Fear Was Stronger Than Justice

On December 7, 1941, at 7:55 a.m. Hawaiian time, a Japanese dive bomber bearing the red symbol of the Rising Sun of Japan on its wings appeared out of the clouds above the island of Oahu. A swarm of 352 more Japanese warplanes followed in two waves, descending on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor in a ferocious assault. News of the "sneak attack" sent a shockwave across the nation when it was broadcast to the American public via radio bulletins, interrupting many popular Sunday afternoon entertainment programs. 

On the following day, December 8, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt addressed a joint session of Congress and the nation via radio, declaring: "Yesterday, December 7th, 1941 - a date which will live in infamy - the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan." Thirty-three minutes after he finished speaking, Congress declared war on Japan. Three days later, on December 11, Germany declared war on the United States. Both declarations thrust the nation directly into World War II, something most Americans wanted to avoid. Up to that time, the United States had been involved in the European war only by supplying munitions to England and other antifascist European countries.

The attack on Pearl Harbor also unleashed a rash of fear about national security. Not long after the attack, racial prejudice helped fuel rumors of a plot among Japanese-Americans to sabotage the war effort. In the minds of many Americans, every Japanese could be a potential spy, ready and willing to help with an invasion that was expected at any moment. Some political leaders, army officers, newspaper reporters, and even many average citizens came to believe that every one of Japanese ancestry, including American citizens born in the United States, needed to be removed from the West Coast, where 127,000 persons of Japanese ancestry lived. 

Initially, American public opinion stood by the large population of Japanese Americans living along the Pacific, with the Los Angeles Times characterizing them as "good Americans, born and educated as such." Many Americans believed that their loyalty to the United States was unquestionable. 

However, six weeks after the attack, public opinion began to turn against Japanese- Americans as newspapers increased their anti-Japanese rhetoric, triggering an increase in the number of Americans growing increasingly nervous about potential fifth column activity. Though the administration (including President Franklin D. Roosevelt and FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover) dismissed all rumors of Japanese-American espionage, pressure continued upon the Administration including from politicians taking advantage of anti-Japanese public sentiment.

As pressure grew for the Administration to do something about the "Japanese-American problem," newspapers and radio broadcasts across the country reported the story of several Hawaiian-born Japanese-Americans assisting a downed Japanese pilot on December 7, 1941. According to the news reports, twenty-two-year-old Airman 1st Class Shigenori Nishikaichi was making a final run in his Mitsubishi Zero fighter on Bellows Army Airfield when his plane was severely damaged by heavy machine-gun fire from the ground. Knowing he would never make it back to his aircraft carrier, he made the decision to fly his crippled plane 130 miles west of Oahu to Niihau Island, a small island occupied by several hundred, mostly Hawaiian-born, ethnic Japanese. After crash-landing his plane in a pasture near an isolated house, he headed to the nearest village. Since the culture on Niihau was primarily Japanese, Nishikaichi was at first welcomed and given some freedom, but he was eventually placed in a makeshift jail after Niihau islanders learned of the attack on Pearl Harbor. 

One night a civilian Japanese national and two Hawaiian-born ethnic Japanese freed Shigenori Nishikaichi, violently attacking their fellow Niihau islanders in the process, and returning to the young pilot his confiscated pistol. Fortunately, two men, Hawila Kaleohano and Beni Kanahele were able to disarm and kill Nishikaichi. Kanahele, who was shot three times in the incident, reportedly grabbed the pilot and flung him against a wall, cracking his skull. One of the men helping the downed pilot committed suicide. The other two were imprisoned. 

The event, which became known as the 'Niihau Incident,' produced a Navy report that indicated a "likelihood that Japanese residents previously believed loyal to the United States may aid Japan." President Franklin D. Roosevelt used the incident and subsequent naval report to rationalize Executive Order 9066 allowing local military commanders to exclude any group of people from any region without trial or hearings for reasons of "military necessity." This executive order, signed on Feb.19, 1942, provided the legal authority behind the mass removal of Japanese-Americans from the West Coast and their subsequent relocation to internment camps in the interior U.S. No comparable order applied to Hawaii, one-third of whose population was Japanese-American, or to Americans of German and Italian ancestry.

In an attempt to put the executive order in the best possible light, the government insisted the objectives of the order were not only to prevent espionage but also to protect persons of Japanese descent from potential violence due to the growing anti-Japanese sentiment.

Roosevelt's order affected 117,000 people of Japanese descent, two-thirds of whom were native-born citizens of the United States. The Issei were the first generation of Japanese in this country; the Nisei were the second generation, numbering 70,000 American citizens at the time of internment. Within weeks, all persons of Japanese ancestry - whether citizens or enemy aliens, young or old, rich or poor -  were to report to assembly centers near their homes. Many were forced to sell their property at a severe loss before departure.

Before being transported to a permanent wartime residence, internees were not immediately sent to the relocation camps. Instead, they found that a cowshed at a fairgrounds or a horse stall at a racetrack became home for several months. 

Ten relocation or internment centers were built in arid and semi-arid areas where life would have been harsh under even ideal conditions. These often remote and desolate locales included Tule Lake, California; Minidoka, Idaho; Manzanar, California; Topaz, Utah; Jerome, Arkansas; Heart Mountain, Wyoming; Poston, Arizona; Granada, Colorado; and Rohwer, Arkansas. Some people refer to the relocation centers as concentration camps; others view internment as an unfortunate episode, but a military necessity. 

One of the most stunning ironies in this episode of American civil liberties was articulated by an internee who, when told that the Japanese were put in those camps for their own protection, countered "If we were put there for our protection, why were the guns at the guard towers pointed inward, instead of outward?"

As four or five families with their sparse collections of clothing and possessions squeezed into and shared tar-papered barracks, life took on some familiar routines of socializing and school. However, eating in common facilities and having limited opportunities for work interrupted other social and cultural patterns. Internees elected representatives to meet with government officials to air grievances, often to little avail. Recreational activities were organized to pass the time. In camps adjacent to fertile lands, vegetable farms were created and became active and profitable.

In 1943 and 1944 the government assembled a combat unit of Japanese Americans for the European theater. It became the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, a segregated all-Nisei unit. A call for volunteers yielded vastly different results in Hawaii than on the mainland: some ten thousand Hawaiian Nisei volunteered within days, while only 1,256 mainland Nisei came forward from the camps. The 442nd fought gallantly in Italy and France, earning a reputation as a crack infantry unit and gaining fame as the most highly decorated unit of World War II including 22 Medals of Honor, 52 Distinguished Service Crosses and 560 Silver Stars (plus 28 Oak Leaf Clusters for a second award). Their outstanding military record illustrated their unquestionable patriotism.

The internment of persons of Japanese ancestry during World War II sparked constitutional and political debate. In the 1940s, a handful of Japanese-Americans including Mitsuye Endo challenged the constitutionality of the forced removals and eventually won. Her lawyer, James Purcell, filed a Writ of habeas corpus on her behalf demanding that she be charged or released from confinement in order to challenge her dismissal. Rather than test the constitutionality of detention, the U.S. Supreme Court wrote: "detention in Relocation Centers of persons of Japanese ancestry regardless of loyalty is not only unauthorized by the Congress or the Executive, but it is another example of the unconstitutional resort to racism in the entire evacuation program."

Following the ruling, the exclusion orders were suspended and Japanese-Americans were allowed to leave the internment camps. But many had no homes or businesses to return to because their properties had been confiscated, abandoned or sold at an enormous discount to profiteers when they were hurriedly and inhumanely forced into internment camps. Internees returning to their home towns quickly discovered that hostility against Japanese-Americans remained high across the West Coast as many villages displayed signs demanding that the internees never return. As a result, the internees scattered throughout the country.

A 1948 law provided for reimbursement for property losses by those interned. In 1988, Congress attempted to apologize for the action by awarding each surviving intern $20,000. 

While the American internment camps weren't comparable to the Nazi concentration camps in cruelty or deprivation, they remain a regrettably dark smudge on the nation's record of respecting civil liberties, cultural differences, and basic human rights.

From Nazi Occupied Holland to the Jungles of Vietnam

A few months after Hitler had promised Holland neutrality, German paratroopers invaded our country at night. This happened while I was only a few months old. Therefore most of my recollections about World War II date back to the end of the war or from 1944. We were having a very difficult time because when Dad, our breadwinner was captured and when he did not return from a German concentration camp, the odds of survival were against us. Mom was forced to place her kids with various family members, and lacking my Dad's income, she visited Dutch farms to beg for food. During the notorious Dutch "hunger winter" of 1944 to 1945, she managed to collect enough food for us to survive. 

In September 1944, Dutch railway employees struck in an effort to assist liberating Armies that were trying to capture bridges across Holland's main rivers. Montgomery's thrust north towards Arnhem depicted in the film, 'A Bridge Too Far' failed and the allied armies came to a grinding halt south of our main rivers. The German administration retaliated by placing an embargo on all food transports to the western Netherlands. When the embargo was partially lifted in early November 1944, and some food transports were allowed over water, an unusually early and harsh winter had set in. The canals froze over and became impassable for barges. Also, gas, electricity, and heat were turned off. Roughly 30,000 Dutch died from starvation, exhaustion, cold and disease.

In the hunger winter, we literally fed on anything that could be found. We learned that sugar beets, turnips, and even tulip bulbs could stem from hunger. Our streets were empty of cats and dogs. Butcher shops advertised "rabbits for sale," but we learned that a cat's body cannot be anatomically distinguished from a rabbit's body. In spite of those food substitutes, many people died from hunger. The Germans had flooded our normally productive agricultural lands to stop Montgomery's British-Canadian forces from crossing the Rhine. Our food was rationed and rations shrunk dramatically as the winter progressed. Even the black market was running out of food. 

My Dad was employed in a prison and helped two Jewish men who were undoubtedly destined for a gas chamber, to escape from prison. He then took the prisoner's place in the same prison. I recall scary experiences in trying to get Dad released, our farewell from him on a train station destined to a German concentration camp and V-1s flying over our homes, some of which landed far short of London and destroyed a neighborhood. I also remember when our living room exploded from joy when a clandestine radio broadcast announced that the allies had landed in Normandy. Today the Dutch are still extremely grateful for the liberation of their country and the graves of fallen U.S. servicemen are draped with flowers each and every year.

Fast forward to when I went to Vietnam as part of the 11th Armored Cavalry. In my job as commander of the 3rd Squadron's 105MM self- propelled howitzers battery, I had trained the unit for about one year and fought with the unit of another year. This turned out to be the best job that I have ever had. 

I recall getting caught in an ambush, getting mortared and fighting against a large coordinated attack from a North Vietnamese regiment. I was one of the first U.S. soldiers to enter the notorious Iron Triangle, where my battery distinguished itself. 

What did the average U.S. soldier experience when fighting in Vietnam? For the uninitiated, imagine fighting for the most powerful military in the world and being tasked to fight a guerrilla we had to search out in unfamiliar jungles rife with millions of miles of underground tunnels that allowed him to appear and disappear at will. In President Kennedy's words, "...the enemy was everywhere and at the same time nowhere." Imagine also that the guerrilla was supported by the local population and that this enabled him to blend in with civilians whenever opportune. The guerrilla wore the same black clothes (we called them "pajamas") as the farmers and hamlet dwellers. 

When we saw what looked like a unit of Vietcong, we had to make sure that they were actually Vietcong. We could not just fire at them, but we needed to obtain clearances from district officials to ensure that we were not killing ordinary farmers or villagers since only the regular army of North Vietnamese wore a clearly identifiable uniform. Communications with South Vietnamese district leaders were sometimes difficult and we could not always get permission to fire in a timely manner. The potential bounties would then have spotted us and escaped since we only were allowed to fire spontaneously when we were fired at and/or when we rode into an ambush. The enemy, whether guerrillas or North Vietnamese army units, were often able to engage us when most opportune for them; hence their successes in ambushes. We had learned some effective counter-tactics, but we always took casualties. 

Initially in WWII, the U.S. bombed mostly military targets in day time and at low altitudes and suffered many casualties, while the British bombed from safer high altitudes at night with fewer scruples at avoiding civilian casualties probably because they had endured many bombing raids on their own cities and because they thought it also would adversely affect German morale. Even as late as July 21, 1944, Eisenhower ordered the Eighth Air Force to use only precision bombing of military targets which resulted in the destruction of oil facilities and bridges that effectively kept most of the grounded on D-day and kept panzer units tied up at river crossings when these could have been used to stop the allied invasion of France. However, our Air Force eventually used napalm and bombs to destroy cities in both Germany and Japan causing hundreds of thousands of civilian casualties. 

In Japan there were not many industrial targets left and military targets were often co-located near large cities. Truman had hoped to avoid killing women and children but he judged that he needed to use the atomic bomb to impress the ever aggressive Russians in East Europe and he thought that it would save up to a quarter of a million American casualties.

In Vietnam, we made a concerted effort [with some widely publicized exceptions, such as in the My Lai massacre] to avoid civilian casualties, because it was essential for us to win over the South Vietnamese people. At the time we had no idea that this was probably a fool's errand. An ordinary U.S. soldier has been trained to kill on impulse in the words of Colin Powell, we aim to apply overwhelming force in order to secure a victory and that cannot be done in a socially acceptable manner. Collateral damage is always present, but yes we must try and limit it when possible. However, when we go to war we must be allowed to use maximum force and the best tactics to achieve victory all within a clear set of moral standards. Hand-to-hand combat with guerrillas that have clear operational advantages should never be necessary. 

There are further similarities in Vietnam, the second Iraq war and the war in Afghanistan. Our objectives of nation-building, rooting out corruption, freeing women from cultural oppressions and converting locals into religiously tolerant 21st Century democracies are pie in the sky kinds of objectives. Those types of changes must come gradually from people themselves. We cannot convert a nation overnight from a middle-age culture into a modern democracy or a capitalist society and especially not with the use of force. 
 
Why was the Vietnamese conflict such a difficult war? We possessed the most powerful military and were armed with weapons that could wipe out the rest of the world. It ought to have been simple to subdue a technologically inferior people. Yet somehow these people had resisted Chinese domination for centuries and more recently defeated modern Japanese and French armies. Apparently our involvement began with requests for assistance from the leaders of South Vietnam. President Kennedy wanted to restrict our commitment to advising the Government of Vietnam's (GVN) military with our Special Forces, which eventually grew to about 15,000. Earlier President Eisenhower had warned about sending troops into Vietnam. He said that the jungles would absorb battalion after battalion with no clear victory in sight and the military would continue to ask for more. 

President Johnson, however, increased our commitment under the banner of our need to fight for the great causes of "freedom" and "democracy." He, as well as President Eisenhower, had believed in the domino theory, that if Vietnam fell to the communists, the whole of South East Asia would fall. That too proved to be a myth. 

I personally witnessed some ironies while gaining enormous respect for our soldiers who always did their duties and performed heroic acts under trying circumstances. In my memoir, I compare Vietnam to WWII and reflect on our society in the late 1960s, when I navigated some street riots while trying to carve out a career in civilian life. Since that time our society has changed and it now better appreciates the sacrifices of our soldiers, but much more must be done to heal the wounds of the disabled ones.  

Editor's Note: Leo Deege took excerpts from his book "Warrior: From Nazi-Occupied Holland to the jungle of Vietnam" for this article. The book itself may be purchased at Outskirts Press/Bookstore, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble.

All profits will be donated to the "Disabled Veterans Association." 

Battle Chronicles: Nez Perce War

Shortly after purchasing the Louisiana territory from France in 1803, President Thomas Jefferson ordered an expedition to explore and map the newly acquired territory and establish an American presence before Britain and other European powers tried to claim it. The campaign's secondary objectives were scientific and economic: to study the area's plants, animal life, and geography, and establish trade with local Native American tribes. To lead the expedition of U.S. Army volunteers, Jefferson chose his personal secretary, Captain Meriwether Lewis, an intelligent and literate man who also possessed skills as a frontiersman. Lewis, in turn, solicited the help of Second Lieutenant William Clark, whose abilities as draftsman and frontiersman were even stronger. 

Lewis and Clark's expedition began on May 21, 1804, when they and 33 soldiers and others departed from their camp near St. Louis, Missouri. The first portion of the expedition followed the route of the Missouri River, during which they passed through places such as present-day Kansas City, Missouri, and Omaha, Nebraska.

As the expedition crossed the Bitterroot Mountains along the border of Montana and Idaho, a party of six hunters led by Clark went ahead of the main body, searching for wild game and other foodstuffs. Near the western end of the Lolo Trail, the group came across a small camp of Nez Perce. Having a long association with French trappers and missionaries, the Nez Perce - many who had converted to Catholicism - welcomed the American explorers, treating then with generosity and respect. They also resupplied and aided the Army expedition. 

After staying with the friendly Indians for days, the explorers continued their journey by boat to the Pacific. Horses were left with the friendly Indians to care for until the explorers returned. Faithful to the trust, the Indians returned the horses to the Americans without serious difficulty. 

Unfortunately, like many other western tribes, this original goodwill would change due to the westward movement of European Americans and the discovery of gold on traditional Indian lands.

For the Nez Perce tribes, it was when prospectors found gold on their reservation in 1860. This discovery led to a rush of settlement on the tribe's ancestral lands. Tensions inevitably grew as the settlers appropriated traditional native lands, and prospectors searched for gold with no regard toward their nomadic lifestyle.

They realized a severe problem was growing between the friendly Nez Perce and the European American. They believed it was their Manifest Destiny (which held that the U.S. was destined to expand from coast to coast), the U.S. government took the same action they had done repeatedly when it came to relationships with the Indians: instead of forcing the white settlers to leave, the government's solution was to reduce the land on which the Indians could live, forcing them into smaller and smaller reservations. 

Like Indian tribes throughout America, the Nez Perce did not have one chief in charge of the entire tribe. Instead, there were many Chiefs who were each leader of small bands of Indians. 

When the United States tried to reduce the Nez Perce tribe's land, they negotiated mostly with the Chiefs that were on their side. This led to the Nez Perce spitting into two groups: one side - the farmers and livestock herders - accepted the coerced relocation to a reservation. The non-treaty group refused to give up their ancestral homeland in Idaho and Oregon and continued living in the tradition they had been doing for hundreds of years.

The non-treaty Nez Perce suffered many injustices at the hands of settlers and prospectors, but out of fear of reprisal from the militarily superior Americans, Chief Joseph of the Wallowa band never allowed any violence against them, instead of making many concessions in hopes of securing peace.

In 1873, Chief Joseph negotiated with the federal government to ensure his people could stay on their land in the Wallowa Valley. But in 1877, the government reversed its policy and Brig. General Oliver Howard threatened to attack if the Wallowa band did not relocate to the Idaho Reservation with the other Nez Perce. Joseph reluctantly agreed. 

The day following the council, Chiefs Joseph, White Bird, and Looking Glass all accompanied Howard to look at different areas. Howard offered them a plot of land that was inhabited by whites and Native Americans, promising to clear out the current residents. Joseph and his chieftains refused, adhering to their tribal tradition of not taking what did not belong to them.

Unable to find any suitable uninhabited land on the reservation, Howard informed Joseph that his people had 30 days to collect their livestock and move to the reservation or face a war they could not win.

Returning home, Joseph called a council among his people. At the council, he spoke on behalf of peace. Chief Toohoolhoolzote advocated war. The Wallowa band began making preparations for the long journey, meeting first with other bands at Rocky Canyon. At this council too, many leaders urged war, while Joseph argued in favor of peace. While the council was underway, a young man whose father had been killed rode up and announced that he and several other young Nez Perce warriors, disillusioned by broken treaty promises and white encroachment on their land, attacked and killed some white settlers along the Salmon River. The elders first hid the firebrands, but Joseph knew that retribution would shortly follow, and he reluctantly prepared for war. 

Still hoping to avoid further bloodshed, Chief Joseph, Chiefs Looking Glass, White Bird, Ollokot, Lean Elk (Poker Joe), and Toohoolhoolzote lead 2,900 men, women and children away from Idaho in an attempt to reach a peaceful sanctuary. The flight began on June 15, 1877.

During their exodus toward Canada, they had numerous battles and scrimmages with Gen. Howard's cavalry troops. The opening battle between the Nez Perce Indians and the two companies of the U.S. 1st Cavalry Regiment took place at White Bird Canyon in the Idaho Territory on June 17, 1877. Although the Nez Perce had no experience of war with white soldiers, their knowledge of the terrain and their superb horsemanship and well-trained Appaloosa horses were advantages. The Nez Perce were also good marksmen. By contrast, many U.S. Cavalry horses panicked in the battle, and that fear caused a major defeat for the U.S. Army. Knowing they could not engage Howard's full army of 2,000 men, the Nez Perce fled north.

The next big battle took place on July 11 - 12, 1877, on the Clearwater River, where the Nez Perce had set up a temporary village. Gen. Howard surprised the Indians by a surprise attack. The Nez Perce counter-attacked and inflicted significant casualties on the soldiers, but they were forced to abandon the village. After the battle, the Nez Perce retreated to the east and began to cross the Bitterroot Mountains via Lolo Pass with Gen. Howard in hot pursuit. They hoped they could leave the Army behind and live with their old allies, the Crow, who lived on the other side of the mountain range. Little did they know, the difficult passage across the Bitterroots was only the beginning of a long, difficult, and deadly trek. 

The third battle of the Nez Perce War began on August 9, 1877. Fleeing eastward with hopes of escaping to Canada, the Nez Perce made camp in the Big Hole Basin in present-day western Montana. In the early morning hours, Col. John Gibbon attacked the sleeping Indians with a force of 183 men. Raking the Indian lodges with withering rifle fire, the soldiers initially seemed to be victorious. The Nez Perce, however, soon counter-attacked from concealed positions in the surrounding hills. After four days of sporadic fighting, both sides suffered serious casualties. The soldiers lost 29 men with 40 wounded. The army body count found 89 Nez Perce dead, mostly women and children. The battle dealt the Nez Perce a grave, though not fatal, blow. The remaining Indians were able to escape and headed northeast towards Canada.

The Indians moved through the Lemhi Valley with the Army in pursuit. The next battle would be a big victory for the Nez Perce. At the battle of Camas Meadows, a small group of Nez Perce warriors circled back and snuck into the Army's camp. Instead of attacking the soldiers, the target was their horses. The stealthy warriors broke through the stockade and stole over 200 horses and mules. This clever move was a big blow to the Army's supply and transportation.

Although both sides were weary from the long chase, the war continued. The Army followed the tribe as they twisted their way through the area that became Yellowstone National Park and stayed close behind as the Indians headed north. The Nez Perce strategy had changed. Realizing that the Army wouldn't give up and with no help from their allies, the tribe rushed toward the Canadian border. After the famous Battle of Little Big Horn the year before, the Canadian government had given Sitting Bull, the Sioux leader, a safe place to live. The Nez Perce thought that if they could make it across the border, they could join the Sioux. Although they would be far from home, at least their families would be safe and no longer be pursued by the U.S. Army, which was still hot on their heels.

Finally, within a day or two south of the border, the two sides fought their final battle. On September 30, Col. Nelson Miles caught up to the Indians on the edge of the Bear Paw Mountains. The Nez Perce were surprised, but quickly sprang into action. They dug pits and ditches with whatever tools they had and built stone barricades to protect themselves from the soldiers' guns. The battle was long, stretching out over five days, and the Nez Perce were tired. Food had run out. The weather was cold and wet, and there wasn't any fuel to make fires. The only two Chiefs left alive were White Bird and Joseph. Joseph knew that if the tribe kept fighting, it would mean more death and misery. He made the decision to negotiate a truce and end the war. Although chief White Bird and a few others escaped to Canada, Joseph and the remaining Nez Perce made a deal with Col. Miles. The tribe agreed to stop fighting and return to the reservation the U.S. government had created. 

At the surrender, Joseph delivered one of the most eloquent speeches in American history. "Tell Gen. Howard; I know his heart. What he told me before I have in my heart. I am tired of fighting. Our Chiefs are killed, looking glass is dead. The old man are all killed. It is the young men who say yes or no. He led the young men is dead. It is cold, and we have no blankets. The little children are freezing to death. My people, some of them, have run away to the hills and have no blankets, no food; no one knows where they are, perhaps freezing to death. I want time to look for my children and how many of them I can find. Maybe I shall find them among the dead. Jeremy, my Chiefs, I am tired; my heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever."

For three months, Chief Joseph had led his people on a 1,600-mile flight to Canada across four states and multiple mountain ranges with four separate U.S. military units in pursuit. Chief Joseph and his party repeatedly turned the tables on numerically superior forces. They eluded and out-fought 2,000 U.S. Army soldiers in 13 battles before finally surrendering in a Montana snowstorm, just 40 miles from the Canadian border. Only 418 men, women, and children were left. 

Unfortunately, the government broke its promise - again. Joseph and his remaining group were relocated to Oklahoma instead of the Nez Perce reservation. On the trip, half the tribe died from disease. It was in Oklahoma where they spent eight years separated from their homeland and the rest of the tribe. Eventually, the group was allowed to return West, but Joseph and his family were forced to stay on a different reservation in Washington.

On September 21, 1904, at the age of 64, Chief Joseph died in exile, ending a very tragic and sad chapter in our country's history.

The Census Bureau in 1894 counted over 40 wars during the 57 years between 1789 and 1846, which killed 19,000 whites and about 30,000 Indians; however it did note that the number of Indians killed was likely 50% higher than this, for a total of 45,000.

In American history books, the Indian Wars have often been treated as a relatively minor part of the military history of the United States and were long treated from the point of view of the United States. After 1970 younger historians took the Indian point of view in their writings about the wars, dealing more harshly with the U.S. government's failures and emphasizing the impact of the wars on native peoples and their cultures.

One example these young writers point to was the Massacre at Wounded Knee in 1890. Stirred by a spiritual revival centering on the "Ghost Dance" (meant to reunite the living with spirits of the dead, bring the spirits of the dead to fight on their behalf, make the white colonists leave, and bring peace, prosperity, and unity to native peoples throughout the region), a group of Lakota Sioux left their reservation in South Dakota. 

On December 29, 1890, as they returned to surrender, a scuffle broke out. Hearing a shot, soldiers fired, killing more than 200 men, women, and children - the last to die in the Indian Wars. 

Two weeks before Chief Sitting Bull had died at the hands of U.S. soldiers.

Mine Sweeper

I was in one of the squads of 'C' Company, 4th Combat Engineer Battalion 4th Infantry Division. I was a combat demolition specialist, MOS 12B30. The photo is our team following a minesweeping mission. 

It was May 9, 1968, in Vietnam. We were on the road between the village of Polei Kleng and the bridge over the Kontum River, sweeping for anti-vehicle mines.

As we crossed the stream outside the village, I saw a small ring-neck snake. I picked it up, and it bit me. I took this as a warning, for snakes usually didn't bite me, and I used to keep them as pets. My 'pets' would bite other people, though.

I told the Sergeant, but he said it was crazy. Then the mine detectors started breaking down. We carried four; two were metal detectors, and the other two were for detecting plastic mines. After considerable repair efforts, we had only two working detectors, one of each type.

The other mine sweep team, who swept from Kontum City to the bridge, had already finished, and a colonel radioed us saying to hurry up. The Sergeant ordered us to have one detector for each side of the road, and to "take big steps." This was dangerous, and I told him so. He ordered me to the back of the line in the last probe position (we followed the sweepers and probed the ground if they got a reading), so he didn't have to hear me complain. 

After some distance doing this, I looked down at the road's edge and just "knew" a mine was there, although the detectors missed it, and there was no obvious sign. I told everyone to hold up, and the Sergeant came back, saying "What is it now?" I scraped my bayonet over the covering soil and uncovered a gray plastic Russian-made anti-vehicle mine. The Sergeant halted the following convoy, and called back the mine detectors and started a more careful sweep while I dug out the Russian mine. They found nothing, so the mine I found turned out to be the first in a series of nine mines. Some were found with mine detectors, the rest I found by 'knowing' they were there.

We found eight other mines that day. A truck coming from Kontum didn't know the road wasn't clear and was driving toward us; I had been switched to point position (we took turns to avoid fatigue) and ran up to get the truck to stop; it had barely missed a buried mine. 

At a dip in the road, a puddle of water had collected from the rain. Looking at the puddle, I felt a mine was there, underwater. I asked the mine detectors to check it a second time, but they found nothing. I asked a prober to probe the puddle carefully, and he also found nothing. The two soldiers in the truck were anxious to continue on, and they were let go. As they drove over the puddle, it exploded, and the two men were badly injured as their 3/4 ton pick-up was tossed into the air to land upside-down on the side of the road. I don't know if they survived.

I had wanted to check the puddle personally, but regulations required me to stay on point and watch for an ambush. I felt that if I checked it, I would have found it, and have felt guilt for the past 46 years.

Military Myths & Legends Five Military Myths Busted

There are many misconceptions and myths about the military floating around out there. Here are five common myths busted.

MYTH #1
If you get in trouble with the law, then your only option is the military. Ever heard the old saying, "Go to Jail or Go to the Military." 

Can a criminal court judge sentence a person to military service as an alternative to jail?

Can a prosecutor mandate that someone joins the military as an alternative to criminal prosecution?

Well, a judge or prosecutor can do whatever they please (within the limits of the law for their jurisdiction), but that doesn't mean the military branches are required to accept such people, and they don't. 

The military actually has to know about any run-ins with the law, no matter how minor. All branches of the military-run FBI background checks on all prospective members. However, just because you have a glitch in your past doesn't necessarily mean you can't join the military. Commanders can authorize waivers for certain offenses, although approved waivers will make some jobs unavailable. 

The reason some jobs become unavailable is because certain jobs require security clearances. This means the member will have access to classified and/or top-secret information, and this access requires top-secret security clearances. 

MYTH #2
The military's benefits and pay are not competitive with the civilian world.

Attracting and keeping high-quality personnel has been a challenge for military services during much of the past decade. In response to growing concerns about military readiness and missed recruiting goals, and recognizing that compensation plays an important part in career decision-making, Congress recently approved significant increases in military pay. 

Today, the military offers very competitive pay and benefits packages. Entry-level pay and benefits are hands down superior to entry-level jobs in the civilian sector. Just try to find an entry-level job that starts at $1300/month, pays for food, housing, medical, education, 30 days paid vacation, and many more benefits.

MYTH #3
Women have a hard time achieving success in the military.

Women in the armed forces are wearing one, two, and three stars on their shoulders and are serving at the highest levels of command. They are more than the equivalent of a corporate CEO or company president and have responsibilities for millions of dollars and thousands of people.

Reaching for the stars in the military is not an easy goal to pursue. It requires a college education, attendance at military staff and command schools, advanced studies, and many years of service. But it is not a closed-door anymore. Now young women who are thinking about a military career can follow their dreams all the way to the stars - and beyond.

Over fifty women in the military wear the stars of an admiral or general, and more have been selected to pin them on next year - a small number indeed but a big step since there were none prior to 1970.

MYTH #4
Military training and jobs have little relation to the civilian world.

About 80 percent of the jobs in the military are non-combat occupations with direct civilian counterparts. With related skills learned and practiced in military positions, many civilian companies hire military veterans for their work ethic, dedication, and leadership skills to fill key positions within their companies. 

MYTH #5
Going to the military right out of high school means you will not get a college education.

Although most high school students have good intentions about going to college, many have not come to the reality of how they are going to pay for college. The military fixes this problem. Not only does the military pay up to 100 percent of college tuition while you serve on active duty, but the military also offers the GI Bill (about $36,000) to use for college up to 10 years after leaving the service.

Each service has specific voluntary education programs unique to that service, and much of the training obtained in the military is college accredited.

These are just five of the many myths out there about the military. People with good intentions who just don't know any better often start many myths.

Profiles in Courage: The Fighting Arkansans

Lloyd L. "Scooter" Burke - the most highly decorated soldier in Arkansas' history - was born in Tichnor (Arkansas County) on September 29, 1924, one of five children of A. D. Burke, a foreman at a lumber mill in Clarendon (Monroe County) and his wife, Belly Burke. In 1942, Lloyd Burke graduated from Stuttgart High School and enrolled at Henderson State Teachers College, now Henderson State University. 

In 1943 when Burke was 18-years-old, he dropped out of Henderson State College and joined the United States Army. He served two years during World War II as a sergeant with combat engineers in Italy.

After the war, he returned to school at Henderson, where he participated in the Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) program, which is now named "Burke's Raiders" in his memory. He was also a member of the Phi Sigma Epsilon fraternity. In 1950, he graduated as a Distinguished Military Graduate. 

After graduation, Burke was commissioned a second lieutenant in June 1950. That same month, on June 25, 1950, at 4 a.m. on a rainy Sunday morning, Democratic People's Republic of Korea Army (DPRK - North Korea) artillery and mortars open fire on Republic of Korea (ROK - South Korea) Army positions south of the 38th Parallel, the line then serving as the border between the two countries. The opening barrage is followed shortly by tank/infantry attacks at all points along the Parallel. At 11 a.m. North Korea announced a formal declaration of war, and what is now known as "The Korean War" officially began.

This invasion was the first military action of the Cold War. By July, American troops had entered the war on South Korea's behalf. As far as American officials were concerned, it was a war against the forces of international communism itself. 

In November 1950, five months after the war began, Burke was shipped to Korea, where he was commander of Company G, 2nd Battalion 5th Cavalry Regiment. That same month, Chinese forces crossed the Yalu River. In response, Gen. Douglas MacArthur ordered the 1st Cavalry Division to participate in a massive counteroffensive that began on November 24, 1950, with Burke's regiment playing a major role. 

On November 26, 1950, Burke's Company F was moving toward Sunchon, Korea, when contact was made with a strong enemy force that had infiltrated friendly lines and established a roadblock. His battalion commander ordered him to secure a commanding ridge defended by a well-entrenched enemy force. Burke quickly organized his men, moved to the head of the column, and personally led an attack against the enemy position. But blazing fire from the enemy forced Burke's company to fall back. Determined to accomplish the mission given him by his battalion commander, Burke refused to give up. He repeatedly rallied his men and led them against the death-spitting ridge, but each time they were forced to fall back because of the withering fire that was killing and wounding his men. Burke reassessed the enemy situation and began looking for the enemy machine-gun position that was the major stumbling block in the attack. Once he determined the gun's location, he crawled forward, heedless of the heavy volume of enemy fire that chewed and churned the dirt around him until he was within grenade range. Despite the murderous fire now being directed at him, he accurately lobbed several grenades into the machine-gun nest, completely obliterating it. Having eliminated this obstacle, he dauntlessly arose and valiantly led his inspired men in a fifth furious assault on the ridge and successfully secured it. 

For his gallantry, aggressive leadership, and unwavering courage and determination, Burke received the Distinguished Service Cross, America's second-highest award for heroism. 

For the next ten months, the 5th Regiments and Burke's company participated in many battles, some small, others large. During these battles, Burke again showed extraordinary heroism in which he was awarded a Silver Star, two Bronze Stars for valor, and four Purple Hearts. 

Burke's tour of duty was almost over in October 1951. At the time, Burke was found at the rear of his regiment. He had a plane ticket in his pocket and was eager to see his wife and infant son. Two miles away, Burke's company was attempting to cross the Yokkok-chon River. The company was hindered by a large and well-entrenched Chinese force on Hill 200. The battle enraged for days as the 2nd Battalion's attacks were constantly being repelled. At first, Burke kept up with the reports. Eventually, he no longer tolerated what was going on and decided to enter the front lines. As he himself stated, "I couldn't see leaving my guys up there without trying to do something."

When Burke was at the base of Hill 200, he was shocked to witness his company's strength mitigated to thirty-five traumatized survivors. Burke described the condition of his company clearly: "These men were completely beat. They lay huddled in foxholes, unable to move. They all had the thousand-yard stare of men who'd seen too much fighting, too much death." Burke dragged up a 57 mm recoilless rifle and shot three rounds at the closest enemy bunker. The bunker itself was a wooden-fronted structure covering a cave, which was dug into the overall hillside. The Chinese attacked American troops by hurling grenades from their trenches. Burke aimed his M1 rifle at the trench line and shot at every Chinese soldier that rose to throw a grenade. Unfortunately, the grenades were still being thrown. After having used an eight-round clip, Burke decided to take more drastic measures. As he recalled, "I considered myself a pretty fair shot, but this was getting ridiculous. I had to do something."

After laying down his rifle, Burke took a grenade and ran approximately thirty yards to the Chinese trench line. He avoided enemy fire by hurling himself at the base of a dirt berm that was two feet high. When the Chinese momentarily stopped firing, Burke jumped into one of the trenches with a pistol in one hand and a grenade in the other. He shot five or six Chinese soldiers in the forehead. Burke also fired at two Chinese soldiers from further down the trench. Afterward, he threw his grenade in their direction, jumped out of the trench, and placed himself against the dirt berm. The Chinese were aware of Burke's location and began throwing grenades at his position. Most of the grenades thrown rolled down the hill and harmlessly exploded. Some of the grenades, however, did explode nearby Burke's position. Burke himself managed to catch three grenades and tossed them back at the Chinese. At the same time, troops from Burke's company threw grenades, some of which did not reach their Chinese targets and exploded in close proximity to Burke's position. Burke abandoned the dirt berm by crawling off to the side where he found cover in a gully. The gully itself ended further up Hill 200 at a Korean burial mound.

After having edged his way up the hill, Burke peeked over the top of the burial mound. He witnessed the main Chinese trench, which was approximately 100 yards away from his position. The trench was covered in enfilade, was curved around the hill, and contained a myriad of Chinese troops. Surprisingly, the Chinese were in a state of ease as some of the soldiers talked, sat, and laughed while other units were throwing grenades and firing mortars. Burke went down the gully to Company G's position and told Sergeant Arthur Foster, the senior NCO, "Get'em ready to attack when I give you the signal!"

Burke then dragged the last functioning machine gun along with three cans of ammunition back up the hill. On top of the burial mound, he set up his tripod, mounted his machine gun, set the screw to free traverse, and prepared his 250-round ammunition box. He began firing at the nearest part of the Chinese trench, where the mortars were located. After Burke shot at all of the Chinese mortar squads, he then fired upon a machine gun emplacement. Afterward, Burke fired up and down the trench, with the Chinese too shocked to react. Eventually, the Chinese fled down the trench in a panic. Burke continued to fire until his Browning was jammed. While he attempted to clear his weapon, an enemy started throwing grenades at his position. Burke not only ignored the enemy unit, but he also ignored the grenade fragments that tore open the back of his hand. Eventually, Burke was able to clear his weapon and kill the Chinese grenadier.

Meanwhile, Sergeant Foster was leading a small group to Burke's location and was summoned by Burke to provide extra firepower. Burke and company were convinced that they were under siege from a full-sized force instead of a few adamant skirmishers. As the Chinese retreated, Burke wrapped his field jacket around the machine gun's hot barrel sleeve and tore the 31-pound weapon off its tripod. He then wrapped the ammunition belt around his body, walked towards the trench, and fired upon retreating units. Naturally, Sergeant Foster and his men followed Burke. When Burke depleted his ammunition, he used his .45 automatic and grenades in order to clear out bunkers.

At Hill 200, Burke managed to kill over one-hundred men, decimate two mortar emplacements, and three machine-gun nests. For his actions, he was awarded the Medal of Honor at a White House ceremony on April 11, 1952.

 Burke also served during the Vietnam War until a helicopter he was flying in was shot down. This, in turn, forced him to return to the United States and undergo hospitalization for a long period of time. Overall, he spent thirty-five years in the US Armed Forces, served as the Army's Liaison Officer to the United States Congress, and retired with the rank of full Colonel in 1978.

Burke's first marriage to Virginia Fletcher Burke, ended in divorce. They had three children. His second wife Maxine, preceded him in death.

Burke suffered a massive heart attack and died at his home on June 1, 1999. He is buried at the Arlington National Cemetery Plot: Section 7A, Grave 155, and Map Grid U-23.5.