Stumbled across this by blessed accident. The body of USMC corporal – and member of the Lakota tribe – Brett Lundstrom, who was killed in Iraq in 2006, is returned home for burial. The photo of the body, with the eagle feather, really got to me. Hauntingly beautiful.
There walked a warrior.
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Contrary to what most people think, American Indians are among the most patriotic Americans there are. And why not? They were here first.
ReplyDeleteWhen I used to commute daily from Richmond to Washington, I became friends with a fellow commuter who was a full-blooded Indian (Cherokee and Choctaw, I believe). He had been a Navy SEAL during the Vietnam War, and had the heel of his boot shot off while helping people onto helicopters during the chaotic last days of the South Vietnamese Republic. He was a big, jovial man, but you could tell that his dignity and honor were precious to him. He told me that, back in the day, whenever an Indian joined up in the military, they were almost always automatically tagged for special forces. He had a pronounced scar on his neck, and I asked him one time how he got it, figuring it must have been something he acquired in single combat with the enemy. He chuckled and told me that, no, he got that mark of honor in a fight with some soldiers in a bar in Saigon when one of the participants attacked him with a broken bottle. Hell of a man.
ReplyDeleteWow! That was very moving. Thanks Paco.
ReplyDeleteHe's with his fathers now and they have welcomed him.
Very touching tribute.
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