Billy Walkabout, decorated American Indian veteran, dies at 57

KSWO ^ | 3/11/07 | Associated Press

[mdittmar]

MONTVILLE, Conn. A native Cherokee from Oklahoma whose actions in Vietnam made him among most decorated soldiers of the war has died in Connecticut. Billy Walkabout was 57.

Walkabout received the Distinguished Service Cross, Purple Heart, five Silver Stars and five Bronze Stars. According to U-S Department of Defense reports, he was believed to be the most decorated Native American soldier of the Vietnam War.

Walkabout was born in Cherokee County, Oklahoma, on March 31st, 1949, and lived much of his life in Oklahoma.

At the time of his death, Walkabout and his wife Juanita Medbury-Walkabout lived in a portion of eastern Connecticut. The area is home to many Mashantucket Pequot, Mohegan and other Native American tribal members.

Walkabout's official cause of death was not given.

[mdittmar]

WALKABOUT, BILLY B. Sergeant, U.S. Army Company F, 58th Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division Date of Action: November 20, 1968 Citation:

The Distinguished Service Cross is presented to Billy B. Walkabout, Sergeant, U.S. Army, for extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations involving conflict with an armed hostile force in the Republic of Vietnam, while serving with Company F, 58th Infantry, 101st Airborne Division (Airmobile).

Sergeant Walkabout (then Specialist Four) distinguished himself by exceptionally valorous actions on 20 November 1968 during a long range reconnaissance patrol southwest of Hue. After successfully ambushing an enemy squad on a jungle trail, the friendly patrol radioed for immediate helicopter extraction.

When the extraction helicopters arrived and the lead man began moving toward the pick-up zone, he was seriously wounded by hostile automatic weapons fire.

Sergeant Walkabout quickly rose to his feet and delivered steady suppressive fire on the attackers while other team members pulled the wounded man back to their ranks. Sergeant Walkabout then administered first aid to the solider in preparation for medical evacuation.

As the man was being loaded onto the evacuation helicopter, enemy elements again attacked the team. Maneuvering under heavy fire, Sergeant Walkabout positioned himself where the enemy were concentrating their assault and placed continuous rifle fire on the adversary.

A command-detonated mine ripped through the friendly team, instantly killing three men and wounding all the others.

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. He then coordinated gunship and tactical air strikes on the enemy's positions.

When evacuation helicopters arrived again, he worked single-handedly under fire to board his disabled comrades.

Only when the casualties had been evacuated and friendly reinforcements had arrived, did he allow himself to be extracted.

Sergeant Walkabout's extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty were in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, and the United States Army.

HQ US Army, Vietnam, General Orders No. 3945 (1969)

[amom]

SALUTE on behalf of myself and Mr. Tonkin.

[Eagles6]

Rest in Peace, Sgt. Walkabout.

[AprilfromTexas]

RIP. I'm so grateful for men such as this. God bless his family.

[Bahbah]

God bless you, Sgt. Walkabout, and thank you.

[Ole Okie]

A brave man.

Rest in peace, Sgt. Walkabout.

[FLOutdoorsman]

"When you were born, you cried and the world rejoiced. Live your life so that when you die, the world cries and you rejoice."

All the Way!

[blam]

RIP Billy.

I'm reminded of WW2 hero Ira Hayes

Johnny Cash wrote this ballard about him:

Gather round me, people, there's a story I would tell,
About a brave young Indian you should remember well;
From the land of the Pima Indians, a proud and noble band,
Who farmed the Phoenix Valley in Arizona land.

Down their ditches for a thousand years the waters grew Ira's people's crops,
Till the white man stole their water rights and their sparklin' water stopped.
Now Ira's folks grew hungry, and their farms grew crops of weeds.
When war came, Ira volunteered and forgot the white man's greed.

CHORUS: Call him drunken Ira Hayes --
He won't answer anymore,
Not the whiskey-drinkin' Indian,
Not the Marine who went to war.

Well, they battled up Iwo Jima hill -- two hundred and fifty men,
But only twenty-seven lived -- to walk back down again;
When the fight was over -- and Old Glory raised
Among the men who held it high was the Indian -- Ira Hayes.
Ira Hayes returned a hero -- celebrated through the land,
He was wined and speeched and honored -- everybody shook his hand;
But he was just a Pima Indian -- no water, no home, no chance;
At home nobody cared what Ira done -- and when do the Indians dance?

Then Ira started drinkin' hard -- jail was often his home;
They let him raise the flag and lower it -- as you would throw a dog a bone;
He died drunk early one morning -- alone in the land he'd fought to save;
Two inches of water in a lonely ditch -- was the grave for Ira Hayes.

CODA: Yea, call him drunken Ira Hayes,
But his land is just as dry,
And the ghost is lying thirsty
In the ditch where Ira died.

[DPMD]

And yet, we continue to refer to idiot athletes, entertainers and politicians as "courageous," or as "heroes" for making millions doing and saying things they could only safely do and say in this country. Shame on us. Men such as Sgt. Walkabout redefine heroism, but, sadly, do it quietly.

[Fiddlstix]

R.I.P
Bump

[ansel12]

He was Airborne Ranger LRRP, if you don't know about them, you should do some reading on them, it will open up a world of some of the most daring souls in American military history.

Here is a quote that is supposed to have been made by him.

"To quote a fellow named Billy Walkabout, when he was traveling after
he got out of the Army, and some people from Germany and England asked
him about how he felt about losing that war (Viet Nam). "Lose the war?
I didn't lose SHIT ! Every firefight I was in, we won. We lost at a
table in Paris. Personally, I'm glad I made Ho Chi Minh write
beaucoup letters to mamasan informing her that her son or husband was
not coming home."


In the field, Mach, we beat the crap out of the other side,
repeatedly. "No win?" My ass. We kicked the hell out of em
repeatedly, on numerous occasions. But then the politicians would
order us to do stupid shit like back off, stand down, etc. And give
the enemy months to recoup, resupply, re-arm, etc.


The war wasn't lost by our troops. The war was lost in Washington.
But stupid friggin politicians."

[ASOC]

Humm Want to read more on LRRP?

Check here

and

Here

and

this site which bills itself as "The Offical Site" for the 1st Cav LRRP.

[ansel12]

That Wikipedia article could use some work, do they still allow anyone to edit their pieces? I might try to contribute to it.

[ASOC]

You have to register and be 'validated' as I understand things....lot of folks upset of late due to tinkering with bios and the like.

I use Wiki with care, if the subject is at all political, I leave a salt lick next to the keyboard.....YMMV.

I posted the links for the idly curious

[Tax-chick]

God bless him. 57 is too young.

(Another Cherokee ping, stainless?)

[cubreporter]

Thank you for your serice. Rest in Peace.

[tutstar]

ping

[Nam Vet]

Rest in peace bro.

Nam Vet

[fieldmarshaldj]

Rest in peace, Sargeant.

[mdittmar]

What can we say about these Men?

What can we say about these Men?
These men we never knew,these men who served,are serving still,to see the battle through.
What can we say about these Men?
A Smith ,a Jones,a Walkabout too.
They served for reasons you and I may never know.
What they have done,these men who serve,history will surely show.
They are quite about their deeds.
These men who keep us free.
They kept the faith,they saw it through,to keep America free.
To our politicians in Washington,they saw it through,will You?
What can we say about these Men?
These men we never knew.
A Murphy,a Hale,a Washington too.
These men we never knew.
They served to keep us free.
A Speicher, a Beamer,a Walkabout too.
I know what they might say,if they were here today, "We did our part,we kept the faith,and now it's up to you."