I would like to thank all those in the IAIA community who have asked about my two sons who are in the U.S. Army somewhere in southern Iraq. There are no words to describe the comfort your words and prayers bring. Many of us IAIA faculty and staff are Baby Boomers with memories of the Vietnam War and the pain the war brought the country while it raged and the pain that continued years afterward–so much so that the Vietnam War now becomes the War of Comparison. Academia is not the usual realm where military veterans and families with sons and daughters in the military can find support and encouragement. In fact, the academic elite, safe in the proverbial Ivory Tower, can be quite antagonistic toward and dismissive of military service. But IAIA is not of that elitist spirit. Native faculty, staff, and students are in the midst of the battle our people have faced since First Contact. We know all about the use of WMDs. We know about struggles and battles. We live it.

Letters From Iraq

Subj: Break Time
Date: March 12, 2004
From: Dwayne Lucero
Hi mother dear, well everything here is going good. We're pretty much getting ready to ship out to Kuwait. We're just trying to get all the trucks in good condition so they can make the convoy back to Kuwait. I'm surprised at how fast the weeks are going by. It's almost halfway through the month and it seems like it just started. On Monday I'm going to go to BIAP [Baghdad International Airport]. We get to ride in a Black Hawk so that should be pretty interesting. The following week they’re sending me to something called Freedom Rest. I guess it's like a four day, little vacation. Speaking of vacation when we get back to Germany I think I'm just gonna stay there. I was gonna go home but the other day I looked at the amount of leave I have and it's only 3.5 days. I guess I'll just take five days and kick back in Germany. I'll probably go visit you guys for Christmas or something like that. I imagine you guys are pretty busy on the weekends. Dad has to take care of all that ditch business, Tessa is working, and you have to get ready for work. So I bet you’re ready to have your Spring Break. This year maybe you'll actually relax instead of cleaning the house or something like that. Hahaha. Whoa, I was just thinking that Tessie only has one more year of High School and then she's done. It's amazing how fast these years go by. I guess they’re starting to send over some National Guard or Reserves now. I see a lot of them. Well take care and tell the Fam I say "Hello.” Alrighty then, I'll talk to you guys soon.
Love,
Your Son Dwayne

Subj: And the war continues...
Date: April 8, 2004
From: Derek Lucero
Dearest Rita (and everyone else),
I hate to send mass emails like this, but unfortunately there is a strict time limit on internet usage here, so it’s the only way I'd be able to communicate to everyone at the same time. How are you doing? Well, I guess you could say I’m doing okay. Same old thing here in Baghdad city, except the Iraqis have seemed to become more invigorated in their attacks against us. We’re getting mortared and rocketed every night and sometimes in the day, too. Us 1 6 Infantry guys aren’t really bothered by it, because we’ve dealt with it for about a year. One night, a rocket landed so close to us that I thought it was going to kill us all in our tent (but it actually landed about 150 meters short and hit the water)...Well, about going home. Ain’t going to happen no time soon. I had five days left in the country, and then it was off to Kuwait, and the war was going to be over for me. But not anymore. I can’t tell you much, but here’s what I can tell you: Muqtada al-Sadr‘s army has taken over some cities south of Baghdad completely. Coalition Forces in those cities have pulled out to the outskirts of town and are waiting for us...I don’t know how long it’ll take or when I’ll come home, but they are saying that we will go back to Kuwait as soon as our mission is over. I’m guessing about six months....Now, soldiers over here are an emotional mess. A lot of guys thought they were going home, and it crushed them to find out we’re not. Some of them are worried that they are going to die in the fighting for the cities. But you don’t have to worry about me, because I’m just fine...We’ve just uploaded a whole lot of ammo and supplies, so my load plan is jacked up right now. Take it easy and be safe. I’ll see you later this year or not at all. Ha ha! (Yeah, not funny, huh? Sorry.) Don’t give up on me, no matter what happens. Don't be bitter or sad that I'm not coming home, because we are really needed in that region and unless we do something about it, more American boys are going to die. I love you and I miss you. Tell the kids I love them and I miss them, too. Well, I guess I better go. Take care and take it easy. Peace out.
Your husband (and son and brother),
Derek

Subj: Going South!
Date: April 10, 2004
From: Dwayne Lucero
Hi Mom, Well I'm sure Derek’s told you guys already that it's got real crazy out here now. It was about Sunday when all Hell broke loose. Our guys from C company were out giving these 1st Cav guys a tour of Baghdad and then Bam!, they got ambushed. It was a war going on for a few days. Convoys were getting attacked and those crazy muggs even tried to attack our front gate! Sadr now has declared war on all U.S. soldiers and coalition forces. At night time it gets real freaking crazy. It's a good thing they suck with their mortars. Haha! Well, I'm writing this letter for one main reason and bet you already know...The plans to go back to Germany have been scraped. I'm gonna say we’re gonna be outta here in about 6 months or longer. I' m pretty sure I'm not gonna be writing on any computers so this is the last you'll hear from me for awhile. Everything’s gonna be alright so there’s no need for you guys to worry. We'll we head out in a few days, so I best be packing my stuff and cleaning my buddy. Well tell everybody I say hello.
Love,
Your Son Dwayne

My sons were both scheduled to rotate out of Iraq in mid-April as replacements moved in. However, with the rise of insurgency at that time in Fallujah and in southern towns such as Najaf and Karbala, their time in Iraq was extended anywhere from 90 days to six months. I don’t know exactly where they are now, and since they left their bases in or near Baghdad, the e-mail messages that had been coming on a regular basis ceased. We have now returned to “snail mail,” which can take, at the least, 10 days for delivery. Sometimes that can seem an eternity.

Tradition & Culture Underlay Choices

Why do Native Americans join the military in numbers that are out of our proportion to the national population? One would think with all the atrocities committed historically by both the U.S. government and American citizens against Indian people that Indians would be least likely to join. A number of reasons have been offered, but the primary motivator seems to be tribal and/or family traditions, a motive that comes out of their own social and cultural environments and represents a continuance of the warrior tradition in modern form. Tradition and culture almost always underlay the choices Native people make about participation in the larger American society.

Those choices about participation extend to voting. There is an upcoming presidential election in November and an all-out effort by Native leaders nationwide to get Natives registered and to the polls on Election Day. Yet participation in the electoral process by Native people is extremely low. This is understandable as Native people have held themselves distinct from American society as sovereign nations. Poverty and the difficulty of navigating through an unfamiliar white political system seem to go hand in hand and also work against participation. Yet voting participation by Indian people is so crucial. The fact of the matter is that the U.S. government does hold so much of our lives in its hands: our health, education, social programs, housing, land, resources, to name a few. Would our ancestors want us to stand back and say nothing as legislators gut these programs, do environmental damage, tell us we don’t matter? Or would they want us to act in the warrior spirit and protect our people with what has been given us in our time?

An Army of One

It is a deep irony that the U.S. Army has adopted (appropriated?) the slogan of the American Indian Movement: An Army of One. There is much implied in that slogan, namely that one person with conviction can make a difference. It is time we put some Voice in our vote. Native people have been ignored so long, and now politicians need our votes so they can win office. Let us use our vote so we can influence their decisions as to how we’re treated. As much as I agree that voting all too often seems to amount to choosing between two evils and that the Democrats are just as apt to sell us out as the Republicans, we do need to speak with the ballot. We don’t need to join a recognized political party and to operate on their terms. We’re already a political entity as members of our Nations with interests and a way of life that only we can protect. We need to each become an army of one, to act in the warrior spirit.

As Carey N. Vicenti, columnist for “Indian Country Today” has articulated: “We must, as previous Native warriors have done, take the right to vote to a different level. Our ‘Tribalism’ should be openly discussed in general meetings of the tribal membership. Indian scholars and politicians should be engaged in a dialog to define the tolerable limits to the concessions we may make to American party politics or perhaps to demand principled, articulated and tangible concessions of all of the parties of choice.”

Our ancestors had their own battles. Confronting America’s politics at the ballot box is our frontline today. It’s too easy to say voting doesn’t matter. It matters who’s President. It matters what decisions the Commander-in-Chief makes, where he takes this country, where he takes us. It matters that Indian people care about political processes. Ask my sons, now marooned in this nation’s politics and war. As warriors, they have bullets as their weapons. Make a ballot yours.

Copyright © IAIA CHRONICLE 2004