Pascal Cleatus Poolaw (January 29, 1922 – November 7, 1967) was a

Kiowa Kiowa () people are a Native American tribe and an indigenous people of the Great Plains of the United States. They migrated southward from western Montana into the Rocky Mountains in Colorado in the 17th and 18th centuries,Pritzker 326 and e ...

who served with the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

, and the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...

. He is the United States' most decorated Native American, with 42 medals and citations, including four Silver Stars, five

Bronze Stars The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious achievement, or meritorious service in a combat zone. Wh ...

, as well as three

Purple Heart The Purple Heart (PH) is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those wounded or killed while serving, on or after 5 April 1917, with the U.S. military. With its forerunner, the Badge of Military Merit, ...

s – one for each war.

Early life

Pascal Poolaw was born in Apache, Oklahoma, to Ralph Emerson Poolaw and Minnie Monetathchi Bointy. He married Irene Chalepah on March 15, 1940, and had four sons: Lester, Pascal Jr., Lindy, and Donnie.

Military career

In 1942, Poolaw joined his father and two brothers in

. He earned his first

when he was wounded in September 1944. He earned his first Silver Star for his actions near Recogne, Belgium, while serving in Company M, 8th Infantry Regiment, when he pushed his unit forward under heavy fire and hurled hand grenades at enemy machine guns until the enemy dispersed. He continued to serve in the

, where he earned two more Silver Stars, and in July 1950, another Purple Heart, before his return to the United States in 1952. He retired from the Army in 1962. Poolaw's son, Pascal Jr., had also joined the army and was serving in the

in February 1967, when he was wounded in both legs by a landmine, and had to have his right leg amputated below the knee. Poolaw's youngest son Lindy was also drafted and set to deploy to Vietnam shortly thereafter. Poolaw rejoined the Army to prevent Lindy from having to serve, by taking his place. Lindy had already shipped out and Poolaw had hoped to catch up with him in time, but when he arrived on the West Coast, he discovered his son had already left the day before. He decided to follow his son to Vietnam. Poolaw was deployed on May 31, 1967, as the first sergeant of the 26th Infantry Regiment's C Company. On November 7, while on a search and destroy mission during the first battle of Loc Ninh, Poolaw and his unit were ambushed by the

Viet Cong , , war = the Vietnam War , image = FNL Flag.svg , caption = The flag of the Viet Cong, adopted in 1960, is a variation on the flag of North Vietnam. Sometimes the lower stripe was green. , active ...

. He was killed while attempting to pull a unit casualty to safety, and posthumously awarded a fourth Silver Star.

Legacy

At his funeral his wife stated: "He has followed the trail of the great chiefs." A building at the U.S. Army base in Fort Sill in Lawton, Oklahoma—where he was stationed prior to his deployment to Vietnam—is named in his honor.

Awards

Poolaw was the recipient of the following military decorations and service medals:

Footnotes

Sources

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Poolaw, Pascal 1922 births 1967 deaths United States Army personnel of the Korean War United States Army personnel of the Vietnam War United States Army personnel of World War II American military personnel killed in the Vietnam War Kiowa people Military personnel from Oklahoma Native American United States military personnel People from Caddo County, Oklahoma Recipients of the Silver Star