Kawlija
Shared on Wed, 03/14/2007 - 17:43 With all this talk about the movies, sometimes we lose track of the real world. The real world suffered a substantial loss last week when word spread that Billy Walkabout had died.
News report: “Billy Walkabout, a member of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma who was most decorated Indian soldier of the Vietnam War, died on March 7. He was 57.
Walkabout received the Distinguished Service Cross -- the second-highest award for combat service -- as well as the Purple Heart, five Silver Stars and five Bronze Stars.”
How long will it be before Walkabout’s life story is made into a tv movie of the week? Just from the fact that this guy had a chest full of combat-related medals tells me this is one person who’s seen hell on earth. I guess it was noteworthy that he was the most decorated “Indian” of the Viet Nam war, but from seeing the list of those medals, he sounds like he was one of the most decorated servicemen who fought in that war, an elite group indeed, period.
For seven years, I was on the Executive Committee of the North American Iroquois Veterans Association (NAIVA) and served with several men who also saw war. I was fortunate in many respects, I served during peace-time.
Walkabout’s death hit a nerve in me because it brings back to my receiving the NAIVA newsletter two weeks ago and discovering that the founder of the NAIVA, Jack Johnson, had also recently passed to the other side.
Too many times during those seven years, I wore a NAIVA uniform and served in burial details for my fallen brothers and sisters while standing shoulder to shoulder with Jack. Now it is I who mourns. Now is the time when I wish I could put on that uniform one more time, snap to attention, and then pay tribute to these men with an M-1 as I have so many times before.
Indian country is filled with unrecognized heroes. Native Americans of this country have the highest per capita military enlistment over every other racial demographic. I read a quote once that if the rest of the country volunteered at the rate that the Natives of this country did, we would not have needed a draft during the Viet Nam war.
Warrior ethic? Family tradition? Need a job in order to get off a reservation with a 60% unemployment rate? Full of piss and vinegar and just want to get out there and kick the world’s ass? I think I was all four of these things when I signed up at 17 as a U.S. Marine and I never raised my weapon to an enemy combatant.
Indians have a variety of reasons to want to serve in the military and military service is so pervasive on and off the reservation. Try and find a Native family that doesn’t have a father, uncle or brother who served. I don’t know any.
Then again, it’s not just the brothers who have served. In recent times, women have made it into combat zones. Last year saw the first Native American woman killed in combat, Lori Piestewa.
I have a friend who is from Piestewa’s hometown. She said that the festivities surrounding Piestewa’s funeral involved the whole town and veterans from across the country.
Some quietly, others not so quietly, remember our fallen brothers and sisters and mourn their loss. As countless generations have before us, we will sit beside council fires and tell their stories. Talk of the lives of the heroes among us and sing our war cries. It is an honor to give thanks and offer prayers to those who so bravely represented this country and it’s Native peoples.
For some background information on the net, there's plenty out there. Here's just a sample:
Natives in the Military
Native American Contributions
Natives in WWII
Lori Piestewa
Piestewa Official Army Site
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