Mark Matthews, the oldest surviving Buffalo Soldier in the United States Army, died on September 6, 2005 age of 111.
Mark Matthews, the oldest surviving Buffalo Soldier in the United States Army, died on September 6, 2005 age of 111. While working at a racetrack in Kentucky, he met several Buffalo Soldiers, and when he heard from them that they rode horses everywhere they went, he decided to enlist. Only 16, he managed to convince a recruiter to allow him to join the Army and he began his army career. Matthews went on to serve in Mexico and Texas as a member of the Pancho Villa Expedition. Between the wars, Matthews served at Fort Myer, where he tended the presidential stable and played on the Fort's polo team. During World War II, Matthews saw action on Saipan. Matthews finally retired from the Army in 1949 and went on to serve as a security guard at the National Institutes of Health. He retired from his second job in 1970. In retirement he lived in Washington, D.C. and was a member of Prince Hall Masonic Temple and a member and trustee of the Trinity AME Zion Church. He is interred at Arlington National Cemetery next to his wife.