Haltom City, Texas — Nov. 11, 2025
American Legion Post 655 led a moving Veterans Day Honor & Restoration Gathering at Historic New Trinity Cemetery - a resting place for pioneers, Freedmen and more than 500 Buffalo Soldiers and other U.S. veterans. Beginning at 3 p.m. at 28th & Beech, the ceremony drew veterans, families, faith leaders and civic partners to uplift stories long overlooked and to advance hands-on restoration of the grounds.
Event hosts/partners included Post 655 (primary), New Mount Rose Missionary Baptist Church, Bravo Zulu Homefront, the Ministers Justice Coalition of Texas, Haltom City and the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Department.
Rededication and restoration: The rededication ceremony took place at New Trinity, which had been restored over recent months by volunteers from Post 655, local churches and the Sheriff’s Department. Speakers called on the public to support the ongoing preservation effort.
Post 655 Commander Chad Page, who helped lead both the restoration and the ceremony, emphasized the community momentum behind the project. “It means a lot to us that we do this”.
New Trinity contains the gravesites of over 500 Black veterans whose stories had largely been forgotten before the restoration. Page noted he believes the site is historically significant enough to become a destination for visitors. “We’re going to start having some classes out here people can participate in,” he said. “We’re going to start repairing gravestones - not just the veteran stones. We’re going to take care of everything out here.”
From the podium, Page also posed a challenge to the community: “Is it enough to stand for the anthem and sit for the story? Or do we owe something more - something that looks like action, like service, remembrance that rolls up its sleeves? Here at New Trinity, we have chosen action.”
Spotlight on the 6888th Battalion and TEC5 Florence Marie Cole Rawls: A central focus of the program was TEC5 Specialist Florence Marie Cole Rawls, a member of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion - the only all-Black, all-female Women’s Army Corps unit deployed overseas in WWII. Guided by the motto “No Mail, Low Morale,” the 6888th worked around the clock in three shifts to clear vast wartime mail backlogs, reconnecting troops with letters from home and restoring morale across the European theater. The unit has since been recognized with the Congressional Gold Medal, and Rawls’ story was highlighted as an emblem of excellence under pressure and enduring service.
Honoring Buffalo Soldiers at New Trinity: New Trinity’s history includes the service of more than 500 Buffalo Soldiers who are interred at the site. The gathering affirmed the community’s commitment to remembrance with dignity, acknowledging that many who served did not receive full recognition in their lifetimes.
Program highlights: The ceremony featured a medal presentation segment with Pastor Kyvon Tatum, presenting the TEC5 Rawls Congressional Medal to Post 655 for display and safekeeping.
