The Story Of Joe Medicine Crow, The Native American Soldier Who Stole Horses From The Nazis And Came Home A War Chief
It was another form of bridge-building.
The Man Behind The Legend
The horse story is so cinematic that it can easily swallow the man.
A Native American soldier stealing German horses during World War II sounds almost too perfectly symbolic to be true.
It attracts headlines because it compresses centuries of history into a single image.
Yet Medicine Crow himself resisted being turned into a caricature of the “last warrior.”
People who knew him described humor, humility, discipline, curiosity, and an unusual ability to make others comfortable.
He was a musician as well as a historian.
USC records describe him playing several instruments.
He was an athlete in his youth.