Insane Throttle News | October 29, 2026

Matthew E. Otey Sr. is still climbing. At 105 years old, the Richmond, Virginia, resident lives on his own, cooks his own meals, and keeps moving. On Wednesday, October 28, 2026, family, friends, and members of the Buffalo Soldiers & Troopers Motorcycle Club gathered on his front stoop to make sure he knew the weight his service still carries. Motorcycles rolled up to the house that afternoon. Riders dismounted, packed the porch, and presented Otey with a plaque recognizing his record as a U.S. Army Technical Sergeant and World War II veteran—one of the last surviving Buffalo Soldiers.

Otey’s nephew, Samuel Otey, has watched the pattern for years. “105 years old and this coming December 20th he’ll be 106,” Samuel said. “Still live by himself, still cook.” He described the simple fact of watching his uncle keep going as something that still surprises him: “I am amazed when I see him.” Otey himself put it more directly earlier in the day. “I’m on the rough side today, you know, uh, I’m still climbing. One day at a time.”

The visit was organized by the Buffalo Soldiers & Troopers Motorcycle Club, a national organization whose stated purpose is to travel, educate, and honor the legacy of the original Buffalo Soldiers. Theodore Gaines, a club member who helped drive the effort, said the timing was deliberate. “I feel so much joy,” Gaines said. “I said I can’t wait any longer. We have to do this.” When the plaque was read on the stoop, the language was plain: “Today we gather to honor and recognize the distinguished service and legacy of the U.S. Army Technical Sergeant Matthew E. Otey Sr., a WWII Buffalo Soldier.”

Otey’s reply matched the tone he has kept for decades. “Once a soldier, always a soldier!”

The club’s roots go back to 1993, when Kenneth “Dream Maker” Thomas founded the Buffalo Soldiers Motorcycle Club of Chicago with the goal of building a progressive organization that would present a positive image while focusing on history, community service, and the brotherhood of the road. The group later expanded into the National Association of Buffalo Soldiers and Troopers Motorcycle Club. It now counts more than 110 chapters across the United States, including Hawaii, plus an international presence. Members ride to mark National Buffalo Soldiers Day, visit graves and monuments tied to the 9th and 10th Cavalry and the segregated infantry regiments formed after the Civil War, and work to keep the record of those units visible to people who never saw the original soldiers. The original Buffalo Soldiers—Black cavalry and infantry units that served from the post-Civil War period through World War II—earned a reputation for discipline and endurance in campaigns that ranged from the American West to the Philippines and the European and Pacific theaters of the Second World War. Eighteen Medals of Honor were awarded to soldiers from those regiments. Otey belongs to the shrinking number of living veterans from that era.

For the riders who showed up in Richmond, the stop was not a parade or a public rally. It was a direct delivery of recognition to a man who is still living the day-to-day version of the service the club exists to remember. The club’s broader work includes education programs, community service projects, and rides that connect chapters across state lines. Honoring a living Buffalo Soldier on his own front steps fits the same pattern: the history is not treated as abstract. It is carried to the people who still embody it.

Otey turns 106 on December 20. Until then, he continues the same routine his nephew described—living independently, cooking his own food, and measuring progress one day at a time. The plaque is now in the house. The riders have rolled on. The record of the visit stands as one more entry in a long list of stops the Buffalo Soldiers & Troopers Motorcycle Club has made to keep the names and the service of the original units from fading.

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