PATRIOTISM WATCH : Welcome but Late

The black soldiers got the worst rations, the worst horses and the worst housing. Yet, Buffalo Soldiers fought fiercely to help settle the American West.

Their heroics were honored this weekend by another black soldier, Gen. Colin Powell. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff dedicated a monument at Ft. Leavenworth, Kan., where the black 9th and 10th Cavalry regiments were based.

The Buffalo Soldiers patrolled the West from shortly after the Civil War until the early 1900s. They protected stagecoaches and built roads and telegraph lines as Americans moved West.

They got their distinctive nickname, by some accounts, from American Indians who compared their curly hair and big coats to the buffalo of the plains. By other accounts, American Indians--who were fighting to keep their land--named the brave black soldiers after the Cheyenne symbol for bravery, the buffalo.

Buffalo Soldiers also fought another enemy--segregation. They were not allowed to live in the barracks or interact with white soldiers.

Black soldiers battled legal segregation until the Korean War, after President Harry S. Truman ordered integration. All-black regiments, including the 24th and 25th infantries, were disbanded in 1952. Unfortunately, vestiges of unofficial segregation lingered for decades.

Black soldiers have demonstrated their patriotism since the American Revolution. During the Indian Wars, the Buffalo Soldiers won 20 Medals of Honor despite monumental racial barriers. Their tribute is long overdue.