25th U.S. Infantry

Between 1915 and 1917, six companies of the 25th Infantry were present in what is now Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. In that time, they assisted in investigations of a lava lake at Halemaʻumaʻu, were among the first soldiers to visit Kilauea Military Camp, and constructed the precursor to the modern day Mauna Loa Trail, which still exists today.

Charles Wilber Rogan, also known as “Bullet” Joe, was a pitcher and outfielder who played most of his baseball career for the Kansas City Monarchs in the Negro Baseball Leagues. He was also a veteran of the Twenty-Fourth and Twenty-Fifth Infantry of the famed Buffalo Soldiers. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1998.

A moment of freedom becomes a lifetime of service – and a mystery. From his escape on the Planter with Robert Smalls to a long history of military service, learn Gabriel Turner's story in this article.

In 1896, the Twenty-Fifth Infantry Bicycle Corps was authorized to test the use of bicycles to transport soldiers. They made several experimental rides including one through Yellowstone National Park. In 1897, they made their longest experimental ride from Fort Missoula, Montana to St. Louis Missouri.

Theophilus Gould Steward was born on April 17, 1843, in Gouldtown, New Jersey. On July 25, 1891, Steward was appointed the first African American chaplain of the Twenty-Fifth Infantry. On April 17, 1907, Steward retired from the Army after 16 years of service. He moved to Wilberforce, Ohio and taught at Wilberforce University. On January 11, 1924, Steward died in Wilberforce. He was buried in Gouldtown Memorial Park.

Thomas Boyne was born enslaved in Prince Georges County, Maryland, in 1849. He fought during the American Civil War as part of Battery B, Second Colored Light Artillery. After the war, he joined the Ninth U.S. Cavalry, a Buffalo Soldier regiment. Boyne was awarded the Medal of Honor for two separate engagements in 1879. He also served in the Fortieth Infantry and Twenty-fifth Infantry.

Vernon Baker was born in Wyoming in 1919. He enlisted in the U.S. Army before the attack on Pearl Harbor. During World War II, he was assigned to the all-Black 370th Infantry. He received the Medal of Honor in January 1997 for his brave actions on April 5, 1945, at Castle Aghinolfi in Italy. He died in 2010 and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

William McBryar, a Buffalo Soldier in the Tenth U.S. Cavalry, received the Medal of Honor for his participation in the 1890 Cherry Creek Campaign in the Arizona Territory. He was later a member of another Buffalo Soldier regiment, the Twenty-Fifth U.S. Infantry, during the Spanish- American War.