WWII veteran who was member of ‘Buffalo Soldier’ unit dies

BRADENTON, Fla. (AP) — A World War II veteran who was one of the last living members of an all-Black cavalry regiment has died in Florida. Steve Lewis was 99. The president of the NAACP chapter in Manatee County, Florida, confirmed Lewis’ death. Lewis entered the U.S. Army in 1943 and was initially assigned to the 9th Cavalry Regiment in Texas. The unit had gained fame after the Civil War by patrolling the American frontier, and its members were known as “Buffalo Soldiers.” The Army deactivated the 9th Cavalry in 1944, and reassigned Lewis to the Army Transportation Corps in Casablanca, where he helped supply war materials to the front in Italy, France, and Germany.