ARLINGTON, Virginia (CNN) -- It was a journey that took more than a hundred years. Cpl. Isaiah Mays was awarded the Medal of Honor after being wounded in an ambush in 1889. Missing for decades, the remains of Cpl. Isaiah Mays, a Buffalo Soldier and Medal of Honor recipient, were laid to rest Friday at Arlington National Cemetery. Paying respects were African-American veterans, U.S. Army soldiers and those who rode for days as part of a motorcycle escort -- members of the Missing in America Project, who traveled from as far away as California and Arizona at their own expense to make sure Mays got a proper burial.
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Cpl. Isaiah Mays served as Buffalo Soldier in late 1800s
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Mays received Medal of Honor but was denied federal pension
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He died in 1925 in an Arizona state hospital that took care of poor
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Group of hospital staff, veterans campaigned for Mays' burial at Arlington
The crowd stood witness as a color guard folded the @placeholder flag and saluted when three rifle volleys pierced the air.