The War

(geese calling) (explosion)

NARRATOR

Fighting in France with the same 103rd Infantry Division in which Paul Fussell served

was a soldier with an unusual name

Joseph Medicine Crow. (man singing Crow song, drum beating) Born on the Crow Indian reservation near Lodge Grass, Montana, in 1913, he attended a Baptist mission school, was the first of his people to graduate from college, and was studying for an advanced degree in anthropology when the war began. But he had also been raised by his elders in the warrior tradition.

JOE MEDICINE CROW

My grandfather trained me to be a warrior. The Crow Indians were so-called warlike. They are militaristic from way back.

NARRATOR

The Crows had defended their lands against the Lakota and Cheyenne for generations and had allied themselves with the United States during the Plains wars. One of Joe Medicine Crow's grandfathers had been a scout for George Armstrong Custer before the Battle of the Little Big Horn.

JOE MEDICINE CROW

My paternal grandfather, Great War Chief Medicine Crow, he was considered the bravest warrior of all time. So he was also my inspiration to follow in his footsteps. He kept training me to become a warrior. In order to have status in becoming a warrior, climbing up the ladder of success to become a chief, you must perform certain dangerous war deeds.

NARRATOR

To be considered a chief, a Crow warrior had to touch a living enemy, take an enemy's weapon, steal an enemy's horse, and lead a victorious war party. Whenever he went into battle in Europe, Joe Medicine Crow would paint red stripes on his arms beneath his uniform, and he carried in his helmet a sacred yellow-painted eagle feather provided by a Sun Dance medicine man to shield him from harm. He would need that power. He was asked to lead a seven-man squad carrying explosives through a wall of artillery fire to blast German positions along the Siegfried Line. Then, he helped capture a German village.

JOE MEDICINE CROW

We hid in a German town, and I was assigned to take the back alley and come behind the Germans who were in the main street. So I did; I ran up there and I saw an opening there, a gate there-- there was a wall there. So I ran up there and a German soldier was running there. We bumped heads... (chuckles)...helmets. So I swung my rifle and knocked his rifle off his hands. There he was standing. All I had to do was pull the trigger. But for some reason, I put my gun down and tore into him. Then we had it out, you know. He had me down, but I turned him over and grabbed him by the throat, you know. I was ready to kill him. Then, his last words were, "Mama, mama." When he... that word, "Mama," opened my ears. I let him go.

NARRATOR

Without quite meaning to, Joe Medicine Crow had performed three out of the four traditional war deeds he needed to become a war chief like his grandfather. He had led a successful war party; he had touched an enemy warrior and taken away his weapon. The only thing left was to capture some horses. I was a scout for my company. We were going along the road on top of the mountain, small mountain. And I was ahead of my company, and I caught up with some horseback riders, and I had my field glasses. I looked at them. They were Germans, you know, so I followed them. The Germans took over a farmhouse. The horses were pastured outside, some 50 of them.

JOE MEDICINE CROW

So we surrounded the place there and we were going to attack early in the morning. So I was sitting there with a C.O., and, uh, we waited. Finally, towards morning, I said, "Captain." I said, "I have an idea." I said, "If you give me five minutes before jump-off, I'll stampede their horses." So we went in there, opened that gate. There were some guards sitting in a shed there, so I went behind there and got a horse and I put my little rope, made an Indian bridle, you know, double half hitch. I got on it and I stampeded the horses out of there. So I headed out and then, soon as I left, why, they... they opened fire over there. But I took off. So, these were not ordinary horses. And I looked at them. They were beautiful. And the one I was riding was a sorrel with a blaze. So I felt pretty good. So I looked around. Pretty soon, I sang a song, you know. Praise song. (singing in Crow language)

NARRATOR

When Joe Medicine Crow returned home after the war, a tribal ceremony was held to welcome him.

JOE MEDICINE CROW

The old elders wanted to know what... my war deeds. And I started thinking about it, you know, and I mentioned those horses. "You have completed the four deeds." Well, I never thought about it. (chuckling) So I guess you're looking at the last Plains Indian war chief. Captioned by Media Access Group at WGBH access.wgbh.org Next time on The War... The Battle of the Bulge.

MAN

And as I say, when they fired the first round, it done near hit me. Iwo Jima... I always looked around and... wondering, "Now, how many men am I going to lose?" And fire rains on Japan. They burn out a third of the whole area. We knew that Americans were getting closer. Part Six of The War. To learn more about The War, visit pbs.org. To order The War on DVD with additional features, the companion book with over 400 photos and illustrations, and the CD soundtrack featuring music from the series, visit us online at shopPBS.org or call 1-800-PLAY-PBS. Corporate funding for The War is