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When James Daugherty returned to the United States after fighting in World War II, he sat down with a pen and paper and wrote a book, not to cash in on his dramatic war experiences but as a way for his children and grandchildren to pass on the story of his life in war and peace.

Sixty years later, Daugherty's book, "The Buffalo Saga," has been published after he decided the story about the mistreatment of African-American soldiers during the war deserved a larger audience.

Daugherty, a Silver Spring resident, was drafted into the war at age 19 and fought in the U.S. Army's 92nd Infantry Division, an all African-American unit known as the Buffalo Soldiers.

The division lost thousands of men, Daugherty said, and some of his best friends died in front of him. The unit was frequently told to fight large battles in close-range combat but they later learned it was just so other units could advance while the enemy was occupied.

After the war, he and other Buffalo Soldiers who survived the war returned to segregation and racism despite their courageous service.

"It was something that bothered me and I wanted to get it together in some form, more than just telling people what had happened," said Daugherty, 85.

So he wrote his book by hand in 1947 and had his wife, Dorothy, type several copies on a typewriter for relatives.

"It's like I fought that war," Dorothy, Daugherty's wife of 59 years, said of the familiarity with her husband's story resulting from numerous transcriptions. "All of the emotions that I experienced – crying, laughing – it was so much a part of me, having done it so many times."

The book outlines one incident when an artillery shell fell on Daugherty and a group of seven soldiers. Five were killed instantly, a sixth had his leg bone blasted through his skin and later died in the hospital. The last, the company commander, had a severe head wound but survived.

"I was the eighth person there with that group and I didn't get a scratch," said Daugherty, who still has a helmet pierced by a piece of shrapnel just centimeters from his skull.

Eventually, he decided to publish the book to honor his fallen friends and in hopes it would prevent history from repeating itself. But when he shopped the book to publishers it was rejected because "it wasn't the right time to bring up such caustic times about race and war," Daugherty said.

It only increased Daugherty's bitterness about the war. He continued living in Washington, D.C., and went to college at Howard University on the G.I. Bill, but he cut his ties with the Army and didn't get involved with any veterans groups.

"How dare they draft me and force me to go into a war when I was living in D.C. and had to go to segregated schools," Daugherty said. "… I was fighting for two evils, the Nazis in Germany and my own country that was doing the same kind of things."

Montgomery County Councilwoman Valerie Ervin, whose father was a Buffalo Soldier, said the stories Daugherty told her at a book signing in Silver Spring two weeks ago mirrored those that her father, who died five years ago, would tell her and her siblings.

She remembered one story in which her father was on a train from New York to Washington, D.C., shortly after returning from the war with honors. When the train crossed the Mason-Dixon Line, Ervin's father and other African-Americans were told to move to the back car of the train.

"For me, Daugherty's story was important because it was written down," said Ervin (D-Dist. 5) of Silver Spring. "The stories my father told me and brothers and sisters were word-of-mouth stories."

Readers said the book is more than just an account of war; it's a snapshot of a difficult time for African-Americans.

"Beyond the vivid and detailed recollections of the war, and despite his commitment to serve, Daugherty was very aware of the parallel history, which was the denial to basic rights of African-Americans," said Mary Reardon, a board member of the Silver Spring Historical Society.

As an adult, Daugherty began a career as an educator and was again forced to balance his achievements with racial tensions. In 1970, he was elected to the Board of Education for Montgomery County Public Schools, the first African-American elected to the board.

But, shortly after, when he tried to buy a house in a residential neighborhood in Silver Spring, he was discouraged because he was black. So he bought an empty plot of land with no fixed address and built his own house for his family. They have lived at the house near Fairland and Randolph roads for 47 years.

While promoting the book in the Silver Spring area, Daugherty found his story is still relevant because much of the mistreatment to black soldiers in WWII is being experienced by soldiers of all races now, Daugherty said.

"I'm not really so pleased about what a lot of [soldiers] are going through," Daugherty said. "… It's disappointing that somebody wounded and has lost their leg still has to worry about work and paying the bills.

"That doesn't make any sense at all."