Easter also attended the ceremony at the cemetery, where his father, Hezekiah
Easter Sr., a World War I veteran, and his brother, L.C. Easter, are buried.
"This being Black History Month, it is very important for the Afro-Americans who have given up their lives in defense of
this country to be remembered," he said.
Collection
Citation
Cathy Carroll, “Lest We Forget : County vets honor black soldiers,” accessed April 29, 2024, https://rocklandroom.omeka.net/items/show/53.