At age 23 in 1966, I was a freshly minted US Army second lieutenant. I had completed the armor officer’s basic course at Fort Knox, and qualified at Fort Hood with state-of-the-art tank weapons. When my first army exercises proved successful, I thought I was ready – really ready. I volunteered for assignment to any armored or cavalry unit serving in Vietnam.
Early in 1967, after administrative delays and travel to Saigon, to Pleiku, and to Tuy Hoa, I, at last, took command of 1st Platoon, Troop A, 1st Squadron, 10th Cavalry. Minutes after reporting for duty with the troop commander, before I even drew a weapon, the first sergeant, a white southerner, called me aside.
“Sir, do you know the story of the 10th?”
“No, First Sergeant. I first heard of the 10th just days ago.”
I was about to learn that the army was more than weapons and tactics. When the first sergeant handed me mimeographed pages of homework, my army education began – again!
I had no idea that I had just assumed command in a one-hundred-one-year old cavalry unit and that the 10th was one of two all-black cavalry regiments authorized by Congress in 1866 – the Buffalo Soldiers!
What?
But, wait. There’s more.
In 1877, the first black man to graduate from the US Military Academy at West Point was assigned to Company A, 10th Cavalry. Lieutenant Henry O. Flipper, a former slave, served the 10th for five years. Though a “history buff,” I knew none of this – it was not in my high school or college books. All I knew was the famous 7th Cavalry from the movies.
By the time I was promoted to captain, and in an airborne assignment, I had all but laid my cavalry heritage aside. During an army project with IBM, I was made an offer I couldn’t refuse; I left the army for a career in IT.
Decades passed before my interest in the Buffalo Soldiers was rekindled. A chance encounter at a shopping center with a retired sergeant brought back memories. The sergeant invited me to a meeting of retirees, including Brigadier General George Price. We formed the Baltimore Chapter of the 9th and 10th (Horse) Cavalry Association.
Before the Internet became a thing, one received sales flyers via snail mail. The noted artist-historian, Don Stivers, sent me a flyer announcing the release of his painting titled: “Proud to Serve.” In Don’s painting, a black soldier leads a saddled cavalry horse. Admiring the flyer, I said to no one in particular, “Someone should write his story.”
Across the room, my wife said, “Why don’t you write it?” Not realizing that she had heard me, my jaw dropped. Huh? Me? The chemistry major, turned soldier, turned IT guy?
For guidance, I enrolled in creative writing at the University of Maryland. Two lessons emerged that shaped First Dark: A Buffalo Soldier’s Story – Sesquicentennial Edition. As expected, I learned the basics of the craft. A learning bonus emerged when I presented a chapter to classmates. I was not ready for this challenge: “Your story is totally unrealistic. Everybody knows slaves can’t think. So, how could one be a blacksmith – much less plan an escape?”
Wait… What?
Another jaw dropping experience…
Upon hearing that “revelation,” I scrapped my “Buffalo Soldier-only story” idea. Instead, the story of First Dark would begin during slavery – two years before the end of America’s Uncivil War, and three years before the Buffalo Soldiers. To chip away at the ignorance that I thought existed in the population, as confirmed by my classmates, I added needed context of the times: Enslaved life, the black codes, the violence of the Reconstruction era, and westward expansion. That meant including characters (non-fictional and fictional) who were Native American, Mexican, European American, and African American. It also meant interviews with their descendants, who are now farmers, museum curators, librarians, professors, historians, authors, and business owners – plus, digesting many history books and hundreds of 19th century hand-written documents and personal letters.
While the book entertains as an adventure and love epic, First Dark is historically correct; written to help educate Americans about our shared past. Acclaim for First Dark has come from Reader’s Favorite, Kirkus, The Baltimore Post-Examiner, and readers. Spin-offs include Lieutenant Flipper’s Trial – The Play, and the novel, The Laced Chameleon.
Don Stivers’ painting, “Proud to Serve,” adorns the cover of First Dark: A Buffalo Soldier’s Story – Sesquicentennial Edition.
ABOUT THE BOOK
First Dark is a coming-of-age story, an epic adventure, and a compelling examination of the primary feelings that drive human nature – hate, hope, desire, love, loss, grief, revenge, and forgiveness – as seen by Apache, black, Mexican, and white young adults during and shortly after America’s Uncivil War.
The San Francisco Review described Bob Rogers as a rising author who takes readers back to life and times in the early years of the Civil War, blending a brilliant mix of historic persons with his fictional characters. Celebrating the sesquicentennial year of the famed Buffalo Soldiers, Bob Rogers delivers his most ambitious work yet–a novel that spans their first generation–from Charleston and Vicksburg to Appomattox and desert Apache battlefields.
First came dark days that beset Isaac Rice’s epic journey–America’s wars to settle the “Negro and Indian problems.”
READ MORE, ALONG WITH A FREE EXCERPT, RIGHT HERE.
Bob Rogers is an author, entrepreneur, past IBM intrapreneur, speaker, and volunteer Information Technology instructor. Bob is a former army captain, paratrooper, and combat veteran of the Vietnam War. His Alma Mater is South Carolina State University.
Bob Rogers is also the author of Hitting Life’s Curveballs, The Laced Chameleon, Will and Dena: Love and Life in World War II, Sacrifice at Shiloh Church, all published by BookLocker. Bob lives in Merida, Yucatan, Mexico.
This book is available from the publisher, BookLocker.com, as well as from Amazon, BarnesandNoble.com, and many other stores. If purchasing from BookLocker, use this discount code when checking out to get 10% off: Backstory
How do authors get their ideas for books? And, at what point in their lives did these creative individuals decide they wanted to be authors?? READ MORE BOOK BACKSTORIES AND AUTHOR BACKSTORIES RIGHT HERE!
DO YOU HAVE AN AUTHOR OR BOOK BACKSTORY TO SHARE? Please read our guidelines RIGHT HERE.
Writing FAST: How to Write Anything with Lightning Speed
A systematic approach to writing that generates better quality quickly!
Chock full of ideas, tips, techniques and inspiration, this down-to-earth book is easy to read, and even easier to apply. Let author Jeff Bollow take you through a process that brings your ideas to the page faster, more powerfully and easier than ever before.
Read more here:
https://writersweekly.com/books/3695.html
90+ DAYS OF PROMOTING YOUR BOOK ONLINE: Your Book's Daily Marketing Plan by Angela Hoy and Richard Hoy
Promoting your book online should be considered at least a part-time job. Highly successful authors spend more time promoting a book than they do writing it - a lot more.
We know what you're thinking. You're an author, not a marketer. Not to worry! We have more than a decade of successful online book selling experience under our belts and we're going to teach you how to promote your book effectively online...and almost all of our techniques are FREE!
Online book promotion is not only simple but, if you have a step-by-step, day-to-day marketing plan (this book!), it can also be a very artistic endeavor, which makes it fun for creative folks like you!
Yes, online book promoting can be EASY and FUN! Let us show you how, from Day 1 through Day 90...and beyond!
7.625 STRATEGIES IN EVERY BEST-SELLER - Revised and Expanded Edition
At this moment, thousands of would-be authors are slaving away on their keyboards, dreaming of literary success. But their efforts won’t count for much. Of all those manuscripts, trade book editors will sign up only a slim fraction.
And of those titles--ones that that editors paid thousands of dollars to contract, print and publicize--an unhealthy percentage never sell enough copies to earn back their advances. Two years later, most will be out of print!
Acquisition Editor Tam Mossman shares seven essentials every book needs to stay in print, and sell!
Read more here:
https://writersweekly.com/books/5635.html
Interesting back-story. Your books sound fascinating. I will check them out. Best wishes.