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INTRODUCTION
These Veterans' Pages are dedicated to the brave men and women of all
races who fought, and in many cases died, to preserve the
rights of "Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness" for their loved ones and
for future generations. Society calls them "Veterans." SENAA calls them
Warriors and Heroes.
Though we have a ways to go before their dreams of Liberty and
Justice for all are realities for Indigenous Americans, our brave Veterans have given
selflessly of themselves to preserve for us the freedom to pursue and realize those
ideals; not just for Indigenous Americans, and not just in this nation,
but for all people, in all nations that love freedom.
To honor those brave men and women who gave so much, SENAA
International is proud to establish these Veterans' Pages to commemorate their courage, their commitment, their sacrifice, and their ultimate gift to us–our freedom.
If there is a Veteran whose story and/or photo you would like to see
in
this section, e-mail us with the Veteran's name, story, and photo (if available), and we will
gladly honor them.
We at SENAA sincerely hope that you enjoy this small
offering to our heroic Veterans and that you will
contribute to it as often as you like.
To our Warriors and Heroes–Our Veterans–Thank you.
Al Swilling, Founder
SENAA International
senaa@senaa.org
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| INDEX
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Jimmy
Carter
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Berthold
Allen Chastain
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Lori
Piestewa
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Cherokee
Veterans Park
Qualla Boundary, NC
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SENAA
SPECIAL REPORT
Matt
Davison
Veteran
and Veterans' Advocate
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ARTICLES |
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VA
Hospital in Muskogee First to be Named for Native American
Submitted by Matt Davison - 10 OCT 2006
On 30 November, the Muskogee VA Medical Center in Oklahoma
will be renamed after the late World War II hero and
Congressional Medal of Honor recipient Jack C. Montgomery.
The hospital will be the first VA facility
named for a Native American.
Montgomery served as first lieutenant in the
Army’s 45th...
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World
War II Code Talker Basks in Belated Recognition
The Pueblo Chieftain -
08 OCT 2006
AVONDALE -
World War II veteran Allen Dale June's wife refers to
him as "an endangered species."
Those who
honored the former Marine on Saturday refer to him as a
hero.
June, a member
of the Navajo tribe, was honored at the annual
Avondale/Boone and Eastern Pueblo County Veterans Day
parade parade for his service during World War II as a
Marine Code Talker.
At 84, June is one of the two survivors
among the 29 original Navajo Code Talkers....
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Bill
Would Aid Cemeteries for Indian Veterans
NY Times - 03 SEP 2006
WASHINGTON, Aug. 26 —
Traditionally, when American Indians are killed in battle, their remains
are returned to their tribal lands for burial.
But for the families of the
many Indians who join the United States military, death brings a
difficult choice: The veterans can be buried in a national veterans’
cemetery with fellow comrades in arms. Or they can be buried close to
home on tribal land.
There is no way to do both.
The Native American Veterans
Cemetery Act would change that....
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Code
Talker Describes His Once-secret Work During World War
II
SFGate.com - 19 JUNE 2004
In
this age of super-sophisticated encrypted
communication among U.S. military commanders in
Iraq and Afghanistan, Sam Billison's World War
II expertise seems almost archaic–until you
realize that the Japanese, with all their
code-breaking expertise, never came close to
cracking Billison's radio messages as the
Marines battled across the Pacific some 60 years
ago.
Billison,
79, is president of the Navajo Code Talkers
Association, a group of Navajo tribe members who
joined up for a top-secret code project during
World War II that is credited with keeping the
Japanese forces completely in the dark....
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ATTENTION
VETERANS
Veterans Report for 14 June 2004
Military.com
Below is the complete version of this week's Veterans Report.
Print it, circulate it, and make sure your colleagues and
friends keep up with the latest veterans benefits updates....
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ACTION
ALERT: Legislation Renewed to Support Homeless Vets
Military.com
The
Homeless Veterans Comprehensive Assistance Act of 2001 has
been reauthorized...let your voice be heard...
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Bush
Thanks Veterans, Then Cuts Their Health Care
The
Daily Mislead - 01 JUN 2004
President Bush
spent the Memorial Day weekend thanking the nation's veterans for their
service, saying "we acknowledge the debt [we owe them] by showing
our respect and gratitude." Yet, his rhetoric came just hours
after the Bush Administration announced new plans to slash veterans
health care funding if it returns to power in 2005....
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Using
Their Language to Save Lives
Arizona Daily Sun
- 28 MAY 2004
It sounded like gibberish to the Japanese in World
War II -- the Navajo-inspired code used by the U.S. Marines in
the Pacific from 1942 to 1945. Today, the message is coming in
loud and clear: Cherish and honor our last remaining code
talkers while we still can.
Five
local Navajo code talkers–Arthur Hubbard Sr., Dan Akee,
Alfred Peaches, Teddy Draper Sr. and Lloyd Oliver–are being
honored tonight at a public reception at 5:30 at the Little
America Hotel.
The
reception is part of the long weekend of festivities that mark
the dedication of the National World War II Memorial in
Washington, D.C., on Saturday, and Memorial Day on Monday....
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Code Talker
Awarded Purple Heart 58 Years After Military Discharge
Navajo Times - 19 MAR 2004
WINDOW
ROCK - It took almost 59 years for Navajo Code
Talker Teddy Draper Sr. to receive his Purple
Heart and commendation.
Draper,
who will be 81 years old on April 2, on Friday
said that the Purple Heart revived him.
According
to a March 2 letter from the U.S. Veterans
Administration, the VA admitted that they had
made a "clear and unmistakable error"
on May 17, 1946....
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Code
Talker Tells of Service, Death
The Daily Times
- 03 MAR 2004
AZTEC — Navajo Code Talker Wilfred Billey
probably didn’t know the day he became a radio man during
World War II that he would some day be considered an American
hero.
Billey
told an overflowing crowd at the San Juan Archaeological Society
that it took the death of his good friend to earn his first job
as a radio man during the United States’ battles against the
Japanese....
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HONOR
BOUND
Young Navajos follow in footsteps
of Marine code talkers
Union-Tribune - 23 NOV 2003
Part 1 of 2
Friday night, May 30, 6 o'clock ...
Wind
blowing through his ink-black hair, Nathaniel Bitsui
stands on the chalky rim of the Grand Canyon. It's cloudy
out. The dirt boils with bugs.
Nate
graduates tonight, this spring evening. The Navajo boy
wears a shiny red cap and gown to his Grand Canyon High
School commencement, held on the rim. When it's over, he
flings his cap into the air.
The
next day he turns 18.
The
day after that he's supposed to leave his northern Arizona
home for Marine Corps boot camp in San Diego.
It's
overwhelming, all this...
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Mettle
of Honor
Boot camp tests recruits from the
Navajo Nation
Union-Tribune - 24 NOV 2003
Part 2 of 2
Julio Nez thought he had things figured out, but at this
moment, with three beastly Marine Corps drill instructors
going medieval on him, he's not sure of anything....
Hollywood
likes to portray Marine drill instructors as human
Rottweilers. At their most beastly, they're worse. In the
eyes of recruits, they're the spawn of Satan – cackling,
red-faced, lunatics.
The
barking men in the green hats make life in boot camp hell
because war is hell. It's not pretty or politically
correct. They make things tough because they say it's
better to test a man's mettle here, in the safety of San
Diego, than in Baghdad. How a Marine handles extreme
stress makes the difference between life and death on the
battlefield....
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Eagle
Butte Man Upheld Family Duty
argusleader.com - Published: 18 NOV 2003
A second South Dakota soldier was among those killed
Saturday, 15 November, in a helicopter crash in Iraq.
Pfc.
Sheldon Hawk Eagle, a descendant of Lakota warrior Crazy
Horse, was a quiet, focused man who viewed military
service as a citizen's duty, people in his hometown of
Eagle Butte said Monday....
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Mom,
Hopi, Hero: Piestewa an Icon
The
Arizona Republic -
10 APR 2003
She has become the
nation's most recognizable Native American military icon since
another Arizonan, Ira Hayes, helped raise the Stars and Stripes
on Iwo Jima.
Just ask retired Army
Col. Tom Spencer of Hampstead, N.C., about the impact of the
death in Iraq of Army Pfc. Lori Piestewa....
Piestewa
Went to War for Lynch, Book Says
Profile:
Lori Piestewa
Piestewas
Share Thoughts on Their Late Daughter
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Veterans
Day in Los Angeles
by Horace W. Coleman
I
presented a floral tribute to the U.S. Vets Residence
facility in Inglewood, California on Veterans Day at a
breakfast held by U.S. vets. VVAW member Brian Slease and
VVA member Matt Davison were also part of the
presentation. Local politicians and a representative of
Congress Person Maxine Waters were also present, as were a
Salvation Army Band and Color Guard of Sea Scouts....
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Message
to Iraq
The Navajo Times - 06 NOV 2003
WINDOW ROCK — Navajo voices, food,
faces, drawings, letters and music are headed to Baghdad, Iraq,
today.
Navajo Nation Legislative Office staff assistant
Leila Help-Tulley said on Wednesday that she and other
Legislative Branch employees have been working late into the
evenings to meet the Nov. 6 deadline for a Navajo care package
for Navajo troops and other military personnel to enjoy by Nov.
20....
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White
House OKs Code Talker Medals
Gallup Independent
- 06 NOV 2003
WINDOW ROCK — Nine Navajo Code Talkers
have been confirmed by the White House to receive long-awaited
Congressional silver medals at the Navajo Nation Veterans' Day
celebration on November 11.
Arizona Representative Rick Renzi has been
designated by the White House to present the medals to the code
talkers....
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Ceremony
Will Honor Hopi Indian Slain in Iraq
news-press.com
- 06 NOV 2003
The parents of Spc. Lori Piestewa, a
Hopi Indian and the first servicewoman killed in the Iraq war,
will speak at today’s Veterans Day ceremony conducted by the
Seminole Tribe of Florida.... |
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Veterans Benefits Act Passed
The House of Representatives has approved H.R. 2297, the Veterans Benefits Act of 2003, legislation that would expand and extend benefits to veterans and their surviving spouses. Sponsored by Congressman Chris Smith (NJ), H.R. 2297 would, amongst other things, also reinstate a VA pilot program to provide vocational training to newly eligible VA
nonservice-connected pension recipients and add cirrhosis of the liver as a presumed service-connected disability for former POWs. To learn about the other approved amendments to H.R. 2297, see
this
article....
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Waco
Officials Ask Group to Keep Veterans Hospital Open
Associated Press - 05 OCT 2003
More than 1,500 people
gathered Friday at a hearing by a government commission considering
whether to close the Waco Veterans Hospital and six others nationwide.
Commission members heard nearly five hours of testimony from city
officials, community leaders, veterans groups and hospital employees.
Their comments about why the facility should remain open were frequently
interrupted by spirited applause, cheers, and some
standing ovations....
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Navajo
Code Talker President Wants U.S. Troops out of Iraq
The Daily Times -
05 OCT 2003
SHIPROCK
— The president of the Navajo Code Talkers Association
said Friday he opposes U.S. troops being stationed in Iraq
because suspected weapons of mass destruction were never
found.... |
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This Page was Designed
and is Maintained by
© 2001 by Awohaliunega
Cleveland, TN 37311
All Rights Reserved
The Author is a Member of
No part of this page may be
copied, reprinted, or used, in whole or in part,
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