1SG William R. Taylor

U.S. Army

Once A Buffalo

I was once a buffalo
Roaming the southwest plains
I fought with pride and honor
For a nation that kept me in chains
Victorio and Geronimo knew me
My brothers and I laid them low
The tenacious fighting spirit
Of a regiment of buffalo.

And on a distant Spanish isle
I rallied to the bugle's call
On the San Juan Heights of Cuba
I watched my brothers fall
With Teddy's boys we won that day
We fought and bled the same
Yet while the nation sings their praise
Few remember the Buffalo names.

Through World War II and Viet Nam
The mighty Tenth did ride
Ready and forward in the saddle
Behind guidons stained with pride
Now on the sun-baked plains of Babylon
A tyrant feels the sabers' slashing blow
His evil empire crumbles fast
Under the feet of Buffalo.

"I was once a buffalo,"
I will someday tell my sons
With a dusty Stetson, shiny spurs,
A steel horse and loaded guns
My guidon snapping in the wind
With crossed sabers on my shoulder
Forever I am a Cavalryman
But I once was a Buffalo Soldier.

© William R. Taylor

1SG, G Troop, 10^th Cavalry, 1^st Brigade, 4^th Infantry Division

August 2003 Operation Iraqi Freedom.

This poem is dedicated to Spc. James C. Wright, Spc. Richard Arriaga, and Sgt. Anthony O. Thompson of Stryker Platoon, Golf Troop, 10^th Cavalry, 4^th Infantry Division, Fort Hood, TX. These brave men lost their lives in an ambush in Tikrit, Iraq on 18 September 2003. The author, 1SG Taylor, returned from Iraq on 18 Sep 2003. First Sergeant Taylor is retiring after Twenty-three years service.

Awarded 11 June 2005

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