When Sharon Phillips joined the military, women weren’t allowed in combat. But she did get to see the Arctic, got stranded there, and watched polar bears approach, wondering if troops on guard would have to shoot.
She was assigned to a combat engineer battalion and was in Alaska for five years. For some reason – she didn’t know why – the training at the Arctic always happened in the winter. She retired as a sergeant first class.
Phillips told her story to TDP while enjoying a day of family fun for veterans, widows and family of veterans, at the Cherokee Nation Veterans Center, July 25.
“I was a military occupation specialty instructor, and after you pass basic, they already know where you are going to go to school to train at whatever,” Phillips said. “I had to be retrained every year, recertified to teach a class, and they used me in all different parts of the world.”
The company to which she was assigned allowed women and went to winter training in Alaska, the worst time of the year to go. The training was scheduled for two weeks and ended up being three weeks, she said.
“What happened was the commander of the battalion took us on this trip to Alaska, got to the Arctic, and it was dark 24 hours,” Phillips said. “Somehow he lost his compass.”
They stayed overnight and were ready to go north, and he was looking for the compass. They were lost, Phillips said.
“I saw in the distance polar bears, and they can sense your smell up to seven miles. He told us to lock and load in case they came close,” Phillips said.
The temperature was 150 degrees below zero, and the troops were having to live in their vehicles, with all the motors running. To turn them off would have caused cracked engine blocks from the frigid cold.
“We thought we would never get back,” Phillips said. “But one of the privates had a hunting knife and it had a cheapo compass on it, and asked the commander if he wanted to use it. The commander said it was our only option, and he looked for south and we went south.”
She said the commander lost his job because he lost his compass and had put his command in danger.
“We couldn’t put up our tents because they were frozen, and there were polar bears walking around out there,” Phillips said. “They can get to 7 feet tall and weigh up to 2,000 pounds.”
Director Barbara Foreman, of the center, said the purpose of the day was to host an event for veterans, widows and widowers of veterans.
“We have the Staff Sgt. Parker Gordon Fox Suicide Prevention grant under our umbrella, and we will talk about that to people today,” Foreman said. “We will be doing a screening to look for any red flags, to be an outreach, and we don’t want anyone to fall through the cracks.”
She said they do this screening and presentation at every event just to cover as much of the 14 counties of the reservation as they can.
The Veterans Administration estimates that 22 veterans commit suicide every day; that’s 8,030 a year, more than 5,540 of whom are 50 or older.
Joe Crittenden, secretary of Veteran Affairs for the CN, said he was thrilled to be able to show the veterans, “Hey, come and sit with us, let’s play some games, laugh, and have fellowship, and let’s eat a bite.”
“[We want to] let them know that we appreciate what they’ve done for our country, our tribe and us,” Crittenden said. “That’s not done enough in this country.”
Johnnie Moore sat with his his companion, Edie Sevier, and friends Russell Thouvenel and Ginger Thouvenel.
“I started out in the Navy, went into the Army and retired out of the Air Force,” Moore said. “I got drafted, but I joined the Navy instead of going into the Army. I served six years in the Navy, 16 years in the Oklahoma Army National Guard.”
Moore said he liked being in the military, where he served a total of 35 years, and is a Vietnam-era veteran.
“I liked the military – the discipline and good money, too,” Moore said. “I think it would be awesome if it was mandatory for youngsters to go into the military right out of high school, and that’s my opinion.”
He said it was for the discipline, instead of kids sitting at home playing games. He did have a caveat to his statement.
“But in this day and age, I don’t think I would want one of mine to go,” Moore said. “I hope it doesn’t happen.”