For veterans, it’s all about comrades, country

By Leslie Wood
Staff writer

GALLUP — Vietnam veteran Jerry Ruane has immersed himself in causes related to men and women in uniform.

He volunteers to transport veterans to and from the VA clinic and rides with the American Legion riders, whose members escort fallen soldiers to their final resting place.

“We try to do what we can to keep the family relaxed and be a support mechanism,” Ruane said of the American Legion Riders.

His love of country is evident before you even step foot into his Burke Drive home. A “Support the troops” sign hangs along the fence that lines the perimeter of his residence, and a patriotic themed welcome sign is positioned in the doorway.

Ruane joined the Navy in 1971 and served in Vietnam in various capacities that include a ship serviceman and an equipment operator. Both his father and uncle served in the military.

“I had to continue with the tradition,” he said. “ ... We’re pretty much a military family.”

Ruane’s stepson, Staff Sgt. Steve Cole, is currently serving his fourth tour in Iraq.

Most of his memories of Vietnam were negative, but that doesn’t stop him from speaking out in support of fellow veterans and troops.

“I saw a lot of traumatic things. I don’t really talk about it,” Ruane said.

His philosophy is similar to that of many Navajo people, including Code Talkers, he said.

“I believe what the Code Talkers say,” Ruane said. “We’re here to maintain a freedom for our children and their children’s children.”

Arcenio Smiley
Code Talker Arcenio Smiley initially planned to begin his military service in the Navy, but was quickly recruited by the Marines as a Code Talker in World War II.

He recalled his supervisors as saying “No, he’s a Navajo he belongs in the Marines.”

Smiley was swept away to Camp Pendelton, California, where he underwent a wide range of training.

“My training was a little different because there were already so many Code Talkers,” he said.

He transferred one message for the Marines and jokingly asked if that was enough to classify him as a Code Talker.

“I don’t know if I get credit for one message,” he said with a grin.

Smiley explained the Code Talkers’ mission.

“They called us Code Talkers because we were trained to use our language. We receive a message in English and translate it in Navajo.”

Smiley currently resides at the McKinley Manor, but most recently attended a veterans meeting in Window Rock.

In recognition of Veterans Day, the facility’s employees hosted a service Friday to honor its residents who are veterans. Each veteran was presented with a gift to commemorate the day.

Dennis Gardner
The Rev. Dennis Gardner served in the U.S. Marines during the Cuban Missile Crisis. He was stationed in Cherry Point, N.C., until his unit received an order to ship out one day.

“They didn’t tell us where we were going,” Gardner said.

At the time, Gardner’s oldest child was only 2 months old.

The next morning, he was in Key West, Florida prepared to defend the nation if the Cuban crisis escalated in 1962.

Gardner said he was assigned to retrieve supplies from Jacksonville, Florida and South Carolina, all of which were filled with soldiers ready to go, if needed.

“We were down there for support,” Gardner said of his unit’s mission in Florida. “ ... We were there to defend our country.”

Gardner moved to Gamerco in 1972 and is a minister of a church located along U.S. Highway 491. He plans to attend the city’s dedication of the new veterans mural at the courthouse square Sunday at 11 a.m.

“I love freedom,” Gardner said. “ ... I like to be able to move and do whatever I feel is right to do.”

He said veterans deserve more recognition than they often receive.

“I feel they should be given every bit of recognition,” Gardner said. “ I appreciate our military services. It doesn’t matter what branch.”

Leonard Day Jr.
Army Staff Sgt. Leonard Day Jr. will celebrate this Veterans Day in Gallup visiting his family.

Day, 27, sustained a fractured bone and damaged nerve in his hand when the military vehicle he was riding in drove over a improvised explosive device that was planted underneath the ground in Afghanistan.

He’s temporarily lost feeling in his pinkie and a portion of his ring finger and will undergo two additional surgeries to repair the injury. Immediately following the explosion, Day was taken to Germany for medical treatment, but recently returned to New Mexico to rest and recover. He is currently stationed in Italy. He spent three months in Afghanistan this year.

“I’m just happy everyone else was OK,” Day said of his comrades who were also traveling in the vehicle at the time of the explosion.

Day plans to continue with a career in the military and would like to continue with infantry work. He also enjoys being a mentor to younger soldiers.

“It was kind of a goal I set for myself,” Day said of his reasons for joining the armed forces.

The married father of three was welcomed home Sunday with a celebration at the local National Guard Armory. His parents hosted a gourd dance and he was given plaques from both the City of Gallup and the Navajo Nation for his military service. He also met with two Code Talkers.

“It was nice to see all of the support,” Day said.

Dr. Warner Anderson
It’s a part of the Iraq War that seems to go untold — the risk that doctors trying to save the life of soldiers, Iraqi civilians and even terrorists — face each day.

Dr. Warner Anderson, an Army reservist and a doctor at the Gallup Indian Medical Center, knows first-hand just what kinds of risks health care professionals take in trying to save lives in a war zone.

He’s been to Iraq on two tours, one in 2003 as American forces were heading into Baghdad for the first time and then again in 2006.

The Independent will be printing a more complete version of Anderson’s experiences next week, but for this Veteran’s day issue, the story will center on one of his days.

As a doctor assigned to a war zone, he was used to treating what some would consider to be the enemy, pointing out that American policy is that once an enemy is no longer a threat, he’s no longer the enemy.

One day, he received word of a battle out in the field. An insurgent had been hit by bullets in the arteries in both legs. He was in danger of losing his life because of loss of blood so a helicopter was called in to evacuate him to a hospital where Anderson and other doctors were waiting to try and save his life.

“The helicopter had to fly into an area that was filled with terrorists and anti-American groups,” Anderson said. But the helicopter crew risked their lives to save the life of someone who had probably vowed to kill as many Americans as possible before he died.

The airlift was successful and the man was flown back to the hospital base. Anderson said doctors did everything they could to save both of his legs. Despite giving him eight units of American blood, Anderson and the others were only able to save one leg.

The last Anderson heard about the man was that he was in line to receive a prosthetic leg, another cost paid for by the American taxpayer.

And while much has been written about the way Americans treated Iraqi prisoners at the Abu Gharib prison, Anderson said his experience is one of doctors, including himself, risking their lives and using their expertise to save the lives of the enemy.

“That’s just the way we as Americans treated bad guys,” he said.

— Contributed by Staff Writer Bill Donovan