John Warren, of Pine River, a former Buffalo Soldier re-enactor, has been in uniforms his whole life. Travis Grimler / Echo Journal
Vietnam vet is bastion of history of African American service members By Travis Grimler Echo Journal
T
here are certain things you are born into and certain things that develop over time. John Warren, of Pine River, seems to have been born to wear a uniform, born to be a wealth of knowledge for African American military history and born to help others.
Warren grew up in the Rondo Neighborhood in St. Paul, a diverse community with mixed families not too different from his own. One neighborhood couple was
Cuban. Another was African American and German. Yet another was Ojibwe. Warren’s father was African American and Seminole Indian while his mother was
French Canadian. They found themselves in the community partially because it was both diverse and active, but also at least in part because it was safer than other places.
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S LUTE Veterans Day • November, 2020
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