Honoring American Indian Veterans: Rosebud

George Whirlwind Soldier spent much of his younger years being raised by his mother and grandmother on the Rosebud Sioux Reservation in south central South Dakota. He credits his grandmother for providing the education he needed as a young Lakota.  “She ran the family.” He also gives credit to his mother and calls her his hero: “Lakota women have a nobleness about them—they probably don’t get told that enough.”  He received many life lessons from these women, but his education on Rosebud changed dramatically as he recalls the “black shiny cars” taking him and his younger brother to the mission school to continue their education.  He found himself at four other schools, each a little bit further from his home as he got older.  George graduated from Flandreau Indian School and he attended a state university before receiving his draft letter. 

Retired Army Veteran George Whirlwind Soldier, Rosebud Reservation

George was 21 when he reported for duty. “I was old compared to some of the kids.” Receiving his basic training in Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri, he was a medic for a MASH (Mobile Army Surgical Hospital) positioned in North Vietnam. He was witness to many tragic stories of fellow soldiers.  Some treatable– some were not.  This experience provided him life lessons that he would need when returning home. 

After the military, George enrolled at a university to continue his medical training. “I received a lot of experience in dealing with traumas.”  He was part of the first class to graduate from a Physician Assistants program. He worked through the National Health Service Corps and was assigned to different locations where services were scarce and areas remote.  He was assigned to the Havasupai reservation, located at the bottom of the Grand Canyon, worked in Seattle, and finally returned to Rosebud until his retirement nearly 30 years later. 

George retired in 2000 and found himself having to protect his own health.  An illness diagnosed a couple of years ago reduced him to a mere 118 pounds…“I felt like I was stuck to the floor.”  His weight is climbing and his strength is returning.  He hopes to become more active in educating others as he was taught so many years ago by his grandmother and mother.  He talks about returning to the Pow Wow circle with his bustle and begin dancing again.  When he reflects on his service and asked why he feels so many Native Americans serve the military in higher numbers than any other group in the United States, “I took a vow, a sacred vow.” Protecting family and community is inherit among Native Americans and “respect for relationships is paramount.”

**Laura Schad is an enrolled member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe in SD. She holds an Associate’s in Early Childhood Education from Oglala Lakota College. For over a decade, Laura worked with Head Start and rural initiatives. Currently, she does field visits with NRC Program Partners and participants on many reservations.