[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 12]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 16490]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



        HONORING THE 54TH INFANTRY OF AFRICAN AMERICAN SOLDIERS

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. MICHAEL E. CAPUANO

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, July 16, 1999

  Mr. CAPUANO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to celebrate and remember the 
contributions of the 54th Massachusetts regiment. On July 18, 1863, 136 
years ago this week, the 54th Infantry, which consisted exclusively of 
African American soldiers, led a gallant assault on Fort Wagner where 
they valiantly fought and sacrificed their lives for our country.
  Despite the controversy and discrimination directed towards them, the 
heroic 54th failed to retreat. Feeling the need to prove themselves 
capable soldiers, they fought harder and accepted fiercer challenges 
than the average soldier. Fighting for the preservation of the Union 
and against the enslavement of human beings, the 54th Infantry also 
succeeded in paving the way for African Americans to serve in the 
military and be commissioned as officers--an almost insurmountable 
feat!
  Mr. Speaker, I'm proud today to honor the memory of these soldiers, 
and recognize their accomplishments during the Civil War and to the 
future direction of our Nation. These men gave selflessly of themselves 
in our Nation's most brutal war for the right to be recognized as 
civilized men. They defended our Nation's freedoms without prejudice or 
apprehension, and I salute them.

                          ____________________