Lancaster Strong
Veterans Honor One Of Their Own As Buffalo Soldiers MC Award Ret. Army Captain Charles Hubert Lancaster
By Raoul Dennis and Tiffany Ellis Hudson
Additional reporting by Susan Monroe
Charles Lancaster is one of those people who thrive off of what you tell him he can’t have or what he can’t become. Or even, and especially, what fight he can’t win.
He has been that way all his life. From the time that he first donned a uniform of the United States military and was told that there were no colored officers to decades later as a civilian when he was told he couldn’t supply his community fire department because he didn’t have the appropriate qualifications. He became an African American officer and years later when he was denied to work with the fire department, he walked back into the office that denied him a year later with the very certification necessary to move forward.
Capt. Charles Lancaster seated next to his wife Gloria Lancaster. PHOTO: RAOUL DENNIS
He’s a fighter off and on the battlefield.
It’s no wonder that the Maryland Mother Chapter of the Buffalo Soldiers Motorcycle Club honored Army Captain, businessman, firefighter, and Fairmont Heights, Md. native Charles Hubert Lancaster, now 99, at their powerful Veterans Day event Nov. 4 (more photos).
The Buffalo Soldiers MC has a history of supporting veteran facilities and organizations. The Vietnam Veterans of America, the Perry Point Veterans Hospital, and the Maryland Center for Veterans Education and Training are just a few of the charities the organization supports.
The Buffalo Soldiers MC, the majority of whom are veterans, recognized and awarded Lancaster before 70 guests, club members, and Lancaster’s children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren at the Thornton Funeral Home. Thornton is an integral part of the community, extending itself well beyond the boundaries of its core mission.
“We recognize Mr. Lancaster’s service to our country and to his community as a heroic and pioneering life testimony,” said Tanja Carter, executive administrator and events coordinator of the Thornton Funeral Home in her remarks to the audience. Thornton placed Lancaster’s portrait on its historic Wall Of Fame moments after the ceremony.
“Capt. Lancaster and his family played a significant role in the history of Fairmont Heights, Md.,” says Jeff Freeland of the Buffalo Soldiers Motorcycle Club, Maryland Mother Chapter. “Capt. Lancaster served his country with honor. He and his family were pioneers in the African American Community. Mr. Lancaster was the first African American to purchase a franchise from Sun Oil Company and he opened a gas station in Fairmont Heights, Md. He and his family were known throughout the community as a caring and loving family. [The Lancasters] always gave back to the local community.”
PHOTO: BILL HART
“As we acknowledged the past sacrifices and contributions of Capt. Lancaster, I was pleased to be present and will strive to ensure the information becomes a part of the future,” says Debbie “Jello” Robinson of the Buffalo Soldiers Maryland Mother Chapter.
“I truly applaud Mr. Lancaster,” says Cereta A. Lee of the Prince George’s County Register of Wills. “He did great things for his country and many great things for the community of Fairmont Heights. I was amazed with his persistent role and the history behind the first Black Fire Department. He deserves to be in the history books.”
Marian Lancaster-Johnson. PHOTO: BILL HART
Marian Lancaster-Johnson, the youngest of the four Lancaster children, was too young to have any direct awareness of her father's military service as he was a civilian by the then. But after a 22 year career in the U.S. Army and meeting her husband there, Lancaster-Johnson says growing up in the Lancaster home set the tone for her.
"Everything was 'yes sir, no sir' and that was the end of the conversation. There was no debate or conversation," she says. " We knew what we had to do and what was expected of us. He made everything very clear."
When Lancaster-Johnson decided to join the military, she was ready. She did several tours in stations around the world. The Sgt. First Class was a tank mechanic and drove numerous vehicles from the M578 to the M1 and the Bradley.
The business community also provided support and recorded great thanks in honor of Mr. Lancaster.
“It was and honor and privilege to be associated with it,” says Steve Proctor of G.S. Proctor & Associates. G.S. Proctor & Associates, one of Maryland’s largest lobbying firms took a major role in supporting the event. “The Buffalo Soldiers and their integrity and longevity are phenomenal. But to honor Captain Lancaster like that made me feel honored and privileged to be there. Everything that you and I have today is because of what he did – and what people like him did for all of us.”
Many club members told their own stories in celebration of their brotherhood and sisterhood.
The electric and often magnetic atmosphere during the occasion and the ceremony was a mix of tales of the heavy bonds brought about through the trials of combat and the joy of having come through those challenges together. Each speaker introduced a different aspect of the turmoil of war and the inner and outer conflict of battle. They spoke of the mental and emotional scars that they will wear for life in the same breath as the honor in having earned those scars with the men and women they served alongside.
