By Kate Hill
Staff Writer
In recognition of Black History Month, Village of Cazenovia Mayor Kurt Wheeler recently delivered a copy of his 2013 book, “Pathbreakers: U.S. Marine African American Officers in Their Own Words,” to both the Cazenovia Public Library and the Cazenovia High School Library.
Wheeler is a retired colonel in the Marine Corps Reserve who served as a field historian for the U.S. Marine Corps History Division (HD).
Headquartered at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia, HD is tasked with researching, writing and maintaining the Marine Corps’ official history. The division also preserves personal experiences and observations through oral history interviews and deploys field historians to record history in the making.
In 2007, Wheeler completed a combat tour in Al-Anbar Province, Iraq, where he documented the war. He is the co-editor of the book “Al-Anbar Awakening,” published by Marine Corps University Press in 2009, and the author of numerous professional military journal articles.
Wheeler compiled and edited Pathbreakers for HD along with Dr. Fred Allison.
The book highlights the experiences of African American officers in the United States Marine Corps (USMC) through a collection of oral history interviews with 21 Black Marine officers, ranging in rank from captain to lieutenant general, whose careers span, in total, over 60 years. The interviews and comments are presented in chronological format.
“One of the greatest experiences of my 30-year Marine Corps career was interviewing the Marines and helping to compile and edit [this book],” Wheeler said. “Race is one of the most difficult topics to discuss, but the bond that we shared as fellow Marines allowed for a unique degree of trust and candor. The privilege of engaging so deeply with these great Americans whose experiences were so different from my own was incredible.”
According to the book description, the purpose of Pathbreakers is to educate people, specifically prospective African American officers, on how previous African American military officers navigated through successful careers in the USMC.
Wheeler said he became involved with the book when Lt. Gen. Walter Gaskin asked his boss, Dr. Charles P. Neimeyer, director of HD, to design a project recognizing Marine Corps “pathbreakers.”
“We decided that an oral history project would be most appropriate to tell the stories in the actual words of those who had led the way,” Wheeler said. “I had experience with a similar project documenting the war in Anbar Province, Iraq, so I was assigned to team up with my colleague Dr. Fred Allison, head of the oral history branch.”
Three of the officers Wheeler interviewed — Col. Fred Jones, Col. Henry Reed and Lt. Gen. Ron Coleman — are featured in the book.
“The first interview I did was Col. Fred Jones, who had been a pioneer and mentor to countless Black officers,” Wheeler said. “His perspective and advice were critical to the design of the book. Many of my fellow Marines in the Field History branch helped by locating and interviewing other officers all over the country.”
Wheeler retired from the United States Marine Corps Reserve in 2019.
Growing up, he always knew he wanted to serve his country.
“As I researched the options while in high school, the Marines seemed like the greatest challenge,” he said. “My friend and mentor from the Boy Scouts, Dan Hooker, was three years ahead of me and pursuing a Marine commission in the NROTC program at Cornell, and his experiences were also a positive factor.”
Wheeler holds a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in education from Harvard University. In addition to serving as village mayor, he is also a history and government teacher at Cazenovia High School.
According to the mayor, his recent involvement in the development of the village’s police reform plan got him thinking about other race-related topics and inspired him to share Pathbreakers with the community in honor of Black History Month.
“I think the contributions, struggles and progress of African Americans in the U.S. military are often overlooked and there are many amazing stories,” he said. “With regard to the broader context of Black History Month, African Americans have served with distinction in every conflict since the American Revolution and their path to equality and recognition in the military has mirrored that of broader U.S. society.”
To learn more about Pathbreakers or to purchase the book, visit bookstore.gpo.gov or navyhistory.org.
