Image provided by: The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs; Warm Springs, OR
About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 1, 2005)
Pqcje 10 Spilyqy Tymoo September 1, 2005 Medals: twice wounded in Korea (Continued from page 1) "1 graduated from here and moved on to Madras. Hy then I was 17 years old, almost 18. I tried to talk to my mom. I told her I'm not learning anything there. 'I'm too old for that school,' I said." Vahtin wanted to join the military because it offered vo cational opportunities, things he felt he needed to learn so he could get a good-paying job. I Us mother wouldn't let him join the army, so he waited until he was 18. I le hitched a ride from Ma dras to Bend and signed up. "Hut 1 didn't ask for no war," he said. I le had to wait a week be fore there were enough recruits to transport to basic training. 1 le went through basic at Fort Ord in Northern California before his unit, the Fourth Infantry Division, was sent to Japan. Like many veterans of com bat. Vahtin's memories, and mis givings, are vivid. "Just like right now, I didn't feel like I should be involved in a war for the U.S.," he said. "I couldn't believe that I should go to war for the U.S., because of the way that we (Native Ameri cans) had been treated. But I had to. I had no choice. "It was worse when we wenf to In-chon. I was just an ambu lance driver. I was not a com bat medic. And so when In chon happened, they unloaded me and my truck, and handed me a weapon, with eight clips and eight grenades. "They sent me out there to pick up the wounded, all by my lonesome. No directiohs; nothJ ing. They just expected me to ' do it on my own, I guess. So it was quite a thing for me to go to In-chon and not really know what I was supposed to do or where I was supposed to go." F.vcn though he had a loaded weapon, Vahtin said that if he fired it, it was only in response to enemy fire, just to defend himself. Though he was originally awarded a Purple I leart, he was wounded twice, giving him credit for a golden cluster, to signify a second wound. The first came Dec. 7, 1950, only a month after he arrived in Korea, at Chosin Reservoir. I lis unit was retreating, and he was hit high on the left thigh. "I ended up in the hospital for four months," he said. "It still kind of hurts. Cold weather really hurts it." The second rime was June 2, 1951, when his unit was involved in a motor attack. "I was in my ambulance, and my ambulance got knocked out with me in it," he said. "I got shrapnel. Totaled my truck." Yahtin was in Korea until 1954, when he was sent back to the US., to Fort Lewis, Wash. He was back stateside, but that didn't mean it would be easy on Yahtin, then still only 23 years old. "It was a bad time to be dis charged because when I came back, I was really screwed up," he said. "It was never regarded as a (medical) problem. But I had been through so much com bat, and seen so many people dying, some of them on me, leaning on me and talking to me, telling me not to let them die. "All those things, even today, bother me. When I came back, they stationed me at Fort Lewis, and I couldn't deal with being in a barracks with a bunch of other people. The only way out for me was to just go some where. And, of course, even I didn't know what was wrong with me. I thought T was crazy! I was seeing all these things. I was seeing people talking to me. I didn't want to be involved with anybody. I didn't want to know anybody. That's the way I was when I came back to the US." But in a time before anyone, including military personnel, was diagnosed or treated for Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome, the Army appeared neither Under standing nor sympathetic toward Yahtin, and he was dishonorably discharged. He got married and raised a family, but he wasn't healed. It wasn't until the 1970s when he met a Veterans Administration counselor named Carl Whaley. "And this guy, he brought all this stuff out of me. I didn't understand it fully myself. I le filled me in about post-traumatic stress," he said. "He would come to my house, visit with me, talk with me." Yahtin has mementos, articles of clothing to wear when he and fellow veterans arc honored. I le has a jacket with honors he had already received. He had received a Japanese Occupation pin, three Presiden tial Unit citations for his time spent in Korea, and a Korean Defense Medal. He still works in the woods with his oldest son and still finds great peace. "When my boy came back, I let him run the equipment. But I enjoy it," he said. "It just takes everything away from me. I drive my grader, listen to it run, and do what I have to do." He said he is more at peace with his time spent in Korea more than a half-century ago, and is candid about his experi ence. But his experience there gives him a perspective on the current Iraqi conflict, which, like the Korean War, he calls "the President's war." In the fall, he meets other Korean War veterans in Milwaukie, where Yahtin said there are still many survivors. Fry bread: difference of opinion (Continued from page 3) "It isn't the culprit that has made Indian people heavy," said Tammy L. Brown, nutrition con sultant with Indian Health Service's diabetes division. "It's the fast foods, the sugary drinks. It's the overall diet." But, if fry bread gets Indi ans talking about health, then that's fine by Brown and Harjo. "Just because it was food that was forced on us doesn't mean we have to keep embracing it," Harjo said. For a long time, Indians have made fun of commodities and even refer to an overweight per son as having a "commod bod." Jokes are tossed around that fry bread has killed more Indians than the federal government. But artist Steven Deo, a Creek and Euchee Indian, said laughing is a way Indians have dealt with obesity and diabetes. "At some point, we have to confront that," he said. "We have to prepare the next generation to come out of that poverty, to strive for bigger and better things." Deo created a series of pub lic service announcement post ers, and debuted his first one -a picture of a big, tan piece of fry bread with the words: "Frybread Kills" - at a show in New Mexico last year. "It has stirred some contro versy," Deo said. "But at least we're talking about it now." It's mid-day at the Health O'odham Promotion Program, or the HOPP, and the step class is in full, sweaty swing. Health lessons are postered around the gym, reminding Indians to get their five fruits and vegetables a day and that white bread and rice convert quickly to sugar. Music is blaring, the treadmills are filling up and Mashone Antone, 36, is on her second trip to the community gym today. Last October she took a hard look at her life: She was over weight and so were two of her three children. They stayed in the house a lot, ate fast food, indulged in fry bread and barely thought about health. But Antone, a juvenile pro bation officer, wanted to change that, for her children and for herself. Now she's up every day at 5 a.m. for a two-mile walk, then hits the HOPP before work and again after work. She's shed 30 pounds and wants to lose 50 more, Her daughter often joins her at the gym, and now the family takes walks and plays basketball. Soda is out, fruits and veg etables are in, and fry bread is now only a rare treat. "When I think about it, that was my downfall," Antone said. "I don't miss it." Harjo would be proud. But getting someone with Antone's enthusiasm is a challenge for the gym's staff. Nutritionists esti mate 80 percent of the Tohono O'odham people are obese. They hold a weight loss chal lenge, fun runs, and offer nutri tion counseling. LMlfc C: f r V:n - !S 94 Ford Bronco, W A 'w. owegray $4,995 3XT1 94 Ford Explorer.auto, 4x4 595 3i $4,: on 93Ford txpiorer, 4x4, 2-door $3,695 i 89 Courje I Deville, loaded $1,995 98 Geo Metro Come see our inventory! Many other models to see! 7 Sale starts Soplombor Jot. 0 A T T . X?.T.T,r)-TTTTP TF TT7 SS I Coupon good ' ft ' ,t j thru9-3M005, I ,lj i I Must t 18 or old dil I f -f Pb 4ib rjfo rffe ISZtt&C Sign up to Grand Prize EDrawing! 25" TV by Sharp S- Video Input Front & Rear AV Inputs Universal Remote 250340 Reg. $239 5 CD CHANGER STEREO SYSTEM by Panasonic ( ? )n ?175 360 Watts 5 Disc CD Changer 3-Way Speakers Dual Cassette Deck Full Function Remote Reg. $199 SC-AK330K 5 CHANNEL . RACK SYSTEM gx-10095 I ! by JVC Mega 500 Watts (S 5 Disc CD Changer vj) Dual Cassette Tape Deck 5 Speakers AudioVideo Receiver Reg. $995 2 CHANNEL RACK SYSTEM by JVC 220 Watts wan 4 speaxer surrouna 200 Digital Disc Changer JS j Dual Cassette Tape Deck 2 Large Speakers "a . G J 1 GX-8876 Reg. $659 40" 16:9 PROJECTION HDTV byZENITH HD Grade Optics HD Focus Improved Digital Display Fine Pitch Screen R40W46 Reg. $999 21cu.ft. REFRIGERATOR byHaier 4 Adjustable Spill-Proof Split Glass Shelves 3 Full-Width Door Shelves Ice-maker Available $499 Reg. $569 HT21WAAW SWASHER & DRYER by Speed Queen 3.3CUF Frontload Washer Speed Quee Now Available CTS90AWF CES68AWF 1 299 $569 Reg. $1399 Reg. $619 15 cu. ft. TOP MOUNT REFRIGERATOR Conservator vfi byCrosley Rl $ Reg. $499 CRTE151A Two Adjustable Slide-Out Wire Shelves Dual Temperature Controls Gallon Door Storage 449 WASHER & DRYER by Crosley . ( ! CW8500 CDE6500 $459 $349 Reg. $489 Reg. $369 Selected Appliance Electronics on Sale. Six months same as cash to qualified buyers. ffP "t7n7 & FURNITURE I f 9 am - 6 pm M-F I 9 am - 3 pm Sat. Closed Sundays 525 S.E. 5th St., Madras OR 475-2578 Sale Ends September 30, 2C0S s m explorer, auto, ' J Am A A-eievr 2 LS 1 $3,995 t $3,995 (541) 475-7314, 1765 SW Hwy S7, f.'.:i,i:, C : : . . 1 ( :rt t C.:r Fcrd)