North American Indians in the Great War by Susan Applegate Krouse, 2007, Univ. of Nebraska Press
Based on unpublished research done on Indian veterans in the 20s by Dr. Joseph Dixon.
An excerpt from the interview with Sam Thundercloud, a Winnebago, from Wisconsin
Quote:
I went over the top three times at the battle of Chateau Thierry before the last scouting trip in which I had engagedin this battle.
Lieut. Burton sent me out on every scouting mission. We knew how to crawl and do the job.
I recall distinctly one night we were ordered out over the top, the night was very dark, the morning was coming but it was still to dark to see much. We climbed an embankment, on the top of which, we found railroad tracks. On the other side of the tracks the Germans were hiding, one big fellow jumped at me, made a lunge with his bayonet. I warded off the thrust as I would in boxing. His bayonet made a gash in my hand...and as I tossed aside his bayonet, I thrust mine through his neck - a short fat Dutchman (common term for German) came for me but my comrades finished him and we went on over.
|
And another from Edmund Veach, a Choctaw
Quote:
|
It was a pretty good war, but they stopped it too soon.
|
And lastly from Sgt. Jamers Crowe, Sioux, from Pine Ridge, SD.
Quote:
|
When I face a big tall Hun. Made him throw up his hand. I intended to shoot him down and scalp him but my friends said let him go. So I let him go free. We sent them back to our lines.
|
The patriotism and devotion these men showed for a government that had treated them like dirt and a country who would not recognize them as citizens was amazing.
They were also first class soldiers and serious ass-kicking warriors.
Make me look at the crossed arrows a little differently and with a little more pride maybe.