By Karen Haave
For Monee Trustee Chuck Rakis, the word “heroes” has a new meaning for him.
Following his report during the October 9 meeting of the village board, Rakis presented a video of Chief Albert Wanatah, a guest speaker for the Closing Ceremony for the Vietnam Traveling Memorial Wall last month in Monee.
Chief Wanatah is a member of the Comanche Nation Tribe and one of only a handful of code talkers in his group to return home from Vietnam alive.
“History is breathtaking,” Rakis said, “and when you watch this video, please keep in mind that he said at the end, ‘We were just kids.’ In my opinion, these are the kind of heroes America has been built on.”
In the video, Chief Wanatah noted that 14 Native American Nations served in Vietnam.
“We were sent to Cambodia after 10 months in country, fighting as infantry troops,” he said. “We were sent to Cambodia under the orders of President Johnson illegally. We found that out later.
“We were captured. We were in captivity for six and a half years, all 38 of us. Seventeen of us died in captivity. They were beaten to death.
“They were told not to kill us because they wanted the code. But they did. Seventeen of us were forced into death. They broke my knees, my shoulder, my rib cage, my ankles. They pulled my toenails out.”
Still, he would not give up the code. They managed to escape, staying alive in the jungle for two weeks before the Marines found them.
“They said, ‘These are the deserters we have been looking for.’”
They were turned over to military assistance command and eventually flown in chains and shackles to San Francisco. There, they were courtmartialed, found guilty of desertion and sentenced to 25 years light imprisonment.
After Richard Nixon was elected president and he learned what had happened, he exonerated the 17 code talkers.
Chief Wanatah stayed in the military, serving new tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. He retired with the rank of Brigadier General and later was awarded the Medal of Valor and the Gold Star medal.
“I thank the families of the names on this wall, as I have been at the Wall in Washington, D.C., and you can feel the presence of these people, these soldiers, who died for their country.
“We were just kids,” he said in closing, “and here we have an old man of 81, but this is just one of millions of stories that are told from this war that lasted 16 years.
“And if called again, we will do it again. We protect this country, this flag, and the American way of life.”
The video can be seen on YouTube. It is part of the Village of Monee Board Meeting 10/09/2024.