BIG CYPRESS — Ahfachkee School middle and high school students heard firsthand accounts of serving in the military from tribal veterans Paul Bowers Sr. and former President Mitchell Cypress on Nov. 13.

Veterans Day was over, but these distinguished Vietnam veterans gave their time freely to share what it was to be a soldier for their country.

Cypress, who served in the National Guard and the U.S. Army from 1968 to 1970, said there were about 60 tribal members who served from 1960 to 1970.

“Some were drafted and some signed up,” said Cypress, who was drafted. “Being in the military taught me discipline. Somebody was always above you telling you what to do.”

He told the students that during the first eight weeks of basic training, soldiers would qualify for a position based on a point system that could include cook, supply clerk or an office worker.

“You didn’t have to carry a rifle all day every day,” Cypress said. “Somebody has to keep our freedom, so think about it and see what kind of programs they have.”

Bowers, who enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps and served from 1968 to 1970, passed around a book about the USMC in San Diego in 1968, where he did boot camp.

He told the students that boot camp lasted 12 weeks. Every day they exercised by running three miles, doing pushups and more. Bowers spent a lot of time on the rifle range, doing mountain training and learning about ground warfare.

When boot camp ended, he was sent to Vietnam and said it was kind of scary. The weather was always hot and the North Vietnamese and Vietcong soldiers were always shooting at them.

“Once a mortar round landed right in front of me,” Bowers said. “But I picked up my machine gun and kept going.”

There were people from cities throughout the U.S. in his group and they didn’t know anything about the vegetation surrounding them. Bowers found nuts on the ground, put them in his pocket and shared them with his buddies. He said the men couldn’t believe he could just pick up a nut from the ground and eat it.

Bowers told the students that his primary job was to shoot the enemy soldiers.

“They would shoot at us all day and then disappear into the tunnels,” Bowers said. “They wore camo and were hard to see. We didn’t know where the fire was coming from. You never saw them, but you shot at them.”

Bowers earned three Purple Heart medals for shrapnel wounds and tripping a land mine.

“I remember it,” he said. “You can’t ever forget what you went through. It was kind of rough, but I did my job. We need to get more people from the tribe to serve.”

When Bowers got back home, he spent six months in the hospital due to his injuries. When he left, had no job and nothing else to do but work cattle. He still has a herd of cattle today.

“One reason you are [in the military] is to fight for freedom,” Cypress said. “This guy [Bowers] is a highly decorated Marine.”