Posts Tagged ‘Iraq war’

10
Mar

Objections to NPR piece on Navajo Marine’s combat death highlight cultural differences

   Posted by: admin    in Dine, Media, Native veterans, Navajo

Veterans Cemetery on the Navajo Nation in Window Rock, Ariz. (SanSilver photo)

Veterans Cemetery on the Navajo Nation in Window Rock, Ariz. (SanSilver photo)



Bookmark and Share

National Public Radio’s reporting from Iraq and Afghanistan has been justifiably honored. But it came under scrutiny recently with reports on the death in Afghanistan of a 23-year-old Navajo Marine from Rock Point, Ariz.

NPR’s Kabul correspondent Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson, who was embedded with the Marines India Company 3rd Battalion, 6th Regiment, included in her report details of how the young man died.

The piece provoked comment from listeners who found it both moving, and intrusive, according to this NPR review of the matter.

Although the Marine’s family knew of his death, they didn’t know NPR was planning the piece.

“The only complaint we, as the family, have is that we were not notified about the broadcast,” his sister-in-law tells NPR. “It was quite a shock when we actually heard the story then heard the moment he was killed from the audio. It was too graphic for us to hear.”

She also says she wishes the NPR had not used his name, out of respect for Navajo culture.

As she tells NPR:

    “In our Navajo tradition, once we lay him to rest we cannot talk about his passing anymore,” said his sister-in-law on March 4. “Culturally his spirit will not be at ease if we keep hearing about his death…It is hard for all of us to grieve the loss of [name withheld] with all this media attention it is getting and we know that this is not what he would have wanted. He was not the type of person to have wanted all this attention.”

    This story is fraught with ethical issues. Should NPR have aired the moment of death? Should his name be aired? Should NPR have notified the family before the piece aired?

NPR’s review of the matter notes there are no easy answers. This blog has printed the names of Navajo soldiers and Marines killed in combat, usually linking to the stories in the Navajo Times mentioning those names. In a story involving this particular Marine, the Times noted that the family asked that his name not be made public. Thoughts?

Gwen Florio

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

4 Comments
16
Oct

Navajo Nation mourns twice, for code talker and for soldier in Afghanistan whose brother died in Iraq

   Posted by: admin    in Code Talkers, Dine, Navajo

Willard Oliver, 88, spoke before his death of his pride in being a code talker. (AP photo)

Willard Oliver, 88, spoke before his death of his pride in being a code talker. (AP photo)

The Navajo Nation is commemorating two members of the military this week, one whose long life was richly lived, the other whose life was cut far too short in Afghanistan, a tragedy compounded by the death in Iraq of his brother.

Army Sgt. 1st Class Kenneth W. Westbrook, 41, died Oct. 7 at Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington, D.C., of wounds suffered last month when insurgents attacked his unit in the Ganjgal Valley of Afghanistan, the Navajo Times reports here. It’s the second loss for the Westbrook family – Kenneth’s brother, Army Sgt. Marshall A. Westbrook, 43, of Farmington, was killed Oct. 1, 2005, in Iraq.

“When his brother enlisted, there was definitely nothing stopping Ken from enlisting as well,” says a friend, Brian Victor. “If not for his brother and his dad then it was because he was instilled with the belief of patriotism

As their brother, David, says, “When Navajos are called to war, they go as warriors.”

That was certainly the case for Willard Varnell Oliver, 88, of Lukachukai, Ariz., esteemed as one of the famous Code Talkers during World War II. Oliver died Wednesday and will be buried tomorrow.
On Nov. 24, 2001, Willard Oliver was awarded the Congressional Silver Medal in Window Rock, says this Navajo Times account of his passing.

“I did not realize that until the code talkers were recognized that all the victories back during the war came about because of our Diné language,” he said.

“Sometimes I think about it,” he said. “Why did the government want to use our language when throughout BIA school we would get our mouth washed out with soap when they caught us speaking Navajo?

“I am proud to be a code talker,” he said. “And I know we counted for something great, and that we fought to maintain our freedom and for our sacred land.”

Gwen Florio

Tags: , , , , , ,

2 Comments
Back to top