Native American Warriors Honored

By Roy Cook

Patriotic theme decorations anticipate the arrival of the honored Veterans this November 13, 2013. Parent advisory president Estelle Fisher and Title IV Indian Education staff, Connie Greybull set up the room to welcome the community, children and Military Veteran activities. Our constant goal is for everyone to feel comfortable and appreciate the opportunity to show our respect for our Native American Military Veterans from past and current conflicts.

Our honored veterans: Carmen Lucas USMC Vietnam, Manuel Flores USMC WW II Para-marine, Joe Renteria USN WW II, Wilbur Solomon USN Korea, and Henry R. Murphy USMC Korea arrived early with their families and started socializing together.

All were invited to attend this event and before long all the tables had community members ready to enjoy the activities and Turkey dinner. Our keynote speaker, Randy Edmonds is introduced and he provided the blessing for the food and the people here and those whom have gone before. Our Honored guests and elders made their way to the front of the potluck line and selected many of the traditional dishes and adventurous choices. Hospitality and generosity were provided by the American Indian Warriors Association (AIWA) and many of the Soaring Eagle parents. We particularly thank Vickie Gambala for cooking the turkeys and making a very tasty dressing.

Respected elder and keynote speaker, Randy Edmonds spoke to the Kiowa tribe and the acquisition of ceremony in their travels to the southern plains and now Oklahoma. Additionally, he spoke of the warrior society tradition and the current expression, Kiowa Gourd dance. We did have a couple of technical clichés but the quality of the presentation was maintained.

 

Introduction of the honored warriors and an appropriate gift reflecting their branch of service was met with applause and heartfelt appreciation for their service. It was a true Kodak moment!

   

AIWA president, William Buchanan, followed with appropriate Indian flute selections and Amazing Grace. Roy Cook sang veteran songs on the hand drum. A young Lakota boy, Chaske, blew taps on the trumpet to close the event. A fine conclusion to an exceptional evening, except for the many group pictures by friends and family and our good friend, Gary Ballard USN veteran and professional photographer.

  

On behalf of the Soaring Eagles and the American Indian Warriors Association we thank you all for making this a memorable night for our honored Tribal Veterans, Mehan.