US Army 1LT Pascal Poolaw: Our Nation's Most Decorated Native American Soldier

Welcome back, everyone!

Before we get into this week’s episode, I wanted to share the Medal of Honor story of SGT Candelario Garcia, whose valor during the Vietnam War ensured his platoon achieved its objective.  This audio was pulled from the Duty & Valor YouTube channel where we release daily YouTube shorts telling the stories of our nation’s heroes.

While serving as an acting Team Leader during combat operations in Vietnam, on December 8, 1968, Sergeant Candelario Garcia displayed extraordinary courage. While conducting reconnaissance, Garcia and his platoon discovered communication wire and other signs of an enemy base camp leading into dense vegetation. As they advanced, they were met with intense enemy fire, leaving several men wounded and trapped in the open.

Without hesitation and under heavy fire, Garcia crawled to within ten meters of a machine gun bunker, then sprang to his feet and charged the position, firing his rifle as he advanced. Reaching the fortification, he jammed two grenades into the gun port and followed by placing his rifle inside, killing all four occupants. Undeterred by the continuing enemy fire, Garcia sprinted another fifteen meters to a second bunker, killing its three defenders with grenades and rifle fire.

He then braved the enemy barrage once more to rescue two wounded soldiers and rejoined his company in a final assault that overran the remaining enemy positions.

For his actions that day, SGT Candelario Garcia was awarded the Medal of Honor in 2014. 

Though he survived the Vietnam War, SGT Garcia passed away at the age of 68, the year before he was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. 

Now, on today’s main story, I’m going to share the story of U.S. Army 1LT Pascal Poolaw. Over a career that spanned three wars, he repeatedly answered the call of duty, often placing himself in harm's way to protect his fellow soldiers. Through his fearless actions on the battlefield, he solidified his place as the most decorated Native American soldier in U.S. history.  This is his story.

Pascal was born in Apache, OK on Jan. 29, 1922 to parents Ralph and Minnie Poolaw of the Kiowa Nation.  In 1940 Pascal married Irene Chalepah and the two would go on to have four boys, Lester, Pascal Jr., Lindy, and Donnie.

After the US entered WWII Pascal enlisted in the Army in 1942.  By this time, his father and two brothers were already serving as well.  I’m not sure when he first arrived in Europe, but by Sept. 8, 1944, he was a Staff Sergeant serving in combat with Company M, 8th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division in Belgium.  On that day he led a machine gun squad across open terrain while under heavy mortar and small arms fire, suffering few casualties.  When they reached their new position, Sgt Poolaw noticed German forces racing towards them in a fierce counterattack supported by machine gun fire.  Risking becoming a casualty himself, he stood in full view of the enemy and began hurling grenades at the attackers.  Over a five minute period, his grenades caused numerous casualties and forced the German to halt their attack.  Though wounded, he and his company were able to continue their attack and capture a strongly defended German position.  For this, he was awarded a Silver Star and a purple heart.

After WWII ended, Sgt Poolaw remained in the Army and was with the 1st Battalion,  27th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division at the start of the Korean War.  On Sep. 19, 1950, Poolaw, who was now a Sergeant First Class, volunteered to lead his squad against an enemy position that had halted his company’s attack.  He led his men up a steep slope, right into the heart of the numerically superior enemy force.  They were able to breach the perimeter, but were soon engaged in fierce hand-to-hand combat.  His leadership inspired his men to hold their position long enough for the remainder of the company to join the fight and take the position.  For this he was awarded his second Silver Star.  

 The following year on April 4, 1951, Sgt Poolaw again distinguished himself in combat.  Now a MSGT, he was with his unit near Chongong-ni as they were attacking heavily defended enemy positions when a squad was pinned down by mortar and automatic weapons fire.  In an effort to draw enemy fire away from the beleaguered squad, Sgt Poolaw slowly advanced across open terrain, firing his rifle as he moved.  While he was doing this, the other men were able to move to a more tactically advantageous position where they were able to engage and subdue the enemy force in front of them.  This led MSGT Poolaw to receive his third Silver Star.  By the time he left Korea in 1952, he had also received his second Purple Heart for wounds sustained in combat and received a field promotion to 2LT and later attained the rank of 1LT.   After serving for 20 years, LT Poolaw retired from the Army in 1962.

In 1967, his son Pascal Jr. was in the Army and serving in Vietnam when he was badly wounded by a landmine, forcing the amputation of his right leg below the knee.  Not long after, his youngest son, Lindy, received his draft notice and was soon on his way to Vietnam.  Not wanting another one of his sons to see the horrors of war, LT Poolaw decided to reenter the Army.  In order to keep Lindy out of combat, he gave up his commission and became a 1SG so he could serve in combat once again. 

At the time, it was forbidden for two members of the same family to serve in combat.  Though he tried hard, he was unsuccessful in keeping his son from deploying.  He had reached the port of departure on the west coast the day after Lindy left for Vietnam, but he decided to continue on anyway and arrived in Vietnam on May 31, 1967.

Sgt. Poolaw was with Company C, 26th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division during Operation Shenandoah II.  This operation aimed to repair and secure Highway 13 in South Vietnam, which would allow for the buildup of US and South Vietnamese forces near the Cambodian border.  

On Nov. 7, 1967, SGT Poolaw was part of a two company search and destroy mission when their patrol was ambushed by sniper fire as they moved through a rubber plantation.  Within minutes the area erupted in explosions from claymore mines and rocket fire, as well as small arms and automatic weapons fire.  Though they were again facing a numerically superior force, SGT Poolaw raced towards the lead squad that was being hit the hardest.  Though he sustained a wound, he disregarded his own safety to reposition the men to establish a more effective base of fire.  He yelled words of encouragement to the men and pulled casualties to places of cover.  

While helping one wounded man get to safety, he was struck and mortally wounded.  Before dying, his efforts were credited with saving the lives of many fellow soldiers, and for this he received his fourth Silver Star.    

1LT Pascal Poolaw’s body was returned to the US and he is buried at the Fort Sill National Cemetery.

At the time of his death, 45 year old 1LT Pascal Poolaw earned 42 medals and citations, which included the Distinguished Service Cross, which I couldn’t find a citation for,  the Silver Star four times, the Bronze Star five times, and three Purple Hearts.  He is regarded as the most decorated Native American to serve in the US Army.

A quote about him that is shared in many sources is from his wife Irene, who at this funeral said “He has followed the trail of the great chiefs. His people hold him in honor and highest esteem. He has given his life for the people and the country he loved so much.”

Thank you for joining us for this episode of Duty & Valor! If you want to dive deeper into the story about this week’s hero, check out our show notes or head over to dutyandvalor.com for the full list of sources.

Be sure to catch new episodes early every Friday at 5 pm on our Duty & Valor YouTube channel, where we also drop daily shorts honoring our heroes, many of whom haven't been featured on the show yet.

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