The Defense POW/MIA Agency (DPAA) is working to identify dozens of black soldiers killed in World War II who served with the 92nd Infantry Division, known as the Buffalo Soldiers.
“The idea that we can tell them, first of all, this is how it happened, how he died a hero, this is what he was doing, what it meant to the war, and then we can identify him. It’s very, very humbling for our work,” said Josh Frank, a historical analyst with DPAA. “Every story is different.”
In 1866, Congress passed a bill to create six all-black Army units. The end of the Indian Wars in the late 19th century also saw the end of the Buffalo Soldiers, and the name was given to them. Twenty percent of the U.S. cavalry were black. Native Americans called them Buffalo Soldiers as a symbol of respect for the bravery and courage of the cavalrymen.
“The two big units that everyone talks about in terms of racism during World War II are the 92nd Infantry Division, the Buffalo Soldiers, and the 332nd Fighter Squadron, or the Tuskegee Airmen,” Frank said.
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Members of the 92nd Infantry Division carry guns across a field. (Department of Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency)
U.S. Army Private First Class Lemuel Dent Jr. served as a member of the Buffalo Soldiers and was recently identified by the DPAA nearly 80 years after his death.
“A lot of people talk about Normandy, Iwo Jima and the Battle of the Bulge. I think the Italian campaign gets forgotten a little bit,” Frank said.
Private First Class Dent, along with other members of the 366th Infantry Regiment, was stationed near Viareggio, Italy, on the Gothic Line northwest of Pisa.
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“There was a swamp between the coastline and the mountains they were trying to get across,” Frank said. “They were under artillery and mortar fire while they were trying to get through the mines to the mountains.”
The U.S. Army archival records contain documents relating to U.S. Private First Class Lemuel Dent Jr., who was killed in action during World War II. (U.S. Army 366th Infantry Regiment and Other Colored Division Collection, #8501. Cornell University Library, Department of Rare and Manuscript Collections)
Dent’s tank was hit by artillery fire while crossing the canal, and the area where he died remained under enemy control for two months as fighting continued, delaying the recovery of his body and those of dozens of others.
“Private First Class Denton’s unit, the 366th Infantry Regiment, was nearly wiped out,” Frank said.
Thirty men were killed and 177 wounded during the battle, with Private First Class Dent among those missing.
In this photo taken by the Defense Department’s POW/MIA Accounting Agency, members of the 92nd Infantry Regiment fire a mortar. (Department of Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency)
“So far, three have been identified. Corporal Dent is the fourth,” Frank said. “We are currently working on a very large project regarding the unidentified remains at the Florence American Cemetery. After the war, the Army went out to search for missing persons and collected many remains. Remains that could not be identified are still buried as unidentified in the Florence American Cemetery in Sicily and in the Rome American Cemetery in Italy. We are currently working on a very large project to exhume these remains and conduct research to identify them.”
Gravestones at the Florence American Cemetery in Italy, where the remains of unidentified soldiers remain. DPAA is still working to identify them using DNA samples and other methods. (American War Memorials Commission)
The DPAA conducted an extensive investigation into where the remaining missing Buffalo Soldiers died.
“We’ve got maps of the battlefield. We know where the missing soldiers were. We know where they were recovered and where they will be recovered. I think our biggest problem right now is that of the 49 remaining, there are about 10 people who don’t have family DNA samples,” Frank said. “If there’s no DNA match, we can’t rule them out, which slows us down. Ruling someone out is just as effective as identifying someone else, because it helps prove it’s not that person.”
As for Private Dent, his family will finally be able to honor his service.
A rosette next to the name of U.S. Army Private First Class Lemuel Dent Jr. on the Missing Soldiers Memorial at the Florence American Military Cemetery in Italy. The rosette indicates that his body has been identified. Dent served as a member of the Buffalo Soldiers of the 92nd Infantry Division during World War II. (American War Memorials Commission)
“That’s what our office exists for and what we do,” Frank said. “I was a soldier myself, and I think soldiers usually don’t worry too much about themselves. When I was a soldier, my biggest worry was always, if something happened to me, how would my mom feel, what would my family do?”
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Most US military cemeteries overseas have memorials bearing the names of soldiers missing in action. When a soldier is eventually identified, a rosette is placed next to his name. In July, a ribbon was placed next to Dent’s name at the Florence American Cemetery.
“I’m talking about PFC Dent because the police hit a home run, they made a successful identification. They put the same effort into even striking out that they put into PFC Dent,” Frank said. “It’s very, very emotional. It’s a lot of pressure. So when you make the identification, of course you’re happy, but you have to be happy enough to get over the shock of getting it wrong.”
