Ralph Barnette News Today

Lewis was sent to Kansas to train in the U.S. Army’s 9th Horse Cavalry, the all-Black unit that distinguished itself over decades of fighting. The Buffalo Soldier units formed during the Civil War and were disbanded when President Harry S Truman issued an order to integrate the armed forces in 1948. The horse cavalry training was a rude awakening for Lewis.  “I had never been near a horse,” Lewis, 99, said in a recent interview. “They gave me a horse and I had to learn to ride a horse ...

I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: ELIZABETHTON - Nola Barnette Sams, 91, Elizabethton, passed from this life unexpectedly on Thursday, March 11, 2021 at Johnson City Medical Center. Born March 17, 1929 in Johnson City, TN. to the late George and Wilma Adams Barnette, she married the love of her life, Fred Sams, Jr. in 1949 and lived in Elizabethton since that time. Fred preceded her in death in 1983 and she lived independently until the day of her dea...