It’s been decades in the making but it’s finally happened: Paschal Conley has been promoted to second lieutenant in the U.S. Army.
The promotion came posthumously for Conley, a Madison County native who died in 1919, after he served in the 10th Cavalry Regiment as a member of the famed Buffalo Soldiers during the Spanish-American War – in 1898 – from as part of his military career.
U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville presented a certificate acknowledging the promotion to Conley’s family Wednesday at the Von Braun Center in Huntsville. Mayor Tommy Battle also declared Wednesday to be Paschal Conley Day in the city.
“This was long overdue,” Tuberville said. “He was recommended years ago and, as a Buffalo Soldier, to go from rank from sergeant to Lieutenant. And for some reason, the ball was dropped. And so for many, many years, it’s been kind of a stalemate. We started working on this about six months ago and we were able to get the promotion. We presented it to his family today. We had some people here that were very excited about it, because they had tried for a long, long time to get this promotion done. So we’re, we’re glad to be just a small part of it. This was obviously not given. It was earned. And so we’re glad to see this happen.”
The Buffalo Soldiers became a nickname for Black cavalry troops and a monument stands in their honor in Huntsville.
Ollie Conley of Huntsville said there…
