Post by Okwes on Jan 12, 2007 12:08:11 GMT -5
Indian finally in military grave
Web Posted: 12/02/2006 02:57 AM CST
Vincent T. Davis
www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA120206.01B.reburial.3\
03e2d5.html
<http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA120206.01B.reburial.\
303e2d5.html>
It was an honor long delayed.
Armando Aguirre, the last living grandson of a forgotten warrior,
pocketed a small blue box as a silver hearse rounded the corner at Fort
Sam Houston National Cemetery. Inside the box was a bronze Indian
Campaign Medal, conferred upon soldiers who fought in the Indian Wars.
Two members of the San Antonio Buffalo Soldiers Association joined
pallbearers Friday. In military tradition, three volleys were fired with
swift precision as a lone bugler sounded taps.
In the American Indian tradition, Richard Naateh Luna, a White Mountain
Apache, waved smoldering sage over the flag-draped casket, trailing
smoke to cleanse any negative spirits.
A dozen airmen from Lackland AFB stood at attention. Two U.S. Army
soldiers folded the flag, handing it to Armando Aquirre, who at 81 was
born three years after the honoree's death.
This was the final leg of a long, historic journey for Yaqui Indian
Martiriano Aguirre.
He signed his enlistment papers with his mark, a small black cross,
serving as a Seminole-Negro Indian scout in the U.S. Army from 1878
until 1882 under 1st Lt. John L. Bullis. Aguirre died Oct. 15, 1921. He
was buried at San Fernando Cemetery, with a wooden cross marking his
grave.
His remains were disinterred 85 years later for reburial Thursday among
those who served and died for their country.
The service also ended a seven-year journey for his great-grandson
Michael Aguirre, who worked to make the ceremony a reality. He
researched documents and procedures for reburial at national cemeteries.
"People need to know what these men did," Aguirre, 55, said. "They put
their lives on the line. ... This is his privilege and right as a
veteran of the United States military."
The quest began when Jesse Aguirre soaked up the tales his grandfather
told of riding dusty trails across the Western Plains.
In the late 1960s, Jesse Aguirre and his brother Armando asked U.S. Rep.
Henry B. Gonzalez to help secure a military headstone for their
grandfather's grave. He petitioned the National Archives in Washington
for copies of his grandfather's enlistment papers to prove his
qualifications for the marker.
A white military marker was installed on Jan. 8, 1969. He also obtained
the posthumous medal. Jesse Aguirre died before he could work on the
reinterment project.
"I think this is what he would have done," his son Michael said. "He
would have said, 'Take the baton, run with it, and see what you could
do.'"
The task came with one major hurdle: how to pay for disinterment and
transportation to a new location. Michael asked a number of
organizations to help but no one stepped up. Then, on the advice of a
co-worker, he sought help from the military.
He found Chief Master Sgt. Dwayne Hopkins, with the 37th Training Wing
at Lackland. A donation was approved immediately.
"We take care of the enlisted, past or present," Hopkins said. "To go
back to the American Indians and the U.S. cavalry, it's amazing."
Guillermo Puente, owner of Puente & Sons Funeral Chapels, waived their
fees.
Thursday, a cemetery worker dug up the grave with a backhoe. Then three
workers slid into the grave, breaking up chunks of compacted earth with
their hands. They sifted slowly through the soil, searching for
Aguirre's remains.
Puente & Sons placed the remains in the casket and took the Indian scout
on his final ride.
Web Posted: 12/02/2006 02:57 AM CST
Vincent T. Davis
www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA120206.01B.reburial.3\
03e2d5.html
<http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA120206.01B.reburial.\
303e2d5.html>
It was an honor long delayed.
Armando Aguirre, the last living grandson of a forgotten warrior,
pocketed a small blue box as a silver hearse rounded the corner at Fort
Sam Houston National Cemetery. Inside the box was a bronze Indian
Campaign Medal, conferred upon soldiers who fought in the Indian Wars.
Two members of the San Antonio Buffalo Soldiers Association joined
pallbearers Friday. In military tradition, three volleys were fired with
swift precision as a lone bugler sounded taps.
In the American Indian tradition, Richard Naateh Luna, a White Mountain
Apache, waved smoldering sage over the flag-draped casket, trailing
smoke to cleanse any negative spirits.
A dozen airmen from Lackland AFB stood at attention. Two U.S. Army
soldiers folded the flag, handing it to Armando Aquirre, who at 81 was
born three years after the honoree's death.
This was the final leg of a long, historic journey for Yaqui Indian
Martiriano Aguirre.
He signed his enlistment papers with his mark, a small black cross,
serving as a Seminole-Negro Indian scout in the U.S. Army from 1878
until 1882 under 1st Lt. John L. Bullis. Aguirre died Oct. 15, 1921. He
was buried at San Fernando Cemetery, with a wooden cross marking his
grave.
His remains were disinterred 85 years later for reburial Thursday among
those who served and died for their country.
The service also ended a seven-year journey for his great-grandson
Michael Aguirre, who worked to make the ceremony a reality. He
researched documents and procedures for reburial at national cemeteries.
"People need to know what these men did," Aguirre, 55, said. "They put
their lives on the line. ... This is his privilege and right as a
veteran of the United States military."
The quest began when Jesse Aguirre soaked up the tales his grandfather
told of riding dusty trails across the Western Plains.
In the late 1960s, Jesse Aguirre and his brother Armando asked U.S. Rep.
Henry B. Gonzalez to help secure a military headstone for their
grandfather's grave. He petitioned the National Archives in Washington
for copies of his grandfather's enlistment papers to prove his
qualifications for the marker.
A white military marker was installed on Jan. 8, 1969. He also obtained
the posthumous medal. Jesse Aguirre died before he could work on the
reinterment project.
"I think this is what he would have done," his son Michael said. "He
would have said, 'Take the baton, run with it, and see what you could
do.'"
The task came with one major hurdle: how to pay for disinterment and
transportation to a new location. Michael asked a number of
organizations to help but no one stepped up. Then, on the advice of a
co-worker, he sought help from the military.
He found Chief Master Sgt. Dwayne Hopkins, with the 37th Training Wing
at Lackland. A donation was approved immediately.
"We take care of the enlisted, past or present," Hopkins said. "To go
back to the American Indians and the U.S. cavalry, it's amazing."
Guillermo Puente, owner of Puente & Sons Funeral Chapels, waived their
fees.
Thursday, a cemetery worker dug up the grave with a backhoe. Then three
workers slid into the grave, breaking up chunks of compacted earth with
their hands. They sifted slowly through the soil, searching for
Aguirre's remains.
Puente & Sons placed the remains in the casket and took the Indian scout
on his final ride.