Sgt. Alfred Franklin fought Apaches in the Southwest. He served with a future president, charging up San Juan Hill with Teddy Roosevelt and his Rough Riders during the Spanish-American War.
It was a distinguished 27-year career, and Sgt. Franklin had a distinctive label to go with it. He was a Buffalo Soldier.
Franklin’s military career ended in Vancouver more than 100 years ago. But the sergeant still has family members in the area who will represent him Saturday in Vancouver’s 24th annual Veterans Parade.
The theme of this year’s parade is “Honoring the Buffalo Soldiers’ Service at Vancouver Barracks.”
o What: Veterans Parade at Fort Vancouver, presented by the Lough Legacy, with Grand Marshal Royce Pollard and reviewing officer Maj. Gen. Timothy Lowenberg, Washington Air National Guard.
o Where: Fort Vancouver National Site; a new route will keep the parade within the historic site.
o When: Ceremony begins at 10 a.m. Saturday at the Marshall House. Parade starts at 11 a.m.
o On Veterans Day: An 11 a.m. event Thursday at the post cemetery (north of Fourth Plain Boulevard) features Navajo Code Talker David Patterson.
o What: Veterans Parade at Fort Vancouver, presented by the Lough Legacy, with Grand Marshal Royce Pollard and reviewing officer Maj. Gen. Timothy Lowenberg, Washington Air National Guard.
o Where: Fort Vancouver National Site; a new route will keep the parade within the historic site.
o When: Ceremony begins at 10 a.m. Saturday at the Marshall House. Parade starts at 11 a.m.
o On Veterans Day: An 11 a.m. event Thursday at the post cemetery (north of Fourth Plain Boulevard) features Navajo Code Talker David Patterson.
“I think it’s a real honor,” said Dee Franklin Craig-Arnold, the soldier’s granddaughter. She plans to attend the event.
“I’m excited they’re recognizing my grandfather,” the Portland resident said.
The Buffalo Soldier was the great uncle of Vancouver resident Philip Holliman.
That nickname was attached to four U.S. Army regiments of black soldiers: the 9th and 10th Cavalry regiments and the 24th and 25th Infantry regiments.
Franklin was among the black soldiers who were assigned to Vancouver Barracks more than a century ago. He was near the end of his career at that point.
Her grandfather was born in Gallatin, Tenn., on March 5, 1859, Craig-Arnold said — about two years before the start of the Civil War. He joined the Army in 1876, and served in Indian campaigns in the Southwest.
During the Spanish-American War, “He was in the Santiago Campaign, including the charge up San Juan Hill on July 1, 1898,” Craig-Arnold said. When fighting ended, “He assisted in nursing fever-stricken soldiers.”
The following year, Franklin was part of the campaign against insurgents in the Philippines.
He retired as a first sergeant of Company E, 24th Infantry, in 1903.
“He and his wife, Cora, had six children, including my father, Alfred Stanfield Franklin,” Craig-Arnold said.
The family lived in Vancouver for several years before the Franklins built a house in Portland. Craig-Arnold said her grandmother “would take a horse and buggy and cross the Columbia on the ferry” to check up on construction of the house.
Craig-Arnold, 72, never knew her grandfather. Sgt. Franklin died a year before she was born.
Saturday’s parade grand marshal will be First Citizen Royce Pollard, former mayor of Vancouver and former commanding officer at Vancouver Barracks.
Reviewing officer will be Maj. Gen. Timothy J. Lowenberg, Washington Air National Guard. He is commander of all Washington Army and Air National Guard forces and director of the state’s emergency management program. He will salute participants from the reviewing stand on the front lawn of the Marshall House, 1301 Officers Row. He also will speak during a 10 a.m. ceremony at the Marshall House.
The parade takes a different turn this year — literally. Starting at 11 a.m. with the firing of howitzers, the parade will head west along Officers Row before turning south at the intersection of Evergreen Boulevard and Fort Vancouver Way. The route will remain within the boundaries of the historic site this year, rather than marching through downtown Vancouver. The route will go through Vancouver Barracks, then east on Fifth Street, and will end at the Pearson Air Museum.
The revised route will be easier for participants, including elderly veterans, because the parade will end near the staging area, where their families and vehicles will be waiting.
The parade annually attracts more than 100 entries and about 2,500 individual participants who march or ride along the route.
The parade is supported by a gift from the estate of Frank and Joanne Lough.
Tom Vogt: 360-735-4558 or tom.vogt@columbian.com.
