THEPOOLAW FAMILY ATWAR
A
lthough we don’t know much about Horace Poolaw’s early military career, Robert “Corky” and Linda Poolaw
(two of Horace’s four children, both Kiowa/ Delaware), speculate that he was first slated to be an aircraft mechanic, and was sent to California for that purpose after he enlisted in 1943. Soon after, however, he was sent to Colorado to learn the art of aerial photogra- phy. He was then stationed for the duration of the war at MacDill Field in Tampa, Fla., training other aerial photographers – a perfect marriage of his interests in both photography and airplanes. While there, he met up with fellow Kiowa Gus Palmer, Sr. The two appear in some of Poolaw’s most engaging self-por- traits, wearing flight suits and war bonnets. The reference to the dress of past Kiowa sol- diers, as Linda Poolaw observes, shows them as “a warrior in a different uniform.” During Poolaw’s time at MacDill Field, from 1943 to 1945, the family had the op-
portunity to visit twice. Corky remembers one particular visit when he was about six years old. His father had taken him and Linda to the mess hall one day and pointed out the German prisoners of war, hundreds of whom had been detained at MacDill Field and other Florida bases in late 1944 and 1945, serving the food. Corky was immediately afraid: “I said, I’m not going to eat this, because they’re going to poison me!” But Poolaw had made one particular ac-
quaintance among the German POWs, a man Corky remembers as Kraus. Kraus was an art- ist, and used one of the photographs of Linda that her father had taken during a precious visit home as a model to paint her portrait on the fuselage of a B-17. The plane was hence- forth dubbed the “Linda Sue.” Although Hor- ace took a self-portrait with the final artwork, his children can’t be sure whether the man standing next to him is the talented painter; he remains unidentified. After the war, Horace returned to Moun-
tain View, where he attempted cattle ranching. As in his photography business, he was never
successful enough to rely on it for steady in- come. So he took a job at nearby Fort Sill as an aircraft mechanic until a car accident in 1957 prevented him from continuing work. All along, Horace took images of his fam- ily and community as they were called away and returned from wars, between World War II, Korea and through the long years of Vietnam. He was deeply proud of his children and extended family members who served in the military, which included two of his sons, Jerry and Corky; his other son, Bryce, served as an officer in the U.S. Public Health Service’s Commissioned Corps. One of the most frequent faces in Horace
Poolaw’s photographs of military events was First Sergeant Pascal Cleatus Poolaw, Sr., called “Cleatus” by friends and family. He has been called the most decorated American In- dian serviceman in the history of the United States military, and was also a member of the Black Legs Society. Sgt. Poolaw’s service spanned three wars – World War II, Korea and Vietnam – and earned him 42 medals, badges and citations, including four Silver Stars, five
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 15
© 2014 ESTATE OF HORACE POOLAW. REPRINTED WITH PERMISSION.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68