{"id":12144,"date":"2021-05-31T10:42:13","date_gmt":"2021-05-31T14:42:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.indianz.com\/News\/?p=12144"},"modified":"2021-05-31T10:42:13","modified_gmt":"2021-05-31T14:42:13","slug":"tim-giago-thanking-native-veterans-for-their-service","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2021\/05\/31\/tim-giago-thanking-native-veterans-for-their-service\/","title":{"rendered":"Tim Giago: Thanking Native veterans for their service"},"content":{"rendered":"\"tomb\r\n
A wreath in honor of Native veterans was placed at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, on November 1, 2019, to mark the start of Native American Heritage Month. The wreath was created by Shayai Lucero (Acoma Pueblo\/Laguna Pueblo, owner of Earth & Sky Floral Designs and Gallery<\/a> in New Mexico) at the request of Native employees of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Photo by Indianz.Com (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)<\/a><\/figcaption>\r\n
Notes from Indian Country<\/div>\r\n
Thank you for your service<\/div>\r\n
Monday, May 31, 2021<\/div>\r\n
By Tim Giago (Nanwica Kciji \u2013 Stands Up For Them)<\/div>\r\n

<\/P>\r\nPerhaps because it is the Memorial Day weekend, this morning I woke up with the bugle call of \u201creveille\u201d in my mind.

<\/P>\r\nAnd then I heard the sound of the Boatswain Mate\u2019s whistle echoing through the address system on the ship. “Reveille, Reveille, up all hands. Heave out, trice up. The smoking lamp is lighted in all authorized spaces.\u201d

<\/P>\r\nReveille and taps were the two bugle calls that introduced us to our lives in the military. Reveille to wake us up and taps to put us to sleep. But taps was also the mournful bugle call we heard at the funerals of our fallen comrades.

<\/P>\r\nIt took me back to a time when we were marching in a driving rain on the grinders of the United States Navy Recruit Depot in San Diego. That early winter of 1952 it rained and it rained. Most of the guys in my company wore out at least two pair of boots in the 3 months we marched in that rain.

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\r\n Video by Indianz.Com: Native veterans wreath at Tomb of the Unknown Soldier<\/a>\r\n<\/figcaption>\r\n

<\/p>\r\nOur grinder was separated from the grinder of the U.S. Marine Corps Recruitment Center by a tall Euro steel fence. There were days we marched right next to their fence. The Marines were almost always marching in full combat gear with backpacks. We kind of felt sorry for them.

<\/P>\r\nAll though the Marines are technically a part of the U. S. Navy and often serve aboard ships at sea there is an almost comedic rivalry between the Marines and the Navy. We make crude jokes about each other.

<\/P>\r\nFor instance, in Navy jargon if you are in a big hurry, but still have to be nice and clean, but you just don\u2019t have time for a shower, etc., you take a Marine bath: You wash what shows, powder what stinks, and run like hell.

<\/P>\r\nOn one big military base that housed the Marines, the Navy, the Army and the Air Force, there was the joke about telling time on the PA system. It went, \u201cFor the Navy, Army and Air Force, the time is now 1600 hours. For the Marines, the big hand is on the 12 and the little hand is on the four.\u201d I\u2019m sure the Marines had some ditties about sailors that could top ours.

<\/P>\r\n\"timgiago\"\r\n

Tim Giago. Photo courtesy Native Sun News Today<\/a><\/figcaption>\r\n

<\/p>\r\nIn the Navy we called the regular Army guys Beetle Crushers or Ground Pounders and we called the guys in the Air Force, Flaps or Air Heads. The common name given to Sailors by other branches of the military was swabbies, because we were always swabbing the deck.

<\/P>\r\nIn the Navy we didn\u2019t have windows, we had port holes. We didn\u2019t have walls, we had bulkheads, and we didn\u2019t have pillars we had stanchions, and floors were decks and ceilings were overheads. We had two forms of Navy blue uniforms; dress blues and our undress blues. Most of the time we wore dungarees and chambray shirts. Of course we made sure they were bell-bottomed.

<\/P>\r\nAll of the idiosyncrasies between branches of the service disappeared in combat. We all stood together with a common purpose against a common enemy. And that\u2019s what made us Americans. Native American service men and women are often asked, \u201cWhy did you choose to serve in the military of a country that has taken everything from you?\u201d Most of us answer, \u201cBecause it is our country also.\u201d\r\n

<\/P>\r\nBut that\u2019s just a part of it. We also have grandparents, parents and children who are threatened by the enemy we fought against. And deep in our hearts, we are warriors. After all, Native Americans fought against the United States Army for more than 100 years.

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