FRIDAY, MAY 29, 2015
THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS — 5
Local
Vietnam veteran Antoine Johannes Johnny
Thunderhawk Mulder shares extraordinary life
BY BRIAN ADDISON
Brian@TheBakerCountyPress.com
This year marks the
50th anniversary of the
start of the Vietnam War.
A half-century later there
are many military veterans
living with the mental and
physical scars from the
time spent in Vietnam.
This Memorial Day it is
important to keep these
soldiers in thoughts and
prayers and to thank them
for their supreme sacrifice.
Not all casualties of war
lose their lives in foreign
jungles and battlefields.
Some who gave their lives
in service to this country
come back home and live
among us after sacrificing
beyond the limits of human
tolerance.
This is true of Baker City
resident Antoine Johannes
Johnny Thunderhawk
Mulder.
“The families and the
soldiers who’ve served
overseas feel the same,
when you come back
you’re here, but you’re
not,” Mulder begins. “I
came back alive physically
but emotionally I’m as
dead as a coat-hanger. I’ve
had four wives and I’ve
tried to make a life of it.”
US Marine Corps Master
Sergeant Mulder served
in Vietnam, spending his
youth fighting in that coun-
try from 1967 to 1974. A
shirt hangs in his entryway
indicating his belonging to
the Marines Det. 4th Force
Reconnaissance Company,
Reno, Nevada. He lives by
the Marine creeds embla-
zoned on the shirt, Semper
Fidelis, Always Faithful;
and Celer Silens Moralis,
Live and Die for Mortality.
“We trained the Navy
Seals,” Mulder said.
He can’t speak about
much of his service due to
the nature of his orders but
does admit to his mission
in Infiltration and Execu-
tion, avoiding any detail.
Mulder’s life reads like
NRAC
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3
Harvey discussed that
the NRAC would be di-
vided up into smaller sub-
committees, covering the
following six categories:
Forest Resources/Wildfire/
Watersheds, Agriculture/
Livestock Grazing, Min-
ing, Recreation and Tour-
ism, Wildlife/Threatened
and Endangered Species,
and Energy. Energy is a
new topic this year, and
Bruland reminded the
committee that a plan
needs to be developed for
that category.
He displayed on a white-
board example recommen-
dations, including: no more
wilderness areas (or study
areas); no more roadless
areas; no wildlife cor-
ridors; and small riparian
areas (50 feet both sides).
Garrett discussed House
Resolution (HR) 1735, The
National Defense Autho-
rization Act for Fiscal
Year 2016, introduced by
Walden. He said, “It gives
the military its authority
to provide for the national
security of our country.
The listing of the (Greater)
Sage-Grouse would pres-
ent significant problems
to military readiness.” He
said that the bill includes
a 10-year delay in the
a Hollywood movie script
every bit as sensational
as any martial arts action
thriller.
He was raised in an Indo-
nesian Buddhist temple,
and following tradition as
the eldest son, was being
molded as a Buddhist
priest. He was trained in
the Indonesian martial arts,
a lethal form of Dung Fu,
in a world where the term
“martial art” is taken in
the literal sense. At age
16, while in Canton, China
he earned his Red Belt by
emerging victorious from a
death-match.
“I was raised in a Bud-
dhist temple in Indonesia
in that sense for that pur-
pose. You can’t understand
it if you don’t feel it,”
he tries to explain to this
American journalist.
A U.S. Marine Captain
witnessed Mulder emerge
victorious from the lethal
fight and afterward asked
him if he wanted to join
the U.S. Marines: an offer
he accepted and, lying
about his age, began his
service in the U.S. mili-
tary. His immigration into
the United States was
sponsored by an American
Indian family who gave
him the name “Johnny
Thunderhawk.”
“The Marines are the
best and I joined the best.
It’s as simple as that,” he
said. “I turned 18 in Viet-
nam. I took basic training
in San Diego at Camp La
Juene and jump training a
Fort Ord.”
Indonesia was in the
throes of a brutal civil war
at the time of his immigra-
tion to the U.S. and he
lost family members in
that war. The remaining
members of his family
were lost when they turned
their backs on him for the
decision to join the U.S.
Marines, he explains.
Mulder holds many
wartime experiences and
is unable to speak about
most of them because of
the top-secret classifica-
tion and emotional toll
taken, including time as a
prisoner of war.
“When I’d go out and
do things in Vietnam, I
automatically put in the
mind-set that I’m already
dead. You can’t kill a dead
man. You black everything
out,” he explains. “You
can’t live with it but you
can go on. I lost plenty of
friends. Too many. I’m sick
of bloodshed and won’t
pick up a gun to this day.”
Adding to his expertise
in hand-to-hand combat,
Mulder possesses extraor-
dinary linguistic skills and
speaks English, Cantonese,
French, German, Dutch,
Indonesian dialects, Su-
matran, Japanese, Danish,
Swiss, Cambodian, Thai,
Laotian, and four different
African dialects.
“I could go into the brush
and listen and identify the
language being spoken,”
he said of his value in
infiltration.
During his time in Viet-
nam, Mulder took a bride
and together they had a
daughter.
“I met a Vietnamese
woman and we had a baby
girl. Both were executed
by the Communists,” he
discloses. “That was the
love of my life. I shed all
my tears when she died, I
have none left.”
Cooking is another of
the skills Mulder brought
to the Marines and he used
the role of cook as a cover
in Vietnam. His service
and governmental experi-
ences include cooking in
the White House during
the Nixon and Reagan
administration, he said.
After the military,
Mulder used his culinary
knowledge to forge a
civilian career. His life as
a chef includes partnering
with Eddie “the Italian
Elvis” at Palermo’s in La
Grande, restaurant owner
in Baker City, and chef for
some of the finest restau-
listing of the Greater Sage-
Grouse, and preference for
State management plans,
when any Federal plans
are in contradiction. Cur-
rently, he said, the bill has
reached the Senate stage.
Harvey explained that
input and ideas from com-
mittee members would be
more thoroughly discussed
at the next NRAC meeting,
on June 23.
For citizen participation,
Dielman had concerns
about the timing of making
potential changes to the
NRP now, and asked, “And
the reason it can’t be dealt
with later? It’s a big plan,
a lot of pages. Everybody
in this room, or at this
table, knows what’s in the
plan, that was adopted five
years ago (December 22,
2010)… Is the committee’s
purpose to make changes
where necessary, or make
additions?”
Harvey responded that
the purpose is to find out if
changes need to be made
now to the NRP, because
there wouldn’t be an op-
portunity after it’s adopted
into the Comprehensive
Land Use Plan. He said
there is a new category,
Energy, that also needs to
be addressed.
Bruland said, “Because
we’re on the ground,
local people, we need to
work toward developing
levels of production that
are sustainable, that we
know we can do,” without
relying on state and federal
considerations. She went
on to broadly discuss with
the committee the differ-
ent topics/categories in
the NRP. She repeated
Harvey’s comments about
forming the sub-commit-
tees, and Harvey said,
“We’re going to attempt to
have (at least) four people
per category.”
Harvey said that Access
and Travel Management,
also included in the NRP,
was formed as a separate
committee, and members
will address the issues,
including any potential
changes to the NRP, also
within that committee.
Bruland said the County
Commission is going
to hire staff to assist the
NRAC with the coordi-
nation process with the
federal government. She
said the staff would be
involved with the NRAC
at some point, and Harvey
added that the staff would
give the NRAC updates
regarding the process.
Bruland reminded the
committee that the NRAC
exists to serve the County,
and that community input
should be considered,
and issues expressed by
the public, who would be
attending meetings periodi-
cally, should be addressed.
The NRAC didn’t form
sub-committees at this
meeting, but broadly dis-
Brian Addison / The Baker County Press
Antoine Johanness Johnny Thunderhawk Mulder here with his service dog
Shadow. Shadow saved Mulder’s life by pressing the emergency button on the
telephone.
rants in Las Vegas and
Seattle.
Mulder has been ac-
cepted with open arms into
Baker City resident Arvid
Andersen’s family. To-
gether with the Andersens,
he shares dinners, church
service, and communion.
“As happy as I’ve been
has been the time I’ve
spent with Arvid and his
family. I love them and
I‘d do anything to protect
them,” said Mulder.
Arvid speaks of a trip he
took with Mulder to the
Veteran’s Administration
in Seattle, Washington.
During the trip, the two
stopped at an Oriental
market in Everett, where
as coincidence would
have it, Mulder ran into a
Vietnamese married couple
he knew from Vietnam—
the man had helped the
Marines as a scout.
They conversed for a
while in Vietnamese, An-
dersen said.
Mulder said he’s known
in Seattle as a martial artist
and has had people recog-
nize him there and walk on
the other side of the street.
While familiar with the
cussed the different topics
within the NRP. Harvey,
Bruland and the commit-
tee discussed the NRP’s
content, including Purpose
and Need, Land Composi-
tion and Economic Base,
Custom and Culture,
Coordination, and Natural
Resource Goals and Objec-
tives.
Included in Purpose and
Need is the following:
“The (Baker County
Commission) Board
commits to the following
principles to guide deci-
sion making governing
natural resources within
the County:
1. Revitalization and
maintenance of multiple
uses on all public lands in
Baker County.
2. Multiple use shall be
inclusive rather than ex-
clusive, thereby avoiding
pitting one use
against
the other.
3. All plans should miti-
gate based on multiple use
rather than by a resource
by resource issue.
4. Maintain flexibility in
all plans to allow for ex-
traction of natural resourc-
es from public lands and
to continue to use existing
resources in accordance
with all laws.
5. Protect and preserve
the following rights of all
County’s citizens, includ-
ing:
a. Private property in-
terests, such as water rights
somewhat recent evolu-
tion of the sport of mixed
martial arts in this country,
he shows no interest in it.
“I’ve been asked to train
fighters but I don’t agree
with it. The first rule of
martial arts is no limita-
tion. Fighters have called
to ask for training. It’s
good for American sport
but to me it’s not really
martial arts because of too
much restriction. I grew
up with the instinct,” he
explains.
During the brief inter-
view with Mulder, emo-
tion, patriotism, and the
recognition of his value
as a soldier only entered
his tone on two subjects.
He explained that after
explaining some of his
war experiences that some
people have asked why he
didn’t desert. “That was
a heartbreaking thing to
hear,” he said.
The other subject that
brings about strong feel-
ings from Mulder is the
current state of U.S. gov-
ernment politics and lack
of commitment to military
veterans.
“I think Obama is a trai-
tor and a coward, He has
no business being Presi-
dent of this country. He
is against the VA and has
cut military benefits. He’s
cut my pension. Military
veterans have marched on
Washington in the past. Do
we need to do it again?” he
asked.
Mulder has lived in
Baker City since 1994
after moving here with his
then wife. He now lives
a quiet life and shares his
home with his two dogs
Coco and service dog and
savior Shadow. He has
endured two strokes and a
heart attack, caused by his
exposure to the U.S. use of
Agent Orange in Vietnam,
he supposes.
“My service dog Shadow
has saved my life four
times. She is trained to
push the land-line emer-
gency phone number and
she did it,” he said.
After living a life as a
warrior with experiences
outside the ordinary life he
closes this Memorial Day
interview with, “I just want
to die in peace.”
Todd Arriola / The Baker County Press
Doni Bruland is the new NRAC chair.
and access to lands, which
have ties to public lands,
b. Traditional economic
structures in the county
that form the base for eco-
nomic stability,
c. Historical custom,
culture and values of the
local people, and
d. Enjoyment of the
natural resources of the
County.”
Suggestions were made
about the different NRP
categories the committee
discussed broadly, includ-
ing comments from De-
frees, Parry and Justus that
any additional language in
the plan not be too specific,
because that could create
a locked-in limit to access,
production, etc., regarding
natural resources in the
future for the County.
Danser and Dielman add-
ed public comments at the
conclusion of the meeting.
Danser said, “Just reiter-
ating, the snowmobile use
needs to be added, and the
bicycle use, the moun-
tain bikes, and so forth.”
Bruland said that would be
addressed.
Dielman said, “The
last category there, En-
ergy, what all does that in-
clude?” Harvey responded
that, rather than touching
on topics such as global
warming, the category
would address land use
issues, such as wind farms,
solar, geothermal, etc.
The next meeting is
tentatively scheduled for
Tuesday, June 23, 2015, at
3 p.m., in the Commission
Chambers.