Roy Caldwood Is An American Hero Who May Be The Last Surviving Buffalo Soldier! 

Grand Hampton residents Diane Royer and her father and former WWII Buffalo Soldier Roy Caldwood 

Editor’s note — One week after I interviewed Cory Lake Isles resident and retired U.S. Army Brigadier General Remo Butler — the first-ever Black General of the U.S. Special Forces — on the same day Gen. Butler attended the celebration of the 250th birthday of the U.S. Army in downtown Tampa on June 14 , I interviewed former U.S. Army vet, “Buffalo Soldier” and Grand Hampton resident Roy Caldwood, who took a very different path to becoming the true American hero he is today. 

Gen. Butler and Army PFC (private first class) Roy Caldwood were both honored during that June 14 celebration and the two have become friends over the past couple of years, thanks in no small part to an introduction of the two by District 7 Tampa City Councilman Luis Viera. 

Although I was hoping to tell Roy’s story in the same edition as Gen. Butler’s, I wasn’t able to schedule both interviews before I had to go to press with that June 24 issue, so the first half of Roy’s own amazing story appears in this issue instead. — GN 

The first time I met World War II veteran and Grand Hampton resident Roy Caldwood, his 101st birthday was being celebrated at Grace Episcopal Church in Tampa Palms (the church Roy and his daughter Diane Royer attend) in Aug. 2023. 

After that encounter, I told Roy I was excited to buy his book entitled Making The Right Moves: Rikers Island & NYC Corrections; Being Calm in the Storm about his harrowing experience as an assistant deputy warden who was held hostage during a riot at the notorious Rikers Island prison in his native New York City in 1972 (more than two decades after he completed his military service). 

I also said that the next time I interviewed Roy, I wanted to talk about not only the two Rikers Island riots he survived but also his experiences as a “Buffalo Soldier” during WWII. In fact, today Roy may be the last surviving member of that 92nd Infantry Division, which was the only Black regiment that saw combat during the war. 

I say “may be” because, according to the AI response I received during a Google search, the last surviving Buffalo Soldier was a man named Robert Dixon, who passed away in Nov. 2024 at the age of 103 — the same age Roy Caldwood is today. (So, for those of you who believe everything AI tells you, try doing some research on your own sometimes.) 

But, Roy is not only still very much alive, he is a vibrant man who can still do “probably 40” pushups (although he says 20-30 is his usual limit) and who loves recounting his stories of the Second World War and his century-plus-long lifetime of amazing stories. If you ever get the chance to meet him, ask him to tell you one story and you will end up being regaled by many tales of bravery, heroism and true evidence of why the members of the American military who fought in — and ultimately won —WWII have been dubbed “The Greatest Generation.” 

From Humble Beginnings 

Roy J. Caldwood was born in New York City on July 10, 1922. Although his parents never divorced, he says they were separated because his mother, a devout Christian, could not deal with his father’s gambling. 

“My father didn’t live very far from us,” Roy says. “He worked as an elevator operator and when I became a teenager and wanted to take a young lady on a date, I would visit my father at work and he’d give me a dollar. But I was raised without a father and the discipline that many of my buddies had growing up.” 

In fact, Roy says, when he was picked on by bullies at school — which happened a lot because he was small and slight — he had to run home to get his “sister” (actually a cousin that Roy’s mother raised) to help him fight his battles. “If I went home and got my sister,” he laughs, “those boys would be scared.” 

Eventually, a much larger classmate at the Parochial school he attended, “even though we weren’t Catholic,” took pity on him, “and taught me how to box. After a couple of lessons, I didn’t need my sister to fight my battles for me anymore.” 

He admits that the nuns at the Catholic school were the only ones who ever really disciplined him. “If our teacher left the room and came back, she’d ask, ‘Who was talking while I was out?’ and some of the kids would rat on each other,” which could cause them to get whacked on the knuckles by a ruler. “That was enough to keep me from getting out of line too often.” 

He also recalls an incident where, “I guess I did something bad. I don’t remember exactly what I did, but one thing I’ll never forget was that the nuns called for a bigger guy, an older student, and he picked me up and stuffed me in the dumbwaiter. I’ll never forget that. But, it was actually good for me. I learned how to control myself.” 

On To The Army 

After high school, Roy says he went to his draft board and mentioned that he was interested in medicine. “They put me in the Army, with 16 other Black guys, and said they were going to put us in a medical outpost or something, but they sent us to Camp Patrick Henry in Virginia and we formed a basketball team. And we were good. But then, I heard about this guy they called ‘Sweetwater’ Clifton, and I said, ‘We gotta this guy,’ so we drafted him and we played against colleges in the south…and beat the hell out of them.” (Note-Nat “Sweetwater” Clifton went on to become one of the first Black players in the then-fledgling NBA after serving in WWII from 1942-45.) 

When they weren’t shooting hoops, Roy says that all he and his basketball buddies did at Patrick Henry was kill mosquitoes, “and we all hated it. But then, I read an article in Stars & Stripes magazine that the 92nd Infantry Division was badly in need of more help, so I got two of my buddies to go with me and we were sent off to Fort Huachuca in (southeast) Arizona,” which was the base of operations for the Buffalo Soldiers of the 10th Regiment from 1913-33 and was home to 25,000 soldiers during WWII. 

“So, they put me and my two buddies in the medical unit and we had to pass a test to become Army medical/surgical technicians, and we all passed, no problem.” 

But then, Roy says he got diarrhea and ended up in the hospital. He says the Army was “breaking down Black combat outfits and making them into labor battalions. They had already done that with the only Black division that they had before — the 93rd — and they sent them to the Pacific. They were going to do the same thing with the 92nd, but the Black leaders fought them. So, they came to a compromise. They said, ‘We’ll allow one infantry unit to go to Italy and go into combat and see how they do. In the meantime, I’m in the hospital trying to get out, and they wouldn’t let me out, so I just left.” 

Roy says he went to the Day Room and spoke to the clerk there, who said, “Well, you have to pass the ‘Fit to Fight’ test, so you can qualify if the 92nd Infantry Division does go overseas.” 

But, even though he had just left the hospital, “I’m dragging, you know, but I still passed. The only problem was that they made my two buddies corporals, but not me. They made me a private.” 

Off To War 

So the 370 Regiment (which participated in the Allied assault on the Gothic Line, including the capture of Lucca, Italy, as part of the 92nd Infantry Division) did just fine in battle. 

“But, you read nothing about us in the American papers, while the European papers were full of news about the ‘Buffalos.’ But they said, ‘O.K., the rest of the 92nd division can go over.” 

In 1944, as the European campaign was winding down (Note – In Sept. 1943, Italy was no longer allied with Germany, after fascist dictator Benito Mussolini was ousted), Roy says he and the rest of the 92nd went in zigzag on a boat, “because the Germans were right there and, as we were approaching Italy, the boat tried to stop at one island, but they asked , ‘Do you have Blacks on board?’ They said, ‘Yes,’ so they said, ‘Well, then you can’t stop here.’” 

But then, the boat pulled up into Naples, where there were a lot of black longshoremen, “and oh, were they happy to see us,” Roy says. “They said, we are having a horrible time here because of the ‘Ugly Americans.’ The Italian longshoremen called White Americans ‘Ugly” because they looked down their noses at every other country. So, they were happy as hell to see us and they said, ‘We’ve been following you guys, so you won’t be having any problems anymore.’” 

After spending that one night in Naples, the 92nd proceeded on to Viareggio. 

“I think it was maybe the first morning, and I hear us firing our mortars,” Roy says. “I go outside and I see the lieutenant and the squad, and they’re practicing their mortars. They say, ‘If the Germans come, they can come two ways — over the mountain, and we have a platoon up there, and we’re protecting down below.’” 

Roy says he said to himself, “They should be warning the people where these mortars are falling. And then, I hear the sergeant say, ‘I think we hit one of their mules.’ I wanted to do something to warn the people in the village, but I can’t tell the lieutenant what to do. I’m just a medic. But, I can go warn these people myself. So, I said to the sergeant, ‘I am going over there to tell the people that we’re practicing our mortars and it’s a dangerous area, so they should take precautions — go in their houses and safeguard their animals.’ 

“The sergeant said to me, ‘You can go over there, but I am not going to stop firing the mortars.’ So, I said to him. ‘I’m going over there. You can keep on firing those mortars over there. But, if you don’t kill me, do not be here when I come back.’” 

He adds, “Then, the lieutenant says to me, ‘You don’t talk to my sergeant like that.’ I said, ‘OK, fine.’ But, I still went over there to warn them and came back and nobody said anything.” 

But then, over the next couple of days, one of the soldiers came to Roy and said he had a rash on his back. “I looked at it and said, “I’m sending you back to the rear. You need treatment. I can’t help you here [on the front lines]. 

“But, the lieutenant said, ‘Private, I don’t have enough soldiers up here now. You can’t send anybody back to the rear.’ 

“But, I didn’t pay him any attention,” Roy says. “I sent [the soldier] back to the rear anyway. I knew when he was supposed to be going out on patrol. And, when that day came, I picked up a rifle and took off my gear and I took his place. The lieutenant was surprised.

“But, that started it. From then on, any suggestion I made to the lieutenant, he’d say, ‘O.K.’ And yes, I made all kinds of suggestions.” 

For example, Roy got the lieutenant to agree to allow the soldiers to have a dance — “Even the lieutenant danced the night away — because I said I thought it would be a good idea for morale, and it was. That was the first of many ‘O.K.s’ I got from him.” 

The ‘Purple Heart Stretch’ 

As the American troops were moving through Viareggio, they were notified about a dangerous stretch of road known as the “Purple Heart Stretch.” 

“When we got into this village,” Roy says, “the lieutenant called for a meeting of the townspeople and told them, ‘You will not be allowed to leave this village for any reason whatsoever. Nobody leaves this village.’ And this guy, he’s like the mayor of the village, or whatever, says to the lieutenant, ‘We have not been able to buy food. I don’t know why. And we are all really getting hungry. We need food very badly.’ 

“But then, the lieutenant says, ‘I told you, nobody leaves!’ But, I’m always trying to solve problems and I’m thinking, ‘I gotta help these people,’ but what can I say? The captain already gave the lieutenant his orders — ‘Nobody leaves the village.’ So, what can I say?” 

So, Roy says to the lieutenant,“What if I escorted them myself, since I speak Italiano. And again, the lieutenant says, ‘O.K.’ So now, he’s defying his captain’s orders, and he’s gonna listen to a private — me — instead! 

“I said, ‘O.K., but I’ll have to take two volunteers with me. And right away, guys are saying, ‘I’ll go.’ I say ‘We leave in the morning.’ But, next morning. No stores. I know, great. That takes care of that. But, I hear a lot of noise — we were upstairs and there’s a lot of noise downstairs. And I say, ‘The women are there. My guys are there. I gotta be there. I cut downstairs and I said, let’s go. We’ll let the women lead the way. I didn’t want it to look like I’m walking behind these women’s skirts, so I let them walk way ahead. We weren’t walking very long when I looked where we were and I damn near fainted. I said, ‘We’re on the Purple Heart Stretch!’ 

“The Germans can look down from the mountain and see us. They can kill us right now. I gotta make a decision what the hell to do. I’m not gonna try to run out of there. I have to convince the Germans that we’re humanitarians — that we’re trying to help people who are starving. I gotta convince them. That’s my only hope. I’m gonna walk with my head straight up, like I don’t give a damn. Like I don’t care if I die. I said, ‘Let’s go’ to my two guys. It’s a good little walk but we get to the store. The women went in. And, when I went in, I saw the store was in complete blackness. I can’t see anything. I said, ‘There’s no getting any food in here. There’s nothing.’ So now, I walked the Purple Heart Stretch for no food, nothing.” 

He adds, “Now we gotta go back. So we started off. We got maybe a little more than halfway there and a mortar drops. Boom! So now, I’m lying in the mud there ‘cause they had rain. And I said, ‘It looks like I made a big mistake, but I’m not gonna be able to apologize to these people because I’m gonna be dead.’” 

But, Roy says he realized, “Germans don’t generally miss with their mortars — they’re very accurate. So, I’m lying there, waiting for the next one to finish me off, but nothing. So I raise my head up, I look around and I see a partial stone or cement wall and I said to my guys, ‘We’re gonna get behind that cement wall’ and I hollered to the group of women up ahead, ‘To the wall! To the wall!’ And they all get up and they start running and my guys are running. So then, I get up and I run. And, when I get behind the wall, the women had their prayer books and their Rosary beads out and they’re all just crying. 

“Just as I made it to the wall, the Germans increased the mortars. They must’ve thrown 30 or 40 of them, and they’re going ‘Boom, Boom, Boom!’ It looked like the more the women prayed, the worse it got. I said to myself, ‘Maybe I should tell them that it isn’t helping. Stop praying.’ But of course, I said nothing to them. 

“So then, I’m lying on the ground there, and the mortars are still dropping. And I said to myself, ‘Wait a minute. These mortars are not even falling close enough to kill us. They’re not trying to kill us. They’re talking to us! They’re telling me something.’ 

“So, I start trying to interpret the mortars. I figured out that the Germans are telling me that they figured out that I’m a humanitarian. I’m actually deciphering what this all means. It’s like they said, ‘We had decided earlier that we will fight to the death.’ But then they said, “Now, we’re not going to kill you.’ So, I said to everyone there, ‘They’re not gonna kill us. I am going to move outside very quickly. If I got it right, I’m alive. If I got it wrong, I’m dead.’ 

“So I moved outside, and I stood there. And suddenly, no mortars. That’s the God’s honest truth. So I said, ‘Let’s go back.’ And my guys and the women came out, and we all headed back.” 

Then, when Roy and his group went back, he says, “The lieutenant was standing outside up there waiting for me. When I met him, he told me, ‘The Germans sent a detachment to the village. They wanted to find out what the hell you were doing there — and our outpost saw them.’ 

“The men called the lieutenant and told him, ‘We see Germans coming into the village.’ The lieutenant called his captain who told him, ‘I want you to establish new quarters in the town.’ And, the lieutenant, said, ‘I can’t leave now because the doctor’s not here yet.’ So, the captain said to the lieutenant, ‘Don’t bother those Germans. Leave them completely alone.’ ‘Cause he knew if they did, me and my group were dead. The captain says, ‘When he gets back, then you reestablish.’ 

“So now, I’m back with the lieutenant and we’re hurrying to get to the new quarters down below. So, we get down below and we moved right in because we believed that the Germans were coming to peacefully surrender to us. So, we had to hurry.” 

The Surrender Of The Germans 

“So now, were back in the house, and we walk in the front room and one of our soldiers yells out to us, ‘The Germans are peacefully surrendering to us!’ So, he and I are running now to help with whatever. I see the lieutenant and the German soldiers lined up in twos, with no Americans standing guard over them. We don’t even have enough guys. They’re busy upstairs processing the other guys…the other Germans… that are still coming. It’s just one big, long line. And I can see what the Germans are saying. 

“They said, ‘We have to thank that man for what he is doing. He’s a humanitarian. He has saved our lives. We were going to fight to the death. But now, we are not fighting to the death anymore. We owe our lives to that man now, because we are going home and we are going to do humanitarian work, just like he’s doing.’ 

“It was like 40 or 50 German soldiers and we only had twelve. All we had was just one platoon. There may have been others behind us, but we didn’t know for sure. And, I don’t really know how many guys the Germans had, but they believed they were gonna die. They said, ‘We have him to thank. He has saved our lives.’ 

“So now, they’re all lined up and what I want to see now is the guy in charge who didn’t kill me. The one responsible for me still being alive. I just wanna see him. And, as I walk down the line looking, I hear some talking and I’m listening and there are two guys speaking English. And, you know what they’re saying? ‘There he is!’ A couple of times. I could look at them, I could even go over and shake hands with them. But, I said to everybody, ‘Right now, things are going a hundred percent. The Germans are cooperating. There’s nothing I could do now to make this situation any better. I could mess it up by saying or doing something wrong, but I’m not gonna do it.’ We didn’t even have enough guys to stand there and watch them. The lieutenant is saying, ‘I don’t have enough men,’ which was true. The captain knew he didn’t have enough men. So, the lieutenant called for an Italian civilian, a guy who helped us with our supply mules. ‘We need Joe,’ the lieutenant said. ‘I want Joe to escort these prisoners.’ 

“The Germans had plenty of men and ammunition. More American and allied forces for sure would have died if the Germans had decided to fight to the death. But, one or two days after that, the Army issued an announcement saying that, ‘The Italian campaign is over.’ 

On Celebrating The Army’s 250th 
U.S. Army Brigadier Gen. (ret.) Remo Butler (left) & Roy Caldwood at the U.S. Army 250th Birthday Celebration Ball. (Photo: PamElla Lee Photography) 

On June 15, Roy posted on his Facebook page, “So grateful for being honored and invited to the 250th Army Anniversary Ball by Gen. Butler. An awesome evening of giving a toast, cutting the official Army cake and sitting in the Army war jeep behind the steering wheel.” 

He adds, “I had no idea how I would be received and my friend, General Butler, also said he had no idea. He said, ‘Roy, you’ve got so many people here!’ 

“It was great — Generals, their wives…All sitting at the same table! General Butler’s wife was sitting next to me.” 

Roy says if he never moved to Florida, he probably would never have met Gen. Butler. 

Diane agrees, although she also credits Viera with making the introduction. 

“Councilman Viera is who really made the connection. It was at least a year or two in the making. Luis kept saying, ‘Oh, Roy — I’ve got to connect you with the General. And it’s been a fantastic bond and relationship and like a love without them ever knowing each other before.” 

As to why the native New Yorker made the move to the Sunshine State, Roy says, “I ended up moving to Florida because my wife, Muriel, was very sick, and we moved in with my daughter, Diane. It was the best move I ever made.” 

Diane adds, “They were being considerate of my husband (Donald) and myself, because we moved to Tampa in 2001 and we were having to travel back to New York every time to check on them, even though they were very independent. And then came the pandemic. They decided to move here at the end of 2020 for our sake.” 

In our Aug. 19 New Tampa issue, I’ll tell you about Roy’s 21-year career in corrections, including his book about being held hostage on Rikers Island. Thank you, Roy & Diane! 

State House Minority Leader Fentrice Driskell Recaps The 2025 Legislative Session 


Editor’s note – Unfortunately, due to the timing of our issues, we were not able to get this recap of the extended Florida Legislative Session that finally ended on June 16 into the June 24 New Tampa issue, but I did sit down for a chat with District 67 State Representative and Florida House Minority Leader Fentrice Driskell (photo) a little more than a week after that lengthy session ended to get her impressions of the hits, misses and what the people of her District, which includes all of New Tampa, can expect between now and the start of the 2026 Legislative Session next January. — GN

NN: First, give me your general impressions of this year’s session. 

FD: To me, this felt like a session of missed opportunities, because the Speaker set a tone at the beginning of the session, that it was going to be a member-driven process and that we were going to focus on affordability issues, and basically there would be opportunities to collaborate on such issues. But in the end, this session was marked by, in-fighting amongst Republican leadership. The Speaker of the House, the Senate President and the Governor just could not seem to get on the same page, so what was supposed to be a 60-day session wound up being over a hundred days. And unfortunately, the budget was the biggest bargaining chip and the budget process was held up and it wasn’t as transparent as it typically is, meaning that there wasn’t really the opportunity for the public, I don’t think, to advocate, as much as they specifically would have for their budget appropriations. It was really tough — for the public and for lawmakers — because we also were kind of pretty much in the dark. It just seemed like they couldn’t even agree on even whether or not they were fighting, much less what they were fighting about. In spite of everything, though, I think, in the end, it was an O.K. budget. Definitely not an A+ budget, but it was an O.K. budget. 

NN: What’s missing from the budget? 

FD: What I would like to have seen that was missing were more funds for housing affordability. By my estimation, we actually reduced funds for affordable housing and this is not a time to do that. Especially here, when we know the Tampa Bay area is one of the fastest-growing regions in the country, and it’s becoming too expensive for locals to live here. 

You’ll also notice that the Governor vetoed a number of water projects, just like he did last year. The problem with that, as we continue to endure stronger storms and flooding events, is that we need to have the right infrastructure to try to protect human life and property. 

NN: What do you see as your caucus’ victories, despite the Republicans’ super-majority? 

FD: In the end, they actually kept the funding for Advanced Placement courses and International Baccalaureate programs and certain certifications for students. And I think that was the right thing to do. And I give full credit, both to the Democratic caucus and to the public for really springing into action and embracing a lot of noise about that, so that they had to reverse course. I am really proud of our advocacy for students and families on the AP classes. We really hammered them on that, which was good. 

NN: What about your own successes? 

FD: I was really proud to secure some significant appropriations. For example, in a prior session, I helped sponsor legislation to establish what we believe are the first Sickle Cell Disease Centers of Excellence in the country. 

So this year, we were able to secure $3.75 million for sickle cell disease projects — $1.25 million to establish a “cause of death initiative” aimed at addressing a long-standing gap in knowledge surrounding sickle cell disease mortality. There hasn’t been enough study and focus to understand the exact causes of death for many in the sickle cell population. We’re trying to understand more about what happens to sickle cell patients and try to strengthen advocacy efforts. 

Then, there’s another $2.5 million that is going to help that population with non-emergency transportation access because what we found is that transportation is a huge obstacle to that patient population from getting consistent preventive care. They miss a lot of appointments. When that happens, you know, things that were preventable become real complications, and they have worse outcomes. 

This is going to allow for two transportation vans at each of the 15 sickle cell centers, including the one in my District on E. Fletcher Ave. 

The other thing that we did get was a $350,000 appropriation for the Hillel Jewish Student Center of Tampa on the USF Tampa campus. We’ve heard stories of students feeling threatened on campus. Probably like a month or two ago, there was a gentleman found with weapons on campus, who was not a student, and he had a copy of I believe it was Mein Kampf. 

There’s been an uptick of anti-Semitism, so we’re very proud to help our students feel safe. The appropriation is for school “hardening” and some technology, plus educational and cultural programming to try to counter disinformation and anti-Semitic rhetoric. The daughter of one of my colleagues in the legislature is half-Jewish, half-Black, and she used to wear a Star of David at school. But, there were some things happening at school and now, she doesn’t even feel safe to wear to wear her star anymore. And, she’s only in middle school. 

There also was some drama this year where the Senate’s Democratic leader — Jason Pizzo — resigned his leadership position part-way through session and announced that he’s becoming an NPA. It was very dramatic. I’ve been in this position now for about three years, and I’ll tell you that leadership is hard. There’s no glory in it. It sounds like a very nice title, but it’s tough. And, for whatever reason, he’d had enough. So then, the Senate elected Lori Berman unanimously as its new leader and I will tell you that Sen. Berman and I work together really well. And, from that point on, I’ve found that we’ve been very coordinated. The Senate and House Democrats are already working on a joint platform for next Legislative session, because we recognize that we’re stronger together. 

And, we did have some platform bills that we worked together on this year, particularly related to housing affordability, expanding Medicaid, safe gun storage and universal background checks. These are things that are not easy to pass, but I do think it’s important to raise them so that we are a part of the conversation, and so that we keep trying to keep the conversation centered on affordability, because that’s what our constituents want. The most calls that we get are people worried about housing affordability and dealing with property insurance. And, even though we’re the minority party, I think it’s important that we uplift the voices of our constituents and our neighbors. 

NN: Which bills of yours didn’t pass? 

FD: I had a bill that was seeking to give clarity and direction to doctors with respect to the six-week abortion ban because we continue to hear reports of doctors being unsure of what they can do with respect to miscarriage management because, technically, that could be considered an abortion procedure sometimes. So, in consultation with physicians who practice in this area, we worked on a bill that would just give them some guidelines. Unfortunately, it didn’t pass. 

Recently in the news, there was a Republican Congresswoman here in Florida who suffered an ectopic pregnancy, and she was having difficulties getting health care because the doctors weren’t sure what they could do. So, this is something that really has a need. That’s a dangerous thing to have an ectopic pregnancy and to have a doctor not know if he or she can provide care for that. I may not be the one who carries it, but we’ll definitely bring it up again next Session. 

There was also a bill that I carried on water quality improvements. It actually was a platform bill for our caucus. I read a report that Florida is one of the states with the highest amount of lead in our drinking water. So, I was pushing for a study, so that we could better understand the issue and start to remedy this. The bill also is basically asking for the state to implement the recommendations that were made by the Red Tide Task Force that looked at that issue. But, when something is a big hot topic in the moment, the legislature will take action, but then, maybe once the news coverage dies down, they just put things on the back burner. But, our beaches are critical to our economy, so maybe we should be more preventive with it. That was a real disappointment that we couldn’t get that to go anywhere because environmental issues have been fairly bipartisan in recent years. 

NN: So, you have one more legislative session in your current role before you’re term-limited out. What’s your next political move? 

FD: I have just “officially announced my campaign for Florida State Senate District 16,” which currently is occupied by Darryl Rouson, who also has reached his term limits. (Note-The Dist. 16 seat doesn’t include New Tampa.) 

Appeals Court Ruling Stops Pebble Creek Golf Course From Being Rezoned!

Although the Pebble Creek Golf Club has been closed for several years, members of the group called Save Pebble Creek, organized by long-time Pebble Creek resident Leslie Green, have been doing everything they could to have the golf club reopen, rather than become single-family homes.

Yesterday, the group and the Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) won a significant victory in their efforts to prevent golf course owner Bill Place and his Ace Golf from rezoning the 149-acre property and selling it to GL Homes, which was planning to build 250 single-family homes on the golf course site.

In July of 2023, the attempt to rezone the golf course property was denied 5-2 by the Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC), after Comm. Hagan said he had received 1,800 letters from residents of the community, the vast majority of which were in opposition to the rezoning. 

But, in October of last year, the home builder appealed the county commission’s denial of the rezoning request to Hillsborough County Circuit Judge Paul Huey and, on June 24, 2024, Judge Huey “quashed” the BOCC’s denial of the rezoning petition which means, in legal terms, “to set aside or void.” Judge Huey’s ruling on the developer’s appeal was that, “The court cannot find that the Board of County Commissioners relied on competent, substantial evidence when it denied GL Homes’ proposal.” 

The county appealed Judge Huey’s decision to the Second District of the District Court of Appeal of Florida, which overturned that decision and quashed the lower court’s order that would have allowed the rezoning.

Commissioner Hagan said of yesterday’s ruling, “I am very pleased to report that the Second District Court of Appeal agreed with the County’s rezoning denial and overturned the Circuit Court’s decision. I would like to thank you for your support and vigilance throughout this difficult ordeal.  We would not have won without you!” He also previously said that the county would consider buying the golf course “if the price were right.”

Green echoed Hagan’s sentiments regarding the latest decision: “Thanks to the rallying of the community and to our Commissioner Ken Hagan’s efforts, we have accomplished our goal of no rezoning that will keep the golf course land around which our entire neighborhood is based protected from development. I hope that we can now work with the landowner to find a more mutually agreeable solution. Ultimately, we would wish to have another golf course operator step in. Commissioner Hagan had mentioned in a Townhall meeting that the county would consider buying it  for a municipal golf course. This would meet another goal of ours, which is to avoid having the toxins that lie under the ground dug up for remediation.  Now, the land can be used for its intended purpose. I personally look forward to the next step.”

Place said that he would have no comment on the most recent ruling “until GL Homes reviews its options early next week.”

We also had not yet received comment from either of the homeowners associations in Pebble Creek.

Alzheimer’s Caregiver C.A.R.E.S. Workshop Tomorrow!


Wednesday, July 2, 9 a.m.-3:15 p.m. – Alzheimer’s Caregiver C.A.R.E.S. Workshop, presented by USF Health, Byrd Alzheimer’s Center & Research Institute. At Embassy Suites-USF (3705 Spectrum Dr.). This workshop gives Critical Answers, Resources, Education & Support to families dealing with Alzheimer’s Disease. $25 to attend, includes breakfast, lunch & resources. To register, visit Shop.USF.edu, click on “Byrd Alzheimer’s Institute Caregiver Cares Conference” & click “attendees” to register and pay. For more info, call (813) 396-0849 or see the ad below. 

Retired Gen. Remo Butler Celebrates The Army’s 250th Birthday! 

The Cory Lake Isles Resident’s Storied Career Includes Being The First Black General Of The U.S. Special Forces! 

Retired U.S. Army Special Forces Brigadier General & Cory Lake Isles resident Remo Butler (right) and his wife Mylitta celebrated the Army’s 250th Birthday on June 14. (Photos by Charmaine George) 

 I had the honor and privilege of interviewing the first-ever Black General of the U.S. Special Forces — Brigadier (1-star) General Remo Butler — the same day the U.S. Army celebrated its 250th birthday — June 14, 2025. 

Gen. Butler, who commanded honorably and admirably at every level for 29 years in the Army, was first commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in 1974, after graduating from Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, TN, as the Vietnam War was winding down. He and his wife Mylitta are long-time Cory Lake Isles residents who invited photographer Charmaine George, Jannah and yours truly into their beautiful home shortly before they had to get ready to attend Tampa’s celebration of the Army’s sestercennial anniversary in downtown Tampa. 

“The Army is more than a year older than our country (the U.S. won’t celebrate its 250th birthday until July 4, 2026),” Gen. Butler says, “and it was an honor for me to serve. When people ask me if I miss being in the Army (he retired in 2004 as the Chief of Staff for the U.S. Special Operations Command at MacDill Air Force Base in South Tampa), I always say that my body, especially my knees, don’t miss it at all. But, I do miss the great people I got to serve with. It wasn’t really my first choice of a career, but I don’t regret a minute of it. I took pride in everything I did.” 

Dealing With Racism 

Although Gen. Butler, now age 73, was always able to move up the ranks in the Army, he says he still encountered racism along the way. 

“I know I’m a role model for Black men and women in the military because many people have told me that in the years since I retired,” he says. 

In fact, according to an article published in 2010 on the website ResearchGate.net, “Over the past two decades, U.S. War College students have written several papers touching on the experiences of black officers as they relate to representation, promotions, influence, and culture. Interestingly, only Gen. Remo Butler’s paper (1997), which was one of the first to be written, has received any widespread attention. Butler found that, ‘Black officers are falling behind their white counterparts in promotions at and above the rank of lieutenant colonel at a disconcerting rate.’ Specifically, Butler suggested that Black officers were failing in two areas: (1) promotion to the ranks of lieutenant colonel and higher, and (2) selection for battalion and brigade command.’” 

Gen. Butler says he is particularly proud of that nearly-30-year-old essay. “Where a lot of the other War College graduates were writing about the future of the military on Mars or in the Andromeda Galaxy, I wanted to help future Black officers to understand that to succeed, you have to bring pride and integrity to everything you do.” 

Getting Started 

“Two years into college, I’m looking at some of my friends who had graduated,” Gen. Butler recalls. “Some had Master’s degrees, some just had regular degrees, and they weren’t doing well because there was a recession going on. So, these guys were having a hard time finding jobs. 

I went to Sears one day, and there was my high school chemistry teacher selling shoes and I’m like, “Wow, that is not what I wanna do.” 

So, one day, he runs into someone who was in ROTC, “And this guy said, ‘You know, by doing ROTC, you’re gonna have a job. You’ll be an officer in the Army.’ My father was in the Army, so I decided to look into it. But, I really wasn’t excited about it, because during those days I wanted to have the big Afro and kind of do what I wanted.” 

He adds, “But, common sense took over and I said to myself, ‘Hey, do you wanna eat?’ So, I joined ROTC. And, some of the instructors didn’t like me and I didn’t like them either. When it was time to go to summer camp, the PMS (Professor of Military Science) calls me in because he really didn’t like me and he said, ‘Listen, we’re gonna send you to summer camp, against my better judgment. But, if you don’t maintain at least a ‘B’ average, you’re out of here.” So, summer camp ends and I came back with a straight-’A’ average, so he was stuck.” 

Butler started looking down the road and thought, “I might wanna do this for a while. I’ll go in [to the military] for two or three years, put it on my resume, get a little experience, and then go do something else. And, when I went in, I did a couple of years, went to a few places I’d never been, went to Korea and Panama, and, I said, ‘OK, this is not so bad. So I stayed a while, got promoted, came back to the advanced course in Fort Benning, (Georgia) and ran into some really good people. One of them, who turned out to be a lifelong mentor for me, was Sidney Shachnow, a retired Major (2-star) General who passed away (in 2018 at age 83). He was a Holocaust survivor who had spent two years in a concentration camp, but he made it out, came to the U.S. and joined the Army. He was a great man who was the first real mentor I ever had. And I had enjoyed Special Forces.” 

He adds, “So one day — at that time he was Colonel Shachnow — he tells me, ‘Your command is going to be here at Fort Benning, but I’m going back to Fort Bragg (in North Carolina). I have some issues here, but if you can take care of this one issue here for me, I’ll get you to Fort Bragg with me.’ I said, ‘Done deal. I took care of his issue and about a year and a half later, I got orders to go to Fort Bragg and I was back in Special Forces.” 

(Note-Gen. Butler explained that every military branch has its own Special Force. The Navy has the Seals. The Air Force has its Special Operations Command, the Army has Special Forces and Army Rangers, Marines have Marine Raiders and Force Reconnaissance units, and the Coast Guard has Deployable Specialized Forces.) 

Moving Up The Ladder 

“But anyway, I was already getting promoted. And the best thing, though, was that I met a lot of great people and just enjoyed working with them. When I got in, it was still Vietnam, which was ending, so they weren’t sending many of us there by ‘74…and I kept sticking around.” 

He completed the Special Forces Qualification Course in 1977 and was assigned as a detachment commander in Company C, and later as executive officer of Company A, 3rd Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne), Panama. In 1980, he attended the Infantry Officer Advanced course and later commanded Company C, Infantry Training Group, in Fort Benning. He returned to Fort Bragg and Special Forces in February 1984 and served as company executive officer and Battalion S-3 before assuming command of Company C, 2/7th Special Forces Group (Airborne). 

Then, after completing the Armed Forces Staff College, Butler was assigned in 1988 to Special Operations Command South, Panama, as director J3 and as a special operations plans officer. He was also a participant in “Operation Just Cause,” to liberate Panama from the never-elected dictator General Manuel Noriega. 

Gen. Butler left Panama in July 1991 to become an instructor at the Armed Forces Staff College until December 1992. He then returned to Fort Bragg to command the 1st Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne) from 1993-95. He then was assigned as deputy chief of staff to U.S. Army Special Forces Command until his departure to the United States Army War College in Pennsylvania. 

After completing the War College, he was assigned as chief, Special Operations Coordination Element, XVIII Airborne Corps. Gen. Butler commanded the 1st Special Warfare Training Group (Airborne), U.S. Army Special Warfare Center & School, from 1997 through 1999. He was reassigned as the deputy commanding general, U.S. Army Special Operations Command, at Fort Bragg 1999-2000. His most recent assignment was as the commanding general, Special Operations Command South, from June 2000 to July 2003. 

“So, one day I in 2001, I was in Fort Bragg, and I was working out with a friend of mine who was a Brigadier General, and he said, ‘I’m going someplace else and you’re going to be taking my place here.’ And I’m like, ‘No, you obviously got something wrong. You got it confused.’ But, a few days later, it turned out that I was going to be taking his place. And, at that time, you gotta figure that after 29 years of carrying heavy ruck sacks and jumping out of airplanes, my body was revolting,. We used to do a monthly run, and it was only about a three- or four-mile run. But, at the end of that run for the next two or three days, I had to ice down my knees and try to rest.” 

He added, “But, to me, a leader leads from the front and I was still leading from the front, but it was getting harder and harder. So, I retired in 2004 and went to work for some great companies, and I’ve never looked back.” 

Sometimes Unspoken Racism 

As for the racial difficulties he encountered, Gen. Butler says, “When I was a Second Lieutenant, I got stationed in Korea and there were a lot of racial problems going on in the military, and the first unit I was assigned to had just had an Inspector General (IG) inspection. 

“And, even though I had just gotten there and the inspection was before I got there, the company XO (Executive Officer) kept pointing out things in the report, saying, ‘Lieutenant Butler, you messed up real bad on this. This [problem] here is yours,’ but I was clueless as to what he was talking about. I decided to educate myself on physical block security, which was a big thing, because we were going to be reinspected. And by educating myself, I became the battalion’s de facto expert in these fields.” 

He added, “In any unit, there’s a hierarchy and everybody knows who’s at the top and who’s at the bottom. And, among the Lieutenants, this Lieutenant named Mark, who was a great guy, and I became good friends because we were Lieutenants #1 and #2, depending on what day it was. But, it was a very friendly rivalry with no animosity between us. We used to hang out together and drink together, even though he graduated from West Point and I didn’t. 

“So, in those days, you got a 60-day OER (Officer Evaluation Report) and I knew what I had done, and everybody knew what I had done. We all knew what everybody had done because we were a small unit. So, we all got our 60-day OERs back in the mail at about the same time. Mark opened his first and he got what he deserved. Another guy opened his and he was in the middle of the group and then this other guy opened his and it wasn’t a real good report, but it was what he deserved and we all knew that. And then, I opened mine and I only got one point above what this lowest guy got. 

“So, Mark says, “Hey, something’s wrong here. You need to go talk to the old man ([he XO, our Captain]. So, I knock on the door and he says, ‘Hey, Lieutenant, how you doing? What can I do for you?’ 

“I said, ‘I want to talk to you about the OERs. I took a lot of time working on that OER for you but sir, you only gave me one point higher than so-and-so and 10 or 15 points less than so-and-so.’ 

“He said, ‘How do you know that?’ and I said, ‘Because we all went around and looked at all our results.’ He looked at me and said, “Lieutenant, those scores are a private, personal thing. You don’t share them with anyone. You need to understand that. But, you should know that I did not give you that score because you’re Black.” 

“And, even though bells and alarms went off in my head, I just said, ‘OK,’ and I walked out. 

“I was still new there. I didn’t know jack. But I was concerned about the conversation and I didn’t know what to do. 

“And, because of all the racial issues back then, there was an office called Equal Opportunity, where you could make a complaint. But I didn’t know how to do it. So, I talked to another Lieutenant who said, ‘Go talk to this guy. He’s a Black Captain. And, this Captain said, ‘I was waiting for you come see me. I knew what was gonna happen to you because I know him.’ 

“He said, ‘If I was evaluating you, this is what I would have given you.’ But, he couldn’t give me a lot of help, because, you know, he didn’t want to get himself in trouble. So, this other Special Forces Captain, who was a battalion commander, he calls me and says, ‘Let me tell you what you need to do.’ He laid it out step by step and one of my commander’s friends saw me and said, ‘Look, you know, I’m not in this, but I’m just telling you that so-and-so stuck it to you. So, what are you doing about it?’ And I said, ‘I’m writing to the XO.’” 

But, as it turned out, Butler says, “The IG inspection was good for me because everything that we flunked really badly [before] that he gave to me was re-inspected and I had only two minor deficiencies out of everything, which was good. Plus, I became the battalion’s resident expert in certain things, so the units would call me and say, ‘Hey, can you come help us do this?’” 

After that, Gen. Butler says he went to see his commander, a Colonel, “who wanted to talk to me about what was going on. I tell him and he says, ‘Well, I’ve talked to some people here and most everyone has a high opinion of you. So, I’m going to get you out of here because I need to protect you.’ 

“I said, ‘Number One, I’m not running. I don’t run from anybody and I’m not gonna start now. I appreciate you wanting to protect me, but I don’t need protection. I’ll take care of it myself.’” 

But, the Colonel knew that the XO was going to, “look for some way to ambush me. Some of the other Captains there who knew this guy came to me on the side and said, ‘Listen, be careful, because he’s gonna try to get you’ and these were that XO’s friends telling me this.” 

“So, one day [the XO] calls me in about my next OER. It was ten times better than the first one but it still wasn’t what I thought I deserved. And, the XO says, “I just wanna make sure you’re happy. Lieutenant.’ And, I’m looking at this piece of crap and I said, ‘OK.’ But, when my appeal came back, the XO lied and said, ‘I just made a mistake.’ So, even though it didn’t hurt me, as you can tell, it did sour me a lot on the Army. But, one of the reasons I was in Special Forces, was because of those two captains who helped me. Both of them were great Special Forces guys who walked me through how to do things.” 

He says that when he went to Special Forces school, “It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done in my life. But, I graduated and, at that time, there were very few Black officers in the Army and almost none in Special Forces, although there were some Black enlisted men. Then, when I went to Panama, there were two black officers, and later, there were three. 

“And, back then, some folks would throw the ‘N’ word around, which was the quickest way to get my fist in your mouth. But, because it was a different time, even a guy and his wife who ended up being my youngest daughter’s godparents once said to me and my wife, ‘Black people should marry Black people and White people should marry White people.’ But, we became an inseparable group anyway.. Those are the kinds of relationships you establish in Special Forces.” 

Another time, when Gen. Butler was a Colonel who was commanding a training group, he says, “My secretary came in, and had this crazy look on her face, and went back out. I didn’t know what was going on. Anyway, this guy comes in and looks around, and I heard her say to the guy, ‘No, sir, he’s in there. I told you that’s Colonel Butler,’ but the guy, I guess, wasn’t expecting someone Black to be a Colonel.” 

He added, “I tell folks all the time, people have expectations of what you should be. I push my own son and tell him ‘You have to look the part and talk the part. If you can’t speak [proper] English, people are going to downplay you.” 

Another time, Gen. Butler says he went for a job interview in West Virginia. 

“I went up there and it was a big table, and they had about 20 people sitting around this table, with one Black guy at the table. One of the guys said, “I want you to tell me why we should put you in this position.’ I looked at him and I said, ‘Well, I’ve been sitting here [telling you] for over two hours, so if you can’t figure it out, I don’t need to work for you.’” 

The guy responded, “Oh, wait a minute. That’s not what I meant.’ Then, the guy who recommended me [for the job] was taking me back to the airport. And he said ‘You know, General. I just never knew you were that articulate.’ 

“I said, “I feels like I knows what you guys talks about.’ And, he understood what I was saying. But, a lot of people look at you and they expect certain things and I try never to give you what you expect.” 

“So, the guy says, ‘I’m sorry, sir. But, I’ve talked to a lot of people about you, and nobody ever told me you were Black.’ But at some point, people will stop looking at you as the Black officer, and just look at you as the officer.” 

When I asked about the Army’s 250th birthday, Gen. Butler said, “It signifies to me that 250 years ago, our military was formed, and has been serving the United States and the government for 250 years.” 

He noted, however, that even during the Revolutionary War against England, “There were many Blacks who fought on both sides. The first man who was killed during the War, Crispus Attucks, was Black. Some of the slave owners told their slaves , “If you fight for us against the British, I will set you free. The British did the same thing by sending their people out to talk slaves into fighting for them to earn their freedom.” 

Gen. Butler also knows that there were no Black officers in the U.S. military until after the Civil War, when Henry Ossian Flipper graduated from West Point in 1877. 

“I tell my son, hat if people do not know and understand their history, they will not last long. So, I always wanted to know our history. And I want him to know our history.” 

He is proud to have studied our history and he and Mylitta also are proud to be New Tampa residents. “After I came back from working for Halliburton in Iraq after I retired, we were looking for a house [in the Tampa Bay area]. We were riding around, and came across [Cory Lake Isles]. And, back in those days, there were still a lot of trees everywhere and you could drive to Wesley Chapel and look at farms and cows. And I said, ‘You know, this looks like a nice area. And, this house just happened to be the San Remo model, and I was like, whoa, I like this! And we’ve been very happy here ever since.” 

About ‘Why Black Officers Fail’ 

Despite his many other accomplishments, Gen. Butler says that his article “Why Black Officers Fail” is one of his greatest achievements. 

“I didn’t want to write about esoteric things, like war in outer space in the year 5250,” he says. “I wanted to write something real. And, I still get emails and texts from people saying, ‘Thank you for writing that article. You helped save my career.’ 

He adds, “In War College, when I was still a Colonel, we had active-duty faculty members who would help with each class. But, after three or four of them told me they couldn’t help me,I went to see Dr. Nagami, a Japanese American, who said, ‘Are you sure this is what you want to write about?’ I said, ‘Yes,” and she said, ‘I’m going to tell you a story. Two years ago, a Black MP (Military Police) officer wrote something similar and after he got out of War College, the military was downsizing and he was one of the ones to go.’ 

“But I said, my record speaks for itself, so I don’t think they could do that to me.’ So, Dr. Nagami helped me and we wrote it and it was a very good paper. Everybody who was Black in the War College loved it. A big percentage of the white guys loved it. I had a lot of guys ready to lead a brigade ask me, ‘How do you suggest I bring the Black guys into the fold? How do you recommend I make my Black officers to feel a part of it?’ These were serious questions, which was good. 

But, even so, he says, there was still a spectre of racism hanging over the essay. 

“The day of our graduation ceremony from War College, they were giving out writing awards and everybody Black just knew I was going to get a writing award. Dr. Nagami just knew I was getting a writing award. But, at the end of the day, I didn’t get an award. Nor was I expecting on because [the article] was controversial. So, Dr. Nagami went and asked why I didn’t get an award and one of the guys said, ‘Well, you know, it wasn’t that well written.’ She said, ‘Wait a minute. I was in the meeting and you guys were all talking about how well written it was.’ I told her, ‘Don’t worry about it.’ But the thing for me is that almost 30 years later, people are still reading it, but I guarantee they’re not reading the papers about wars on Mars. I’ll always be proud of that.” 

As if to prove his point, the ResearchGate. com article from 2010 I found online said, “This paper is an extension of Butler’s paper in that it seeks to determine what, if anything, has changed in the years since Butler published his paper, using Butler’s original research methods. The author’s working hypothesis for the paper is that little has changed and that African Americans are ‘still’ failing in today’s Army. The findings overall suggest that Black officers are getting promoted to the ranks of Lieutenant Colonel and Colonel at higher levels than in 1996. Furthermore, Blacks are being selected for both battalion and brigade levels command at higher rates than 1996. However, Blacks are stilling failing to rise to the strategic decision-making levels of the Army. In trying to come to grips with this, the author has found that there are some limitations to this paper. The first is that this study does not employ a rigorous methodological approach to understanding senior officer perceptions. Instead it relies on anecdotal evidence, like Butler’s thesis, to support the contentions herein. Also, like Butler’s paper, this paper takes a myopic black-white approach to understanding why black officers [still] fail.” 

Thank you so much for your service, General Butler, and for sharing a few minutes of the Army’s big 250th birthday with me.