A bastion of history

John Warren, of Pine River, a former Buffalo Soldier re-enactor, has been in uniforms his whole life. Travis Grimler / Echo Journal

John Warren is a bastion of history of African American service members

There 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.

“In 1945, when my parents got married, there were 13 states where my dad could have been hanged for marrying my mom,” Warren said.

At home in his neighborhood, Warren said his parents were able to shield or protect, him and his two siblings from hate or racism until they were older. They encountered it when they left home, however.

Knowing what he knows now, Warren realizes there were times when he and his family were treated as unwelcome at resorts or communities when they traveled for vacation.

“My family - my dad and mom - they protected us kids until we got older and started venturing out on our own,” Warren said.

When his parents helped them understand the challenges they might face as they grew older, Warren said they began to be exposed more and more to the inequalities of the world. At least one time, it was while his school’s hockey team competed against a team from another, apparently less diverse community and was suddenly insulted for their race.

“The coach would say, ‘Now, they’re going to be calling you names.’ Preparing us, because the first thing we knew they would use the N-word and all that kind of stuff and we’d be ready to fight,” Warren said. “They didn’t know any better and we didn’t know any better. It was a learning experience you get used to.”

Though living with such adversity wasn’t good or easy, Warren was fortunate in one way. He was surrounded by people who fought adversity before him and became historical figures and legends for what they achieved.

His life has been filled with inspiration from the Tuskegee Airmen and their children, like Irvin O. Brewin Jr., the African American Navy divers of World War II, and even his grandfather, who was born in Arkansas in 1863 as a slave just two years before he was officially freed.

Even today, these historical figures are less well-known than they should be, but Warren had the fortune of meeting many of them, becoming friends with their children, and occasionally hearing about their experiences.

“A lot of them didn’t tell us some of the stories as kids,” Warren said. “We learned them later because we overheard uncles and dads within earshot and listening to some of these things and some of the atrocities that were happening.”

There is no doubt this upbringing shaped who he is today. He could have gone one of many different directions with his life, but from the start, he was not only surrounded by military legends, he was raised by a veteran in a family with a history of service that encouraged him and his siblings to be active in their community at a young age.

“My mom and dad, uncles, aunts, all our cousins, and all us kids had to do things on a regular basis,” Warren said. “Not only with different churches but the Hallie Q. Brown (Community) Center, the Martin Luther King Center, the Old Boys Club, Union Gospel Mission in St. Paul.

They were ingrained in their community.

Warren said it seems he’s been wearing uniforms all his life. It may have started with Boy Scouts, but it went on from there.

“It seems like I was destined in my life to always wear uniforms,” Warren said. “I was in the Boy Scouts up through high school. It was a uniform in Boy Scouts, a uniform in school. Then from there the Marine Corps uniform. I get out of the Marine Corps and then there is the Buffalo Soldiers, the Color Guard for the VFW in Jenkins and the Marine Corps League in Park Rapids.”

It’s probably not a surprise that Warren wound up in the Marine Corps. He was just the next member of the family to serve his country, and not the last.

“I had uncles and a grandpa who were World War I veterans,” Warren said. “My dad’s a World War II veteran. My uncle’s World War II, a couple cousins were in Korea and World War II. I was raised by these older gentlemen. Those are the kind of people I grew up with. There were four Tuskegee Airmen.”

He served in Vietnam and experienced the horrors of that war for longer than he can remember.

“People always ask, ‘How long were you in the Marine Corps?’” Warren said. “All day. Enough to get some rank, to do some tours and travel a lot.”

During active duty, Warren was wounded. He was shot in the arm and leg. He spent many days recovering from his injuries, and today his right hand is still contorted from the injury.

“I spent over 22 and a half months in military hospitals,” Warren said.

He wasn’t done serving others or wearing uniforms when he left. Just as he had been raised, he got involved, this time in helping his fellow service members though his position and duties shifted over the years.

“I worked in a disabled veterans outreach program with the state,” Warren said. “I worked with the Job Center in Minneapolis downtown. Then I ended up working in the latter part of the ‘70s with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs at Fort Snelling in the regional office there. That’s where I retired from in March of 2007.”

In the 1980s, Warren donned yet another uniform for about five years, that of a lesser-known regiment in military history - the Buffalo Soldiers, a segregated group of all African American soldiers that simultaneously fought for the United States while enduring mistreatment and disdain from the military it served from 1867-1891, being vital parts of many historic battles in their time.

This was the regiment memorialized by the 1989 film “Glory.” Warren was part of a group of Buffalo Soldier reenactors. He and his fellow reenactors rode horses, uniformed after their historical counter parts, in parades throughout the state and elsewhere.

“We’d go to schools and stuff when we were invited,” Warren said. “And we would talk about the history of the Buffalo Soldiers. I still have the uniform and riding boots.”

Warren said his family first told him about the Buffalo Soldiers, a part of both African American and U.S. military history that often gets left out of lessons. His parents supported him having a good education but encouraged him to delve deeper where history books might have glossed over important details, especially in relation to race.

“My old man used to push that,” Warren said.

Perhaps that is one reason Warren is now a veritable fountain of historical knowledge often skimmed over in history books. Just one short conversation with Warren is enough to expose a person to dozens of historical names and events that most people don’t know.

After retiring in 2007, Warren moved to Pine River, his wife’s hometown, and he brought all that history with him. At first, Warren took some time off from dealing with fellow service members. A long career had worn him out.

“I came into town just to get gas, or we’d go to town and pick up food for the month,” Warren said. “I’d go out on the boat fishing or get on my Polaris or cut the grass or cut some trees down. Then I got to meeting people.”

After about a year, he found himself once again donning uniforms and volunteering with various service-related groups — the Pine River American Legion, Jenkins VFW, Disabled American Veterans, Military Order of the Purple Hearts, the Marine Corps League in Park Rapids, the 1/9 Network (1st Battalion 9th Marines Network) and a Cass County advisory group.

Looking back, Warren jokes that he left a job getting paid to help other veterans to volunteer to help veterans for free.

When he first got involved, he was happy to see familiar faces at the local Legion club, people he had helped during his long career. That helped him transition back into the community where he was somewhat of a stranger.

He became a member of the Pine River American Legion, moving his membership from the Attucks Brooks Post 606 American Legion in St. Paul. For several years he served as the gambling manager there. Today, he serves in the same capacity at the Jenkins VFW where he is a former commander.

TRAVIS GRIMLER

218-855-5853 travis.grimler@pineandlakes.com