Distinctly Montana Magazine

w w w . d i s t i n c t l y m o n t a n a . c o m 59 veterans are exemplary, using their military experiences as corner- stones to complement their Native heritage and to build lifetimes of community service. While Navajo code talkers became famous, several Montana tribes also sent code talkers into World War II. Code talkers were sworn to secrecy and so they never spoke about their work, even to their families. With declassification and passage of the Code Talkers Recognition Act of 2008, code talkers gained well-deserved credit. The act, passed on the heels of the 1994 memorial act, man- dated the U.S. mint to strike gold medals for tribes and silver med- als for individuals who served in this capacity. Forty-eight members of Montana's Fort Peck Reservation served as code talkers in the Montana National Guard's Company B, 163rd Infantry Regiment. These men used their Native Sioux and Assiniboine languages to communicate messages that the enemy could not decode. Ironical- ly, most code talkers attended government boarding schools where the use of Native languages was forbidden. Venerated Crow chief Joseph Medicine Crow, recipient of a Bronze Star and the Presidential Medal of Freedom, counted coups on the battlefield in France during World War II. Wearing an eagle feather in his helmet and two red stripes of war painted on his arms beneath his uniform, he recalled that it was this "strong Indian medicine" that brought him home safe. He became an acclaimed educator and advocate, traveling many times to Washington, D.C., to represent his people. Barney Old Coyote, Jr., became the most decorated World War II Native American veteran. He grew up on the Crow Reservation, proud of his distinguished Crow ancestry. His grandfather fought with the U.S. Army in the 1876 Battle of the Rosebud, precursor to the Battle of Little Big Horn. Barney enlisted in the Army at 17 with his parents' permission, days after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. He and his brother, Henry, fought together as aerial gunners on B-17's. Barney described the experience as traumatic, "…because you never know when that next burst is gonna hit, or if that next fighter airplane is gonna get you." Barney's military honors include recognition as a code talker and flying ace. After service, he worked as a special assistant to the Secretary of the Interior under President Lyndon Johnson where he contributed to numerous projects benefitting Native Americans. In 1970, he initiated the Native American Studies Program at MSU, and later, with Henry, translated and published Way of the Warrior: Stories of the Crow People, one of few works about Native Ameri- cans edited and published by Native authors. Not all soldiers were so lucky. Louis Charles "Chuck" Charlo was a direct descendant of the Salish chief Three Eagles, who welcomed Lewis and Clark to the Bitterroot Valley in 1805, and the venerated Salish chiefs Victor and Charlo. Chuck enlisted in the Marines with parental permission weeks after his 17th birthday in 1943. He revered his ancestors and believed that continuing his warrior heritage was the right thing to do. Trained in combat and assault, Chuck served with the 5th Marine Division, 28th Regi- ment, Company F. Deployed aboard the USS Missoula to Japanese-held Iwo Jima in 1945, Chuck participated in the Americans' eventual capture of the island in the war's bloodiest battle. Dodging enemy fire, Chuck and three others were the first Americans to scale the treacherous slope of Mount Suribachi where the flag of the USS Missoula was planted at the summit. Scaling Suribachi a second time, Chuck provided cover for the iconic, second American flag raising that became World War II's most famous photograph. Two weeks later as he at- tempted to carry a wounded comrade to safety, enemy snipers killed them both. They were among 6,800 American lives lost at Iwo Jima. Crow chief Joseph Medicine Crow with President and Mrs. Obama

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