Over 2,500 years ago, a guy named Heraclitus of Ephesus is reputed to have produced one of my favorite quotes on the military and war:
Out of every one-hundred men, ten shouldn’t even be there, eighty are just targets, nine are the real fighters, and we are lucky to have them, for they make the battle. Ah, but the one, one is a warrior, and he will bring the others back.
The Plains Native tribes produced their share of warriors. But the tale of their heroes doesn't end with the end of the Old West and the Indian Wars era. Many tribal members have served in the United States military, right up to this day, and many served with distinction. One of those, a World War 2 veteran, came from the Crow Nation of Montana, and not only served in Europe in World War 2, but was the last Crow (to date) to achieve the title of War Chief. To attain this honor, a warrior must:
- Counting coup on an enemy - that is, touching him without killing him.
- Taking an enemy's weapon away from him.
- Leading a war party and surviving the mission.
- Stealing an enemy's horse.
Joe Medicine Crow did all of those things - yes, including stealing not one horse, but an entire herd, and from an SS division, to boot.
Joseph Medicine Crow was born on October 27, 1913, on the Crow reservation near Lodge Grass, Montana. His paternal grandfather, Chief Medicine Crow, had attained the rank of war chief at age 22, so there may well have been something in Joe's blood. His maternal step-grandfather, White Man Runs Him, had been a scout for General George Custer and was a survivor of the Battle of the Little Bighorn.
In 1929, Joe went to Bacone College in Muskogee, Oklahoma, becoming the first member of his family to attend college. He received a bachelor's degree in sociology and psychology in 1938 and a master's in anthropology in 1939. He was working his way towards becoming a considerable scholar of the Crow tribe and its culture when World War 2 intervened.
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In 1943, Joe Medicine Crow joined the Army, was assigned to the 103rd Infantry, and was sent in time to Europe. When in battle, he painted his tribal war paint, two red stripes, on his arms under his uniform. In his steel helmet, he kept a sacred eagle feather given to him by a Crow medicine man to protect him; it apparently worked.
While in battle, he carried out the four tasks described above:
- While his unit was storming into a German-held village, he ran into a German soldier, knocking him down. Before the German could react, Joe grabbed his Mauser rifle - fulfilling the first two requirements of counting coup on an enemy and taking away his weapon.
- He led a squad of seven soldiers, carrying ammunition and explosives through German artillery fire, in the operation to breach the German Siegfried Line, meeting the thrid requirement: Leading a war party and surviving.
- Finally, in the closing days of the war, Joe stole 50 horses belonging to a Waffen-SS division, meeting the last requirement of stealing an enemy's mount, and qualifying him as one of the European wars' most daring soldiers to boot.
After the war, Joe returned to Montana. He was appointed to be the Crow Nation's official tribal historian in 1948. In 1953, the Custer Battlefield Museum opened and was dedicated to its founding members, with Joe among their numbers. He was also a founder of Little Big Horn College, and an undying advocate for education for the Crow Nation's youth and Native youth in general. He authored several books:
- Crow Migration Story
- Medicine Crow
- Handbook of the Crow Indians Law and Treaties
- Crow Indian Buffalo Jump Techniques
- From the Heart of Crow Country
He worked tirelessly, lecturing at schools and universities around the country. In 1999, he received an honorary doctorate from Rocky Mountain College, from the University of Southern California in 2003, and from Bacone College in 2010.
On August 12, 2009, Joe Medicine Crow received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Obama. Watch:
But for all his achievements, there is one in which he stands alone, as the Crow Nation's last war chief. Some may find an irony in this, the last man to bear the title of war chief, dedicating his post-war life to education and peace; but no soldier who has ever seen a battlefield should be surprised.
Joseph Medicine Crow died at the age of 102, on April 3rd, 2016, in Billings, Montana. He was survived by his son, Ron Medicine Crow, and daughters Vernelle Medicine Crow and Diane Reynolds.
Only the greatest of Crow warriors, it is said, attain this status. Joseph Medicine Crow is the last to do so - so far. But more to the point, he's not only a Crow hero, but an American hero, an example in courage and determination that should make the Crow nation and all of America proud.
People need heroes. We all need examples, people to look up to. Young men today would do well to learn about Joseph Medicine Crow: Scholar, teacher, soldier, and the last war chief.
