Honoring Colonel Charles Young 100 Years After His Death

Speakers at the commemoration. NPS / T. Engberg.

On January 8, 2022, Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers National Monument (CHYO) marked the 100th anniversary of the death of Colonel Charles Young with a program at Robeson Auditorium on the Central State University campus, attended by community leaders and U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force dignitaries.

The program

• Speakers: Lawrence Young of the Colonel Charles Young Foundation, Lieutenant Colonel Samuel Dallas of the Marauder Battalion ROTC, David Alford of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, and Sam Bain of Senator Rob Portman's office.
• Keynote: Lieutenant General Xavier T. Brunson traced Young's distinguished career and challenged the audience to emulate his transformative leadership. Brunson, commissioned into the Infantry in 1990 after graduating from Hampton University, has served in Operation Iraqi Freedom, Enduring Freedom, Freedom's Sentinel and Inherent Resolve.
• Trailblazer Award: Superintendent Robert Stewart gave Brunson the park's award for outstanding service to community, leadership and youth, saying Brunson "exemplifies all of the benchmarks of this award."
• Music: the Spirit of Freedom brass ensemble of the U.S. Air Force Band of Flight played, and Master Sergeant Christin Foley sang the National Anthem.
• The home: afterward, Brunson toured Young's house, then early in a renovation to restore its interior to its early 20th-century look.

Charles Young

A soldier, diplomat and civil rights leader, Young overcame stifling inequality to become a leading figure as the United States emerged as a world power. The third African American graduate of West Point, he was the highest-ranking African American officer in the Army until his death in 1922, and a role model for generations.

The park

Established in 2013, the monument preserves over 60 acres of Young's home and tells the story of the Buffalo Soldiers. See the park's website.

Sources

Based on "100th Commemoration of the Life and Legacy of Colonel Charles Young," Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers National Monument, National Park Service; a work of the United States government in the public domain.