Mobile man announces plans to raise $15 million to build facility in Prichard

Wednesday, December 08, 2004
By GEORGE WERNETH
Staff Reporter

Plans to raise some $15 million for a museum to be built in Prichard honoring black soldiers who served in World War II were announced Tuesday.

"My goal is to within five years have a $15 million project built here in Prichard," Eddie Irby Jr., president of the newly formed Alabama Chapter of the 92nd Division Buffalo Soldiers Association, said.

Irby, 58, a Mobile business consultant, made the announcement at a Prichard Public Library gathering of several black veterans of World War II, who served in segregated units and suffered Jim Crow affronts.

One of the former soldiers, Washington C. Callier, 82, of Mobile, said he was one of the first black tank commanders in Europe during World War II.