The Military is a Big Part of My Life with Charles Hunter

One part of it always kind of laugh because uh I had a chance to run cross-country in college and I didn’t take that opportunity so I guess growing up both my grandfather’s served in the military my mom’s siblings my dad’s siblings so kind of a big background of military and my family and seen a lot of them you know growing up and hear their stories different stuff the ones I was fortunate enough to hear both my graph like I say both my grandfather’s fought in World War two another one fought in World War one and so forth and so getting back to you know like I said my family with history back into battle a little bighorn on both sides or across like Northern Cheyenne side and even before that so heard a lot of those stories growing up learned a lot of the songs that go with it so that was always a big interest like I said with my dad seeing that so my older sister joined the Marine Corps and then my older brother and then I end up joining the Marine Corps then later years later my younger brother join the army so I think growing up we had a strong sense of that like I don’t think it was so much worried about going to war and a lot of that stuff you hear people saying but it was how we were always heard of protecting your home this is our home our homelands growing up we always heard that’s why they were that’s why they joined so when I was in it was kind of a different I like a culture shock I guess getting sent down to boot camp 107 was in one room only two of us Native Americans in there when they find out your nationality in this and so kind of got after his boot camp went along Marine Corps is the longest basic training 13 weeks but all the branches so a few weeks in they understand that so it kind of got treated a little different at times with that and was kind of I think in a sense not to break me as much but you know you know one of the guys was well you Native Americans or can fight through anything that was kind of their perception and what he had of us and that’s you know we look at how many federally recognized tribes are and so I had that going in and in kind of I think it kind of made me want to be in more understood that like what their perception isn’t want to explain no we’re different people or I’m from so and I didn’t I enjoyed my time in I was fortunate enough to have gone quite a few places quite a few countries deployment like I said I served in combat deployed and was in nine countries growing up here I grew up my last year high school I was a block away from half a block away from the school so thinking about that and where I was at the time in the middle of a war zone you didn’t expect that you know 19 years old here you’re you’re in combat and he so you know a lot of that stuff and I was fortunate that the time too that I got to meet another he was older gentleman he was in for a lot of years from home I met him in Japan he was on about 18 years in the Marine Corps I was fortunate enough that he gave me some pretty good advice that you know that helped me through that and during that time it was I think we were like I said we were looked at different me and he looked at a lot of the military battles that we’ve had in the US Native Americans played a big role we’ve had a large capital of individuals join that weren’t drafted weren’t this they went to joined and for a lot of them to hear that and you know hearing it from my point of view as well as kinda I opened their eyes to that and made me maybe get a sense of pride with that where I’m from but on my fat let alone my own family you know there was a lot of us say my brother was in at the time yet I had two first cousins in I had three nephews in and a few distant cousins in as well so at one time there was I think 18 of us in during that time frame and you know that I grew up immediately family and I was kind of you know don’t think about it at the time but years later you think that’s that’s a pretty pretty neat feeling and I’ll sense of pride back home and as I like I said Jerome talked about earlier when we came home they did have events for us and that was kind of a pretty neat deal welcome home stuff took a lot of pride in that like he said we had a lot of service members home and a lot of different songs myself and my brother we have our own song that was you know and heard a lot of those like I said growing up I learned a lot of them as well so that was kind of a I think to being on the receiving end of it was something neat and it made me we have a lot of hardships in the military as it is you know but it made me appreciate that you know people at home did you know they didn’t think about us they did you know fortune of some of the ladies groups that we have here the auxiliary groups they you know reach out to my mom and different stuff so that was always so today they still do a lot of that our Legion Post still do a lot of that they had two events for us and so I thought of that you know now something that I’m not proud of you know I’m a member of them - I hope was you know when I can but at the time you know he you look at you know and I don’t know if it’s I think it was at the time the guy that was in charge of me and why I got deployed was a pole I think you can handle it so that was interesting and maybe from movies different scenes a scene I guess and so when we did go to combat they like well you’re gonna be first you’re gonna be on the front mind you’re gonna you know what do you think we should do and he’s so well it was it was a different sense of a feeling I guess but I think after when I got out or after when I got back from a lot of that I kind of understood but what where they came at with it you know from what they probably seen on mainstream stuff and so I guess I was fortunate enough to maybe open their eyes to a different perspective of that and kind of glad I had that opportunity in life and gotten you to do a lot of that I do a lot with a lot of like a lot of our youth like they like they explain we have the choice ready stuff if they’re not ready to you know go to college they’re not ready for this and that I think it is an option that will help build something for them give them an opportunity like I know you can still take in college if you’re on I know what myself at that time I wasn’t ready to go to college I don’t think I woulda lasted my month but uh coming from a pretty heavy education background on my mom’s side and it was you know like well you need to figure out what you’re gonna do and alright my brother just joined my sister was in I they can do it I can do it that was my always my thing and I come from a pretty competitive family with sports and anything we were pretty competitive if they can do it I probably can do it I should be able to get higher rank than him and use it to what you know what I want to use it for so and I think our youth I kind of don’t like seeing a lot of 1920 Rose walking down the street doing nothing you don’t have don’t look like they have a very good sense of pride of who they are where they’re from you know our culture our background maybe some new but it just when you see them walking around not doing anything you know that they there’s stuff out for them to do and I guess I’m a big push for that I myself I’m still in now I’m in the National Guard yet so it’s I like to see if they’re unsure of stuff you know try it and they don’t like it they you know they don’t have to go full active duty go reservists or National Guard but if they’re looking at getting college those program they have programs to help you programs are a lot better now than they were when I first joined a lot more benefits as well so I think if they’re looking to seek they want to go somewhere that’s an opportunity like I said myself when I joined was I want to go places I didn’t where I was gonna go like oh myself was gonna go places it’s cause fortunate enough to go to nine other countries two of them on good circumstances the other seven not so that’s that’s a big part of that so I think in coming back home with like I said back with our people here you know and that was something that you know we look at when years back how long we fought long we’ve survived and to this day hole we still do that you know that’s why we still have a lot of our traditions or cultures left because of that I guess that since that sense of fight in us and our pride