Buffalo Soldier Burial at National Cemetery:

 

Lieutenant William Henry Waddell, IV, VMD lived from 9 August, 1908 to 30 January, 2007. He was a veterinarian, entrepreneur, leader, husband, father, researcher, student, traveler, and resident of Kaa'awa on the eastern shore of Oahu, Hawaii. But to many of us, he was only known as an Original 9th Cavalry Buffalo Soldier whom at the age of 98 was also the LAST of the Oldest Living Cavalry Buffalo Soldiers since First Sergeant Mark Mathews of the 10th Cavalry who at the age of 111 lived until September 13, 2005. As a First Lieutenant with the U.S. Army's 9th Cavalry, 5th Brigade during World War II, Waddell served in Africa and Italy in 1943 and 1944 as the brigade's veterinarian of 10,000 horses as well as many mules. In 1944, Lieutenant Waddell's supply mule was shot by German forces. The impact knocked him off his mount and the enemy continued shooting at him causing him to suffer a wound to his neck. He spent 90 days in a field hospital in North Africa before returning to active duty with his troops. Lieutenant Waddell's 9th Cavalry was inactivated on 7 March 1944 in North Africa. The 10th Cavalry was also deactivated in 1944 at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. By the time Waddell retired in 1972, he had earned 135 Service Medals. Dr. Waddell's wife, Lottie Young Waddell died in 1989. From then on, he resided with his daughter, Dr. Kathryn Waddell Takara and accepted invitations to give talks on his adventures and remained very lucid up until the time of his expiration. Dr. Waddell had previously been assigned an Active Duty Army aide-de-camp by the United States Army and participated annually in the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. parades in Honolulu. He was buried at the National Cemetery of the Pacific.