Smoke signals., April 01, 2013, Page 9, Image 9

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APRIL 1,2013
Smoke Signals 9
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Photos by Michelle Alaimo
Cheyenne Simmons, 1 1, makes fry bread in the kitchen of the Tribal
Community Center during Native Youth Wellness l-v.
Day on Friday, March 1 5. The girls made a meal of jffiTTTPI
stew and fry bread for a community dinner that IfrH'I'JLB j
took place that evening. page to sec more photos
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Jade Colton, 18, makes beaded necklaces at the Tribal Community
Canter during Native Youth Wellness Day on Friday, March 1 5.
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Contributed photo
Frank Hostler poses in Baghdad during the Iraq War. Behind him is Saddam
Hussein's Place 99. The number 99 is a lucky number for Muslims, Hostler
said. The photo was taken at night to avoid revealing any operational secrets.
Ad created by George Valdez
WAR continued
from page 8
As far as democracy was con
cerned, he said, "They had no con
cept of voting, of a pay raise, of
taking a vacation, of retirement.
Even when we caught Saddam, they
were still worried that he would
come back. Their infrastructure was
so damaged. There were no parks.
Refrigeration was a luxury.
"They're very humble people,
especially when they found out I
was Native: 1 saw you on TV,' they
would say. 'You Apache.' I said,
Teah, that'll work.' "
Quenelle also remembered the
poverty.
'They're very, very poor," he said.
"When you look at the surroundings,
the environment, everything from
their buildings to their vehicles. Their
clothes are very simple compared to
our clothing here in America."
He said that "trash was all over
the place."
And he remembered the smells:
natural gas burning off of stacks
from the pipelines - "All that mil
lions and millions of dollars being
wasted, burned into the atmosphere
because they didn't have the capa
bility or resources or know-how to
house, manufacture and distribute
this natural gas."
Hostler said that when he returns
to Grand Ronde, "I'm going back to
the classroom to do urban studies,"
similar in some ways to the work
he did rebuilding Iraqi communi
ties and working to build good will
across Iraq.
"You look at the world stage,"
he said about his hopes for the
country, "and soccer is the common
denominator. One day, I hope to
see Iraq in the Olympics on its way
to becoming a very proud country.
That would be the most rewarding
compliment."
He said he "threw out good en
ergy" and praised the virtues of
the common people, but "traded
rounds with very bad people. I'm
going to throw back, that's just the
way it is."
Hostler served in the Navy from
1985-88. He joined the Army in Feb
ruary 2001 and hopes to have his
discharge papers in hand soon.
Quenelle served for 9.5 years in
the Army, from October 1998 to
February 2008, five of those years
on active duty.
"Surviving that last roadside
bomb," he said, "you kind of won
der who dies and who stays alive,
who ends up getting injured and
who comes back without a single
scratch. You never know if your
time is up or not, if you're going to
die or not that day."
He is receiving compensation for
the constant ringing in his right
ear. "I have 25 percent hearing
loss. Both ears constantly feel like
I'm taking off in an airplane. Ever
since this IED, I haven't been able
to get my ears to pop." And he has
constant migraine headaches.
His left shoulder has bursitis and
both his shoulder and his left elbow
have degenerative joint disease.
There is nerve damage and there's
a little bit of muscle torn from the
bone in his arm.
Quenelle participated in 250 com
bat missions while in Iraq.
Still, he says, "If I had to do the
whole deployment again, knowing
what I know now, I'd do it." D