Vietnam vet performs ‘Buffalo Soldiers of American West’ at ORAU Thursday

A Vietnam veteran will perform “The Buffalo Soldiers of the American West” at ORAU’s Pollard Auditorium on Thursday.

The public is invited to this free event, which celebrates Black History Month, a press release said.

The performance will be presented by William “Bill” Valentine. He is a Vietnam veteran who served in South East Asia for one of his four years in the United States Air Force.

The show will provide an entertaining lecture on the first African American soldiers to serve during the peacetime that followed the Civil War, the press release said.

Congress officially recognized the Buffalo Soldiers in 1866, when legislation was adopted to create six African American Army units. Comprised of former slaves, freemen, and black Civil War soldiers, these cavalry units served as the primary line of defense on the Western frontier stretching from Montana to Texas.

The event is presented by the ORAU Diversity Council, and it is offered to the public free of charge in recognition of Black History Month.

“The Buffalo Soldiers of the American West” is scheduled from 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Thursday at ORAU Pollard Auditorium, which is at 210 Badger Avenue in Oak Ridge.