Page 8
Spilyay Tymoo, Warm Springs, Oregon
Welcome Home
Vietnam Veterans
A s Warm Springs veterans advocates
ar e getting ready for the Welcome
Home Vietnam Veterans Parade and
Expo, here are profiles of Warm
Springs veterans of the Vietnam era:
Randy Boise, Sr. was drafted
into the Army in 1971. His wife
Bernie saw him off to training in
Ft. Lewis, Washington for boot
camp and Advanced Infantry Train-
ing.
Afterward, he flew to Vietnam,
where to serve in the Second 327
Airborne Air Mobile Unit.
“We were all over with our unit,”
Randy says. “We patrolled to make
sure there was no enemy movement.
We didn’t get into any firefights like
the vets from the 1960s, but we had
a lot of hit and runs. They’d fire at
us and then disappear.”
Randy is affected by the war
from Agent Orange, Post Traumatic
Stress Disorder, and other ailments.
“PTSD caused me a lot of prob-
lems when I got home,” he says.
After being denied benefits,
Randy is still working on getting
medical care. Having attend the
first two Welcome Home Vietnam
Veterans events Randy says,
“I’m glad that people are show-
ing there are no regrets toward those
who served over there. The earlier
ones were called ‘baby killers.’ That
affected everyone who served af-
ter them. It took me 40 years to
seek help. I didn’t know what I was
suffering from. Any family mem-
bers of a veteran should help them
to seek help.”
Alfred Smith Jr. served in the
U.S. Army from 1963 to 1965 in
ground surveillance (radar) and in
field communications.
He completed basic training and
advanced infantry training in Ft.
Ord, California, and then jump
school in Ft. Benning, California.
“The discipline and the experi-
ence made me grow up,” Alfred
says.
In 1965, right after the Cuban
Missile Crisis, Alfred was sent to the
Dominican Republic with the 82 nd
Airborne Division. He related,
“They locked us in the barracks for
four weeks before we got deployed,
telling us we were on Immediate
Ready Force. I thought we were
going to Vietnam.”
At the Dominican Republic he
served as a bodyguard for the bat-
talion commander. “We took a walk
into the town and were pinned down
by gunfire. The Dominicans didn’t
want us there,” Alfred says.
Another less threatening encoun-
ter took place at the PX: “I saw a
guy with one of those basketball
jackets labelled ‘Toppenish.’ He said
he was Yakama. His name is John
Winnier. He was in the barracks
next to me. Another guy was in the
same unit as I was, from South
Dakota, by the name of Raymond
Patenoid.”
Around 1964, Alfred and the
entire 82 nd Airborne Unit jumped
out of a C-130 division for the
change of command. His unit
jumped first and got to watch the
whole division of 10,000 jump in
to the drop zone called Sicily.
“It sure looked pretty,” he says.
“Some 50- or 60,000 of them died
in Vietnam—For what?”
On his return: “I flew into Port-
land, and then took a bus home to
Warm Springs. I walked down to
my sister Louise Langley’s home,
where I got a pretty good greeting.”
About the reception of other
Vietnam veterans, Alfred says, “I
remember watching the protesters
on the news, spitting on them.”
Alfred adds, “About two years
ago I got in touch with two of my
buddies. One was in Portland and
the other in Illinois. We would get
together for the weekend for a cook
out.”
Alfred comes from a long line
of veterans. On his mother’s side,
Jake Thomas served as a lieuten-
ant in the U.S. Calvary and helped
capture Captain Jack. “My father
Alfred Smith Sr. served in Army in
World War I. My brother Russel
Smith was in the Navy, and was on
two ships that sunk. He was
wounded twice and received two
purple hearts.
“My brother Roscoe Smith
served in the Navy in World War II
in the Battle of the Coral Sea on
the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown.
That aircraft carrier was sunk in
Okinawa.”
He continues, “We’ve traced our
family tree clear back to the Battle
of Waterloo.”
The effects of war on Alfred
came in the forms of hearing loss
and PTSD. He says, “I don’t like to
be around crowds. I’m basically a
loner. If you’re in a war, you go
through a lot of bad things. I no-
ticed symptoms of PTSD in my
brothers.
“Two years ago, during the first
Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans
Parade, I received a card made by
a young child. In it she said that
she wanted to go in to the military.
I still have that card she drew.”
April 25, 2018
Warm Springs Veterans
of the Vietnam era
Charles Tailfeathers Sr. en-
listed in the U.S. Navy in 1968 at
Butte, Montana. “My family didn’t
know that I enlisted,” Charles says.
“In my family, my first cousin
Ronald Windy Boy was an Army
veteran who served in Vietnam.
Sam Vernon Windy Boy Jr. served
in the Navy, and my uncle John
Windy Boy was an Army veteran
who served in Germany.”
Charles travelled to Vietnam by
commercial airline and landed in Da
Nang. “We were stationed one-
eighth of a mile from the airport.
The first thing we did was to set up
our camp security system, then we
moved some Seabees to other ar-
eas within five miles of Da Nang.
“There were helicopters flying
over us 24-seven, along with rocket
attacks.”
Besides security duty and night
combat, Charles flew into the de-
militarization zone—the DMZ—
taking in equipment and working on
tanks.
While in Da Nang, Charles met
his cousin from Rocky Boy, Mon-
tana, whom he recalls “strolling into
our camp saying, ‘I heard you were
here!’” His cousin went on to China
Beach.
Upon his return to the U.S.,
Charles was met at the California
airport by protesters who threw
eggs on the uniformed men and
made derogatory remarks. Upon
discharge, he made his way back to
Rocky Boy, where he was welcomed
by 30 below zero temperatures.
The reception at home was a
stark contrast to the landing in Cali-
fornia. “It was awesome,” Charles
says. “They put on a powwow and
ceremonies to welcome us home.”
The effects of war on Charles
are still felt today. “The dreams are
still there,” he says. “After these
many years the PTSD is still there.
I like to help the veterans no mat-
ter where I go. That’s why I hold a
Veterans Summit every summer and
am active with local veterans.”
Charles is the post commander
of the Eugene “Cougar” Greene Sr.
American Legion Post. “I do my
best to help veterans understand
their benefits, and be familiar orga-
nizations like the Oregon Depart-
ment of Veteran Affairs, American
Legion, and tribal veterans repre-
sentatives. Veterans must get the
important things like medical ben-
efits.” Charles closed by saying,
“Some hate the government be-
cause of the issues they have with
it. The government owes veterans
gratitude, the benefits they deserve.”
These are the Vietnam War
era veterans of Warm Springs:
Lloyd Adam
Leroy Allen, Sr.
Tracy Arthur
KeithBaker
Cecil J. Bettles
Randy Boise, Sr.
Gilbert Brunoe
Garland Brunoe
Ted Brunoe
Charles Calica
Gordon Cannon
Terrance Courtney, Jr.
Daniel Craig, Jr.
Kenneth D. Curry
Ellison David, Sr.
Phillip David
Tony Fuentes
Tony Gilbert, Sr.
David Gonzales
Ray Grabner
Elton Greeley
Hamilton Greeley
Curtis Guerin
Johhnie Guerin
Gaylord Heath
Kirby Heath, Sr.
Leo Hellon
Charles R. Herkshan
Enos Herkshan
Ray Lyle Holiday
Ray Edward Holliday
Marvin Ike, Sr.
Harvey Jim
Wilford Johns, Jr.
D. Kalama
Larson Kalama, Sr.
Ronald Kalama
Ross Kalama, Jr.
Thomas Kalama
Daniel Katchia
Larry Langley
Spud Langnese, III
Calvin Two Bears Lee
Dennis Leonard
Uren Leonars, Jr.
Truman Lumpmouth, Sr.
Richard Macy
Vinson Macy
Daniel Martinez
Francisco Martinez
Henry D. Martinez
Jack McClelland
Ivan McKinley
Duane Miller, Sr.
Everett Miller
Harry Miller
Kenman Miller
Susan Guerin
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Frank Mitchell
Jameson Mitchell
Jeff Mitchell
Patrick Mitchell
Charles Moody
Rob Moran
Victor Moses
Johnny James
Polk
Jim Quaid
Raphael Queahpama
Melvin Queahpama
Edward Reed
Frederick Reed, Jr.
Jim Sahme
Gerald Sampson, Sr.
Jeffrey Sander, Sr.
Robert Sanders, Sr..
Rick Santos
Richard Scott
Danny Scott
Elmer Scott, Jr.
Nat Shaw
Alfred Smith, Jr.
Bruce Smith
Claude Smith, Jr.
Darryl Smith
Emerson Smith
Janice Smith
Milan Smith, Jr.
Randy Smith
Raymond Gene Smith
Roger Smith
Ronald Smith
Jerry St. Germaine
William C. Stacona
Melvin Stahi, Sr.
Merlin Standing Yellow
Horse
Erwin Stwyer
Erland Suppah
Tony Suppah
Fabian Sutterlee, Sr.
Danny Tababoo, Jr.
Charles Tailfeathers, Sr.
James Teeman
Manuel Teeman
Louis Tewee
Willard Tewee
James Thomas
Edwin J. Thomas
Dennis Thompson
Richard Tohet
Eldon Tom
Raymond Tsumpti, Sr.
Lawrence Tufti
Robert Warner, Sr.
Gerald Wewa