Rocky Boy veterans gather to dedicate new cemetery

On a quiet plot of prairie grassland, where the Bear Paw Mountains rise in the distance, U.S. veterans gathered Thursday to dedicate a new resting place for all who served in their nation’s armed forces.

Representatives from the Rocky Boy Veterans Center, American Legion Post 67 and from the office of U.S. Sen. Jon Tester paused to give thanks to all who have sacrificed for their country, and to officially recognize Warriors Burial, the first official veterans cemetery on the Rocky Boy’s Indian Reservation.

“Native Americans, especially the Chippewa Cree, have a long history of service and sacrifice on behalf of this land,” said a representative from Tester’s office, reading from a prepared statement. “During World War I, President Woodrow Wilson declared a draft, but Native Americans were not eligible. Despite being exempt from the draft, 12,000 Native Americans volunteered to serve in the military.

“In conflicts since then those numbers have only grown. Today, Native Americans serve in the military at the highest rate of any ethnic group in this country.”

Until 2012, the veterans cemetery closest to the Rocky Boy’s Reservation was the state cemetery at Fort William H. Harrison in Helena, more than 180 miles away. With the dedication of Warriors Burial, veterans’ families can be closer to their loved ones, resting within the confines of their ancestral home.

“It’s like they’re going to be guarding Rocky Boy,” said John Gardipee, director of the veterans center in Box Elder.

The effort to establish a new cemetery began with the passing of Gardipee’s father, Henry Gardipee, who served in the Marine Corps for four years in the late 1950s, including tours in both Korea and Vietnam.

Since Henry Gardipee’s death, 10 veterans have been interred at the cemetery, yet the site has remained secluded and largely unrecognized. With no direct road access or any formal monument, Warriors Burial was nearly anonymous.

With help and funding from Rocky Boy Veterans Center, American Legion Post 67, the tribal road department and Rocky Boy’s Senior Center, that has changed. A new road has been completed, and on Thursday four flag poles were set into place representing the armed service branches in which the interred servicemen served.

According to John Gardipee, the cemetery is open to any armed service veteran from northcentral Montana regardless of whether they are a Rocky Boy tribal member or not. It is also open to those who served in the National Guard or other branches of U.S. reserve forces, an honor that is frequently denied those who did not see active duty service.

“We know that there are veterans here in Rocky Boy and Havre that didn’t go overseas during war time,” he said. “The ones that served six years in the National Guard and got out; they’re not eligible for a veterans burial because they’ve got to serve 180 days active duty. They’re not even allowed a Veterans Administration headstone.”

“It’s not their fault that there’s not a war every year,” Gardipee added. They served their country honorably”

Those interested in visiting Warriors Burial or inquiring about the possibility of having a veteran interred there should contact the Rocky Boy Veterans Center at 406-395-5610, or visit www.rockyboyveterans.org.