MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) - A decorated war hero and Mount Vernon native has died at the age of 99.
U.S. Army Corporal Robert Curtis Andry served on one of the only black combat units during World War II, the Buffalo Soldiers.
Now, he is being remembered and honored for his service.
Andry died last Thursday, just two months shy of his 100th birthday.
But not before garnering a list of accolades.
Corporal Andry had many titles including Buffalo Soldier, one of General George Patton's panthers, and one of the last remaining members in Alabama of the 761st black tank battalion of World War II.
One of his most important titles...an American hero.
"He was 17 years old when he went into the service and most black men during that time came from, I'll say, families that were strife with poverty. They could barely make ends meet," Eddie Irby Jr. said. "He did not know that he was going to be put in a tank unit."
Eddie Irby Jr. is the president and founder of the 92nd division of the Buffalo Soldiers.
It was in 1939 that Corporal Andry was sent off to Germany to fight under General Patton.
But he was fighting more than one war.
"The military didn't want people to know that there were black men with rifles killing white soldiers, even though they were Germans and they were the enemy," Irby said. "All they wanted to do was fight. These guys were young men ready to fight anybody, anywhere, anytime. It was just that."
It wasn't until decades later, that Corporal Andry received the recognition he deserved.
Last February, Corporal Andry was inducted into the U.S. Veterans Hall of Fame.
Local WWII Vet inducted in U.S. Veterans Hall of Fame
He's also a Purple Heart recipient and was decorated with the Legion of Honor medal.
Local soldier honored on D-Day for service and sacrifice during World War II
While he fought under one of the only black combat units in the war, he helped capture thousands of Germans.
"In the history books they tell you that he went on to capture 2,500 hundred Germans, they captured 25,000," Irby explained. "And they liberated 30 concentration camps by themselves and he was a part of that."
Irby says while a lot of this history is forgotten, what these men did will continue to live on.
"This man, the character of this guy, they did more with their own ingenuity than anything else," he said.
A park in Corporal Andry's hometown of Mount Vernon was named in his honor in 2022.
Local park to be renamed in honor of Buffalo Soldier
The details of his visitation and funeral are below: