Navajo Air Force Captain Overcame Many Obstacles

By Carolyn Ware

Even as a little boy, United States Air Force Captain Lawrence N. Yazzie was learning "warrior" ways, he told a small gathering last Thursday as part of the Native American Week Awareness, Student Leadership Speaker Series.

To be a warrior is a long and great tradition in the family of Captain Lawrence N. Yazzie. His great-great grandfather fought against this country and western expansion. He then taught his son to fight for this country in World War I. Yazzi's own father was the first Army officer in the family. Yazzie and his brother were the first Native Americans to attend the United States Air Force Academy.

Native Americans have played a great role in this country's military history. First as that of the enemy with nearly 14 campaigns fought against the United States. But, during Civil War times, the Cherokee Mounted Rifles fought on the side of the Confederates.

In both World War I and II, Code-Talkers played a critical role. Navajo Code-Talkers sent over 800 messages in the battle of Iwo Jima that were completely undecipherable to the Japanese. Navajo language is not written. There is no alphabet. It is an extremely complex language with many dialects and no symbols.

As of 1945, over 400 Navajos served as Code-Talkers. Because of the great value of the language to the military, the code was kept secret until 1992 when the Code-Talkers were honored. Over 44,000 Native Americans served with distinction in World War II.

Yazzie's grandfather was among them. Yazzie talked about five warrior values: Strength, honor, pride, devotion and wisdom.

Learning to be physically strong was not easy for Yazzie. As a little boy-sleeping four deep--Yazzie and his brothers got up early each morning and lined-up in their "tidy-whities." The high desert air near Arizona's Canyon de Chelly, "almost zero-would hit your body immensely hard," said Yazzie. The boys would run to the highest point on the canyon cliffs. There in the twilight dawn, they prayed to their ancestors and their God for strength. For little boys, the morning run---learning to be disciplined, was "the hardest part of the day," Yazzie said.

Yazzie and his brother dreamed of playing basketball. They practiced a lot and were good. Good enough, eventually, to be recognized and offered positions on the U.S Air Force Academy's basketball team.

Basic training for the Academy "stripped you from civilian life," said Yazzie. The running, the discipline, the values he learned as a little boy would prove to be invaluable.

He would endure survival training high in the Colorado Rockies at altitudes of 17,500 feet. For eight days he struggled through snow with little food or water and a 35 pound pack. At the end of the trek, they were captured by the enemy. Tired and exhausted, they were told to lie face down in the dirt. Many hours passed.

"Ants were crawling across my face," Yazzie said, "I couldn't move. I determined that I could do this, that it wasn't that bad." He said he was so hungry that he decided that the next ant that crawled across his lips would be history.

"The ants", he said, "tasted like lemon drops."

After enduring even more humiliation, his captors finally told them they could bathe and change. But before that could happen they were told that they must turn around and salute the captor's flag. Yazzie determined he would never salute any flag except the U.S. flag---no matter what. Then he was forced to turn around. He saw a 50 foot American Flag. Tears of joy and love for that flag flowed. "The flag," he said, "so many of all our ancestors have died for."

Yazzie spoke of the great honor it is to be a warrior in his culture. He spoke of his ancestor's devotion to fight and defend the homeland. He spoke of the value of wisdom-to learn from those who are elders. He stressed how important formal learning is. When he was young, he had to hide who he was, especially his native language and ways to gain certain things in society. He has since learned many things.

"We are all so similar, yet so different," he said. "To attain the point in life where you know you can and will survive requires getting rid of the negative stuff."

He stressed how important it is to gain mental and spiritual strength. He said he has no religion. His religion is woven into the values and beliefs he lives day to day.

"The Air Force has the motto of 'God, family, duty,'" he said.

He works hard to apply that motto. He wants to be the best father he can to his 10-month-old son and the best husband to his wife.

"Lately, it has been more like duty, god, family." He will be leaving soon for Kirkastan.

"I'm the best at what I do. When I go over there I'm going to save lives. That's my mentality-that's what I'm going to continue to do."

Yazzie reflected back to mornings spent on the cliffs at Canyon de Chelly. He spoke of the wisdom gained from his grandfather-of holding onto values.

Yazzie recently returned to his home in Chinle near Canyon de Chelly. The sun lit up the cliffs beautifully. Instead of young boys standing there praying for strength to make it through the day and through the obstacles of life---of being proud to be there, they are jumping off---committing suicide.

"They are discouraged because they don't have enough money or couldn't rap like Eminem or play basketball like Lebron James...they don't do all these other things society has brought on them so now they're jumping off," he said.

"We have one of the highest suicide rates on the reservation--a lot of alcoholism---a lot of abuses so physical strength is not something that is easy to come by. So for me, it was trying to talk to the kids and say, 'Instead of staying up there and looking at all the negatives, find something that's positive about yourself.' For me it was, 'OK so I wasn't that fast so that means I gotta run longer, I gotta run harder.'"

For Captain Lawrence N. Yazzie, warrior, it is a right of passage and an honor to sit with his father and grandfather and all the other veterans during the peyote ceremony.

"For us it is a great honor to be in the military, all the past 200 years up to now-to be a warrior, to defend your family and country, to be something of that magnitude."

Yazzie says, "If you look behind everything...you will see those that have gone before and everything they have gone through...their path is right there. My path took me to the military---the path my dad took, my grandfather took and my great-grandfather took. If I just walk in their footprints-if I just dare to take the same path they took---I will never fail."

"I believe in the uniform that I wear. I believe in my country. You can become anything you want, just remember where you came from and you can never fail."

Globe Link - Campus Issue: 4/21/05

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Thanks to Bea Woodward for passing this on!

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Last updated on April 22, 2005