Veterans disagree with new medal

WINDOW ROCK, Ariz., Feb. 28, 2008

Leaders of several Navajo veterans organizations are opposing plans by Speaker Lawrence Morgan (Iyanbito/Pinedale) to create a Diné Medal of Honor and present it to all Navajo military personnel, past and present.

Navajo agency and chapter veterans' group commanders meeting Monday voted 34-0 not to support the plan.

On Jan. 17, Morgan announced in a press release that he and the council are looking for someone to design the medallion.

"This medallion will be for Diné warriors who have served and who are currently serving in the military," Morgan stated in the release.

Joshua Lavar Butler, spokesman for Morgan, said the council appropriated $75,000 last July to pay for the medallions.

In a comment that seemed to sum up the general reaction among veteran leaders, Church Rock Chapter veterans' commander Leo Curley of Jamestown, N.M., said he opposed the initiative because only the U.S. Congress has the authority to present a medal of honor or any medal for combat or service in a war.

"The Medal of Honor is the highest honor given to a veteran of combat for saving the lives of men under battlefield conditions," Curley said.

Curley strongly recommended using the $75,000 instead to help elderly veterans. The unusually cold winter has been especially hard on them because many haven't enough money for wood, propane or coal to keep warm, he said.

"It's terrible how they have to go begging around like children and we have to tell them we have no money for them," Curley said angrily. "We don't want or need any more medals."

Fort Defiance Agency vice commander Cassandra Morgan, a Marine veteran, added, "If you talk to half of the (national Medal of Honor) recipients, half of them will say they didn't want it."

Morgan, who formerly worked as a certified veteran services officer for the Military Order of the Purple Heart, said the addition of another medal of honor would also demean the original medal's recognition.

"It's not being a council delegate and getting a ring," she emphasized.

On the same day that it appropriated money for a Diné Medal of Honor, the council approved another Morgan initiative - to spend $50,000 on gold commemorative rings for its members.

Morgan commented on the veterans' reaction Wednesday in another press release, saying they have a right to oppose the medallion but tribal sovereignty gives the council the right to develop its own medal of honor.

"Our wish is to begin awarding every Navajo veteran on Navajoland a medallion to honor their bravery to our country based on the federal mandates and award criteria, without federal authorizations," he explained.

Morgan added, "As speaker, I am utilizing the sovereignty to develop our own medal of honor, with its own meaning, its own criteria, its own selection process, and to determine who would be authorized to issue the medallions to our returning warriors."

"There may be a misunderstanding amongst the veterans organizations about the medallions, and my office will work with them to help them understand its real purpose," he said.

According to the Medal of Honor Web site, www.medalofhonor.com, the honor is reserved for a very few who exhibit "personal bravery or self-sacrifice so conspicuous as to clearly distinguish the individual above his comrades."

Cassandra Morgan said if the council truly wants to honor Navajo veterans, it could devote itself to helping them get the benefits, especially health and housing, they have earned.

"If (delegates) want to do something, they need to advocate for veterans every day," she said. "That's what 'honor' means. Taking care of your people the way you said you would so they're living like heroes and not living on the streets."

Cassandra Morgan also urged that the $75,000 be used instead for direct services.

Purple Heart recipient Perry V. Benally, Shiprock Agency veterans vice commander, agreed.

Holding up his Warrior's Medal of Valor, awarded to him by the National Congress of American Indians, Benally said if the Navajo council wants to present veterans with a medal perhaps it could do something similar.

The NCAI created its medal in 2005 to honor Native veterans and military personnel who have served or are serving honorable in the armed forces.

The following Christmas, President Joe Shirley Jr. presented the Warrior's Medal of Valor to 15 veterans in a ceremony held at Birdsprings Chapter.

Benally noted that veteran groups at the chapter and agency levels have been trying for the past three years to get the council to approve a law giving them official recognition. This would enable the groups to be eligible for numerous grants related to veteran services.

Curley, Morgan and Benally joked that instead of a medal, the council should give each veteran a sheep.