Posted: 3/18/2007 10:51:10 PM EDT
|
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/obituaries/articles/2007/03/16/billy_walkabout_57_highly_decorated_native_american_veteran/ HARTFORD -- Billy Walkabout, a native Cherokee whose actions in Vietnam made him one of the most decorated soldiers of the war, died March 7 at a hospital in Norwich, his stepdaughter said. He was 57. Mr. Walkabout received the Distinguished Service Cross, Purple Heart, five Silver Stars, and five Bronze Stars. He was believed to be the most decorated Native American soldier of the Vietnam War, according to Department of Defense reports. Mr. Walkabout, who lived in Montville, died of pneumonia and renal failure, said his stepdaughter, Randi Johnson of Norwich. He had experienced complications related to his exposure to the Agent Orange defoliant used during the Vietnam conflict, she said, and he had been on a kidney transplant waiting list. Mr. Walkabout was born in Cherokee County, Okla., and lived much of his life in Oklahoma before moving to Connecticut about seven years ago. He and his wife, Juanita Medbury-Walkabout, lived in an area that is home to Mashantucket Pequots and other Native American tribes. Mr. Walkabout, a Cherokee of the Blue Holley Clan, was an 18-year-old Army Ranger sergeant when he and 12 other soldiers were sent on an assassination mission behind enemy lines on Nov. 20, 1968, near Hue. However, they ended up in the enemy's battalion area and came under fire for hours. Mr. Walkabout's citation for the Distinguished Service Cross said that he placed himself between the enemy and his wounded comrades and returned fire. As he tried to help the wounded, a mine blast ripped through the squad. "Although stunned and wounded by the blast, Sergeant Walkabout rushed from man to man administering first aid, bandaging one soldier's severe chest wound and reviving another soldier by heart massage," the citation states. "Only when the casualties had been evacuated and friendly reinforcements had arrived, did he allow himself to be evacuated." Only Mr. Walkabout survived. He retired at the rank of second lieutenant. In a 1986 interview, Mr. Walkabout said his 23 months in Vietnam left him with disabling injuries and memories that refused to fade. "War is not hell," Mr. Walkabout said. "It's worse." He said he struggled with failed marriages, thoughts of suicide, and years of self-isolation. "Everyone I went to high school with thought I was dead for years. They're amazed when they see me and they say, 'You're not dead.' " Mr. Walkabout said. He said he often refused to sleep near his wife, afraid he would strangle her in his sleep or try to push her under the bed to protect her from imagined bombs. Over the years, however, he found solace in the Native American powwows, where he often was an honored guest, leading the traditional dances in time to the pounding drums and chant of the singers. "I'm at peace with myself," Mr. Walkabout said in 1986. "I've got my dignity and I've got my pride. . . . I never lost the war in Vietnam, I never lost a day of it. Even when I was wounded, I didn't lose. When I fought, I won. I won my wars." Mr. Walkabout met his future wife, Juanita, when she was attending school in Oklahoma, and they moved to Connecticut after their marriage to be close to her family, Johnson said. As part of a Cherokee ceremony, Mr. Walkabout's family and friends tended a round-the-clock fire in Montville for four days after his death. The smoke fire is believed to carry prayers to heaven and spiritual messages from place to place around the world, and to carry Mr. Walkabout's soul back to the creator once the embers had cooled, Johnson said. © Copyright 2007 Globe Newspaper Company. |
|
Also at: www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=18344101 I’m just astounded at five Silver Stars!!  I’m also a little confused at him retiring as a Second Lieutenant. 
I remember the assurances that it was harmless. I wonder how many RVN vets have ultimately been killed by that stuff? (Though I suspect it just as well we don’t know, because I think the number would be really, really large – and still growing.) |