Oglala Lakota code talker Clarence Wolf Guts laid to rest

rapidcityjournal.com ^ | 6/23/10 | Tyler Jerke

[Kartographer]

Three rifle volleys echoed through the Hills Tuesday afternoon, bidding farewell to the nation’s last Oglala Lakota code talker.

Clarence Wolf Guts, an 86-year-old World War II veteran, was laid to rest in the Black Hills National Cemetery with the Lord’s Prayer and drum beat resonating inside the rock rotunda.

A procession of 30 vehicles -- including one white Chevy Impala with the sign “We love you Grandpa Clarence, forever in our heart.” -- followed a white van that carried Wolf Guts from a traditional Lakota ceremony in Wanblee to Sturgis. A crowd of over 60 traveled to pay their respects to the war hero.

[Eagles6]

http://www.southdakotamagazine.com/articles/view_article.php?articleid=5

[Wilum]

My father was a Radio/Scout with the 45th Division, previously a National Guard unit mostly made up of American Indians. Dad was Portuguese and from Provincetown, Mass. (He always said he caught the wrong train).

He told me he always had to have an "Indian" with him to talk on the radio when they were in the forward area.

Read about the 45th:

http://www.45thdivisionmuseum.com/History/

[ADSUM]

From the Lakota Country Times June 23 -29, 2010

http://www.lakotacountrytimes.com/news/2010-06-23/The_Holy_Road/Clarence_Wolf_Guts.html

There is a picture of Clarence Wof Guts.
American Hero

He offered his services again after 9/11. A Real Patroit.

Clarence Wolf Guts
WANBLEE - Clarence Wolf Guts, 86, Wanblee, died Wednesday, June 16, 2010, at the State Veterans Home in Hot Springs.
Survivors include a son, Don Doyle, Wanblee; eight grandchildren; and 30 great-grandchildren. A two-night wake began on Sunday, June 20, at TNT Center.

Funeral services were Tuesday, June 22, at the TNT Center, with the Rev. Rick Abert officiating. Traditional Lakota services were provided by Richard Moves Camp.

Burial, with full military honors followed at Black Hills National Cemetery near Sturgis. Sioux Funeral Home of Pine Ridge is in charge of arrangements.

( The following story is by Holly Meyer of the Rapid City Journal):

When the towers of the World Trade Center fell on Sept. 11, 2001, Clarence Wolf Guts asked his son to call the U.S. Department of Defense to see if the country needed his code talking abilities to find Osama Bin Laden.

Wolf Guts was in his late 70s at the time, so his son, Don Doyle, did not make the call, but said the request personified his father’s love of country.

“He still wanted to help. He was trying to still be patriotic,” Doyle said.

Wolf Guts, 86, the last surviving Oglala Lakota code talker, died Wednesday afternoon at the South Dakota State Veterans Home in Hot Springs.

The rest of the Obituary at:
http://www.lakotacountrytimes.com/news/2010-06-23/The_Holy_Road/Clarence_Wolf_Guts.html

We were on a church mission trip at the Crazy Horse School in Wanblee, SD at the time of his wake and funeral