Time to come home
(Courtesy: Kanien’kehá:ka Onkwawén:na Raotitióhkwa Language and Cultural Center)
Story told by Arthur Diabo
I quit school in the ninth grade in Brooklyn and went to work in an electronics factory, brazing military antennas. I was really good at it but eventually got bored and wanted to do something else.
When I turned 18, me and my good friend Eddie Brown decided to join the Marines. We enlisted under the buddy system and were together most of the time.
When we got to Da Nang in January 1968, we were told to pick a number, one or three. I picked one and he picked three. The buddy system officially ended that day.
Eddie went north to the 3rd Marine Division along the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) in Khe Sanh. I stayed south, in the 1st Marine Division, fighting in the Thua Thien and Quang Nam Provinces. I didn’t see Eddie again for years. Not until we were both discharged.
I was shot through my arm on June 14th, 1968, five-and-a-half months into my 13-month tour of duty. I was evacuated to St. Alban’s Naval Hospital in Queens New York, close to home since I lived in Brooklyn. After many bone and skin graft operations, the doctors rebuilt my shattered arm and inserted pushrods to stabilize it.
It took about a year-and-a-half to recuperate from the surgeries. I visited my old hangouts in Brooklyn, and all my friends were gone. Some were in the military; others were off, doing ironwork and the rest, I have no idea where they went.
It was time to come home to Kahnawake.
KANIEN’KÉHA VERSION
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KANIEN’KÉHA VERSION ↓
Ia'káhewe' Taontá:ke'
Don Eagle gives a welcoming wave next to a big sign, reading, “You are now entering Caughnawaga Indian Village, drive carefully.” Circa 1950. (Courtesy: Kanien’kehá:ka Onkwawén:na Raotitióhkwa Language and Cultural Center)
Arthur Diabo ROKÁ:RATON
Wa'kátkahwe' tsi katerihwaiénstha tióhton tsi kahiá:ton shikhá:wi ne Brooklyn nonkwá:ti tánon eh ka'nerohkwáhere tsi ión:ni iahontió'ten', wa'khwistaná:wenhte' tsi wa'tkeristákha' ne wateriiohsera'kéha a'nekwíhara. Kwah iaonnià:ton tsi ontió'ten' thí:ken nek tsi katkek tsi ní:ions wa'kentón:ni' tánon wà:kehre' ó:ia nahò:ten aontió'ten'.
18 sha'tié:rite', ì:'i tánon ontiatenrohkó:wa Eddie Brown ia'tionkenirihwaién:ta'se' ne Marines aiakhiiatia'táhrha'se'. Thí:ken ronatenrótie tsi rontia'táhrha' wa'átiatste' tsi wa'atiatià:taren' tánon thóha tió:konte wa'atiatenrò:shen'.
Shia'ákenewe' Da Nang nonkwá:ti Tsothohrhkó:wa 1968, wa'onkhihró:ri' ne aiakenirá:ko' skahiatónhkwa ionhsetáhkhwa, énska tóka'ni áhsen. Wa'kerá:ko' nì:'i ne énska tánon raónha wahará:ko' ne áhsen. Tho tewenhniserá:te wa'karihwén:ta'ne thí:ken ronatenrótie tsi rontia'táhrha.
Othorè:ke niahà:re' ne Eddie eh 3rd Marine Division nón:we aktóntie thí:ken DMZ karistatátie ne Khe Sanh nonkwá:ti. Entiè:ke nì:'i ítkeskwe, eh 1st Marine Division nón:we, eh tewakaterí:io Thua Thien tánon Quang Nam tewatonhontsaténion. É:so iohserá:ke iah teshí:ken ne Eddie. Iah tsi niió:re teiakenitsá:ron saionkhiiátkahwe'.
Ohiaríha 14 shískare, 1968 kenentshà:ke tehonohétston tsi ionkwaron'tá:ton, wísk niwenhnì:take tánon sha'tewahsén:nen iekaníhare shikhá:wi tsi 13 niwenhnì:take shiiakwahá:wi tsi ionkwaterí:io. É:ren wa'ontia'tenhá:wihte' St. Alban's Naval Hospital ia'onkì:teron' ne Queens Kanón:no nonkwá:ti, ákta tsi tewakenónhsote áse' kenh Brooklyn tki'terón:tahkwe. Ohnà:ken é:so sha'onkhre'náhseron' tsi wakstièn:tare tánon tsi wakíhnare tsi á:se sahatinenhwenhseráta, rontétsen'ts á:se sahatikwatá:ko' tsi tewakatenentshià:kon' tsi karón:ware' kà:reks wahonnéta' ne akahní:rate'.
Ákta tsóhsera tánon sha'tewahsén:nen nia'kaníhara'ne' tsi niió:re sakatkwatá:ko' tsi ionkhrè:nen. Ia'kkwathóhseron' tsi nón:we iekéhthahkwe ne Brooklyn nonkwá:ti tánon akwé:kon é:ren ronéhton ne onkwatenro'shòn:'a. Kenk nihá:ti ratihsotahrhà:ke ronatià:tare ; ok ne ronátia'ke karistà:ke rotiio'ténhseron sok ne ronátia'ke, kwah iah tewakaterièn:tare ka' niiehoné:non.
Ó:nen ki' ia'káhewe' taontá:ke' ne Kahnawà:ke.
Edited by: Melissa Stacey, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Translation by: Karonhí:io Delaronde