TAMPA, Fla. — On Wednesday, the City of Tampa honored 100-year-old Army veteran Roy Caldwood.
He's a buffalo soldier. These U.S. Army regiments were made up of mostly African-American men.
The 92nd infantry had two units. Caldwood was a part of the unit sent to Italy, where he served as an army medic. He said, to his surprise, when he was in Italy, racism wasn't the issue it was back home.
"To say I'm overwhelmed would be an understatement, there are no words to express how I feel," Caldwood said.
Caldwood said he had a lot of close calls while overseas. He chalks that up to his "do anything" attitude.
"What it is I, I guess, I'll find some kind of way to have things turn out the way I want it," the veteran said. "I don't care what it is, no matter how ridiculous it is, no matter how you'll be killed. It made no difference. It made no difference. I'll do it. If I die, I die."
Tampa City Councilor Luis Viera honored Caldwood by gifting him several photos, sharing a proclamation from the mayor, and bringing in guests to speak to how much of an impact Caldwood has made.
"Mr. Caldwood served... on two battlefields, he served on a battlefield in Europe and World War Two, at the same time, the battlefield that was going on here at home and for civil rights for black soldiers and black people throughout our country," Cory Person, the president of the Hillsborough County Bar Association, said. "And it's because of what he did, and other Buffalo Soldiers, that I was able to serve my country without facing some of the same battles that he had endured."
Like any true American hero, the recognition was accepted with a humble heart.
"I don't deserve it, that, I do not, I did nothing. I did absolutely nothing," Caldwood said.