Veterans at Standing Rock shock tribe members, beg forgiveness for war crimes against tribal nations

[ehrnst]

Jon Eagle Sr., Tribal Historic Preservation Officer at Standing Rock Sioux Tribe has reported something wholly unexpected happened at the Standing Rock Reservation today. The veterans gathered to join the Dakota Pipeline protest stunned the gathered tribal members when they took a knee and asked for forgiveness:

I witnessed something powerful and profound today. Wes Clark Jr and the assembled veterans took a knee and collectively asked for forgiveness for the genocide and war crimes committed by the United States Military against tribal nations in this country. Leksi Leonard Crow Dog on behalf of the tribes in attendance accepted and asked for forgiveness for any hurt that might have been caused June 25, 1876 when the Great Sioux Nation defeated the 7th Cavalry. The last thing he said to the veterans was, "... and today we forgive and ask for world peace." All the veterans replied in a single unified voice, "WORLD PEACE!!!!"

The Native Veterans filed through the ranks, shaking hands and giving each other hugs. There were alot of warriors with tears in their eyes.

http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/12/5/1607591/-Veterans-at-Standing-Rock-shock-tribe-members-beg-forgiveness-for-war-crimes-against-tribal-nations

Oh, how I've needed to see some good news like this....

[ehrnst]

1. "There were alot of warriors with tears in their eyes."

Me, too.

My ancestors did some of this crap, both here and abroad, going back to the crusades. My family has been trying to do what we can to create some good to counterbalance the pain that they caused, but this is something I could never have imagined.

Whoever thought of this deserves a medal of honor.

[3catwoman3]

4. "There were alot of warriors with tears in their eyes."

I sm sitting here with some in mine after reading this.

Wesley Clark, Sr, should be very proud of his son.

[ananda]

46. This is very moving.

My mom's grandfather was an Indian agent in Oklahoma,
and he was killed by a drunk Indian. I say "Indian" because
that is how the story was told. Anyway...

I'm sure my ggfather deserved it, but I'm also sure that the killer
himself went down for it and probably regretted it.

I wish we lived in better days than that. Most of us haven't
evolved very far, I guess.

It's nice to see these vets make such a beautiful gesture.

[dixiegrrrrl]

2. I can just feel the impact on those in the building.....

god, I hope this is the beginning of something larger and good.

[Wellstone ruled]

3. This is not going to go over very well with

Imperial El Presidente',wait for the tweet.

[ehrnst]

5. Yeah, I am bracing for that. (nt)

[Wellstone ruled]

11. El Presidente will comment,you know he will

threaten them. The Guy is so predictable.

[Feeling the Bern]

15. DICK-tator in Training will hate this, call them losers and traitors.

Any wagers?

[Sunlei]

29. trump already said he wants the pipeline to continue.

[malaise]

19. ROFL

[Wellstone ruled]

21. Well,fair warning.

[progressoid]

41. If it doesn't affect him, it's not tweet-worthy

[Baitball Blogger]

6. This is how peace will come.

Not because of what our leaders say and do, but what our warriors chose to do.

[yellerpup]

39. Absolutely.

American warriors!

[REP]

7. Very moving.

[JudyM]

36. So much so.

One of the best things I've read in a long time, and a long time coming. Wow.

[sheshe2]

8. There is some beauty left in this world.

They took a knee and asked forgiveness.

[JudyM]

37. Maybe that's what we all oughta do here.

[pbmus]

9. Thanks again and again and again to you vets

this is exactly what this nation needs. Trumpster is trying to divide this nation, we need to do everything in our power to stop that division, and this is one step towards that goal...

Love each and everyone of you there to start the healing....

[Leghorn21]

10. I'm an old Marine Corps brat -

my late father was at Iwo Jima and Chosin, among other places - a lifer indeed, with 32 years when he retired.

I spent a year and a half on Pine Ridge Reservation in '95-'96, so I have an inkling of what this moment meant for both the Lakota and their allies and for these Veterans.

It's one of the most beautiful gestures/moments I will ever experience in my lifetime...
Thanks for posting, ehrnst -

[panader0]

12. Wow... a very moving moment.

[sagetea]

13. That place...

Oceti Sakowin....it changes you, it makes you believe that peace will win out! I have been to many ceremonies, and never have I felt it so deep. Definitely understand the power that moves you to walk in love and peace. there is something about it.

Ho'
sage

[Feeling the Bern]

14. My mother is Mohawk. 100%. One of the most militant native-American women you will ever meet

And she was choked up by this because she knows it is sincere. She always said "I don't hate the soldier. I hate the government and the general that forces men to become animals."

Her response: "Now when they remove that bastard Jackson from the $20, I'll start to forgive the government too."

[malaise]

16. This should have 500 recs

Beautiful

[smirkymonkey]

17. Wow! Very touching.

[Hekate]

18. KnR

[loyalsister]

20. Now, let's talk about some broken treaties

This is a perfect opportunity to open a discussion we should have had long ago. An apology is lovely. But, shouldn't there also be reparations at some point?

[malaise]

22. From the Veterans? n/t

[loyalsister]

27. Seriously?

You would ask that? Such grand gesture by veterans should provoke a real conversation nationally and between tribes and the US government.

[malaise]

28. It is a grand gesture

and while I agree with your idea, I'm only celebrating with the Veterans and Tribes tonight
Is M$Greedia covering this?

[spike jones]

30. TO Malaise: This directly is a concern to veterans. The Metal of Honor.

It is fine to apologize and is long overdue. Here is something we all can do to help right a wrong regarding the Metal of Honor and the soldiers who received it for the massacre at Wounded Knee. This is several years old.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joseph-huffhannon/wounded-knee-medal-of-honor_b_2664709.html

Recipients of the coveted medal must display “great personal bravery or self-sacrifice” and “conspicuous gallantry” in the line of duty, but for Calvin Spotted Elk, whom I spoke with this weekend, the medal has a different, darker meaning. Calvin is a direct descendant of Chief Spotted Elk, a Lakota Sioux Chief shot while waving the white flag of surrender in a snow-covered field in South Dakota, during the infamous Wounded Knee massacre. He was one of up to 300 unarmed Native American men, women, and infants, slaughtered by U.S. soldiers in the “battle” at Wounded Knee Creek, on the Lakota Pine Ride Reservation in South Dakota, on December 29, 1890. Twenty soldiers who participated in that massacre were later awarded the Medal of Honor.
“To proud members of the Lakota nation, and descendants of the Lakota people who were present, wounded or killed during the massacre that American History has wrongly referred to as “The Battle of Wounded Knee”, the Congressional Medal of Honor will remain meaningless,” Calvin writes in a petition he launched Monday asking that those medals be finally rescinded from the soldiers who participated in the brutal killings. “The award itself needs to represent true American values. Medals honoring an American massacre of Native people over a hundred years ago are a stain on that honor.”
........
If we can’t make right such an obvious wrong, posthumously removing medals of honor from the necks of men who shot women and children in the back as they ran across a snow-swept plain, how can we pursue a deeper reconciling with the abysmal conditions that many native communities in the U.S. still live in?
In a letter to President Obama last year, Calvin wrote:

Mr. President, what happened at Wounded Knee was not worthy of this nation’s highest award for exceptional valor. The actions of the soldiers have been justly criticized because this was a massacre, not a battle. This tragedy, for many, remains a blemish in American history. My relatives and I pray for this never to happen again and we pray you will hear our plea to put this to rest. The healing process takes time but through prayer, acceptance, awareness and forgiveness, it is possible. For many of us, acknowledgment of what happened is at the root of our healing.

To stand with Calvin Spotted Elk and others working toward reconciliation, join them in asking President Obama and the Congressional Medal of Honor Society to do the right thing, by rescinding these dishonorable medals once and for all. Sign here and share widely.

https://www.avaaz.org/en/petition/No_Medals_for_Massacre_Justice_for_Wounded_Knee/

[malaise]

32. Thanks for this

Decades ago Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee helped to wake me up.

Will send this to others

[nil desperandum]

42. There are many things

that are done by warriors that are dark and ugly, this is among the worst of it to be sure. It's hard to imagine how shooting unarmed opponents qualifies as conspicuous gallantry under combat conditions.

I can't speak for others, but I've served two different nations as a warrior and while I have some medals, they don't mean to me what they mean to civilians certainly. You do things as a warrior, things you need to do to live for the next few hours. That doesn't deserve a medal, it's what any of us would do to live.

If you're lucky those next few hours turn into a few more hours and then a few days, months and you get to go home alive. You're never the same as when you left, but you're alive. And it's better than not being alive.

Gestures like this matter however, and it should be resolved. Moving forward sometimes requires correcting the past, it isn't always easy or comfortable but it's often required.

[spike jones]

48. No disrespect intended.

This is from the Sand Creek Massacre. These are not warriors. These are psychopathic killers in uniform. They exist in every war, not driven by the madness of war to do these deeds, but released by the madness of war to act out their psychopathic dreams. I believe that many of them are attracted to the military by the possibility that they will be allowed to fullfill their evil dreams. That is a point for bringing back the draft with no exceptions. People are more apt to resist going to war if they know they will be expected to help with the fighting and dying.
A friend of my son went through Marine training and after becoming a Marine he said,"I can't wait to start killing and raping."
Several years ago I was at a street vendor booth in Seattle and a guy came up clearly half drunk and said without preamble, "I'm airborne. I jump out of airplanes and kill people and I love it, I just love it." Drunk or not there it was, I kill people and just love it.
Many years ago I was at a party and listened to a guy complain about having nightmares about what he did in Vietnam. Among other things, he said he was involved in dragging a kid to death behind a jeep. I gathered it was for sport as they took turns driving. What else could it be? After an hour of his stories, I told him that after dragging a boy to death, I think you are susposed to have nightmares for the rest of your pathic life.
I'm a veteran, Army 1967-1969, but I would never call myself a warrior. That sounds too professional. Hell, I wasn't even a good soldier.
BTW They were not "unarmed opponents," they were women and children.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sand_Creek_massacre

I saw the bodies of those lying there cut all to pieces, worse mutilated than any I ever saw before; the women cut all to pieces ... With knives; scalped; their brains knocked out; children two or three months old; all ages lying there, from sucking infants up to warriors ... By whom were they mutilated? By the United States troops ...— John S. Smith, Congressional Testimony of Mr. John S. Smith, 1865[24]

I saw one squaw lying on the bank, whose leg had been broken. A soldier came up to her with a drawn sabre. She raised her arm to protect herself; he struck, breaking her arm. She rolled over, and raised her other arm; he struck, breaking that, and then left her with out killing her. I saw one squaw cut open, with an unborn child lying by her side.— Robert Bent, New York Tribune, 1879[20]

There was one little child, probably three years old, just big enough to walk through the sand. The Indians had gone ahead, and this little child was behind, following after them. The little fellow was perfectly naked, travelling in the sand. I saw one man get off his horse at a distance of about seventy-five yards and draw up his rifle and fire. He missed the child. Another man came up and said, 'let me try the son of a b-. I can hit him.' He got down off his horse, kneeled down, and fired at the little child, but he missed him. A third man came up, and made a similar remark, and fired, and the little fellow dropped.— Major Anthony, New York Tribune, 1879[25]

Fingers and ears were cut off the bodies for the jewelry they carried. The body of White Antelope, lying solitarily in the creek bed, was a prime target. Besides scalping him the soldiers cut off his nose, ears, and testicles-the last for a tobacco pouch ...— Stan Hoig[26]

Jis' to think of that dog Chivington and his dirty hounds, up thar at Sand Creek. His men shot down squaws, and blew the brains out of little innocent children. You call sich soldiers Christians, do ye? And Indians savages? What der yer s'pose our Heavenly Father, who made both them and us, thinks of these things? I tell you what, I don't like a hostile red skin any more than you do. And when they are hostile, I've fought 'em, hard as any man. But I never yet drew a bead on a squaw or papoose, and I despise the man who would.— Kit Carson to Col. James Rusling[27]

[nil desperandum]

50. We're not in disagreement

and no disrespect or offense was taken, in any event you are certainly free to disagree with me any time without concern that I'll feel disrespected or offended, a free society requires some of us to be disagreeable and offended from time to time.

I should have been clearer when i stated I'd like to see this resolved by clarifying that these men do not deserve the MoH...

Thank you for an excellent response and for providing some great personal testimony from the witnesses.

Edited to add: As for the guy claiming to be airborne, these days stolen valor is a real issue. When I served nobody was trying to pretend they were soldiers because the public didn't much care about soldiers and being one didn't make you a hero in public...I must say I preferred the previous situation to the current one where everybody is thanking everyone for their service. I didn't join to get a thank you my reasons were my own, however misguided at the time.

With respect to loving the killing, I can't speak to whether others do or don't...I can tell you honestly that as intense as it gets under fire at times the emotional response and adrenaline rush are never matched in any civilian situation or occupation. There are times when I miss that aspect of combat, and it doesn't mean I enjoyed the killing part it just means that nothing I've done since has that knife edge of existence between life and death so clearly illuminated. I think it's why vets sometimes have such dark humor with each other and can't share with family what happened. You don't want your family to misunderstand and think you a monster of some sort.

Again much appreciate the response and the information.

[Bayard]

23. Please

Please let this be the beginning of something right.....

[blaze]

24. k/n n/t

[SHRED]

25. The word "heroes"

I think it gets tossed around way too liberally when describing our veterans. So much so it degrades the meaning.

In this case however it applies...ten fold.

[FailureToCommunicate]

26. Powerful!

[Recursion]

31. I normally dislike the theatrics of the assuagement of white guilt

But damn I wish I'd been there... This is actually constructive, I think.

[SunSeeker]

33. ...

[democrank]

34. Profoundly moving.

** PEACE ON EARTH **

[Soulgroup]

35. This veteran cried

We need more of this

[JudyM]

38. They bent the knee for so many of us, too, when they did this. What a perfect time to do it,

and what a feeling.

[LP2K12]

40. Makes this veteran proud.

[demigoddess]

43. another proud military brat here.

my father fought in WWII and Korea, my Dad in Korea. I'm very proud of these guys. Hallelujah!

[FairWinds]

44. The Indian Wars, like most other wars . .

(Vietnam, Mexico 1846, Central America 1980's, Iraq & Afghanistan . .)

all were and are unjust and illegal - soldiers are right to resist.

Proud member of Vets For Peace

[wryter2000]

45. That is truly beautiful

I hope the rise of Orange Hitler will cause more of us to come together in peace and love.

[Maru Kitteh]

47. I would so like to give this at least a half a thousand recs.

[cntrfthrs]

49. wasn't spontaneous...

was a planned ceremonial...