Clarification on article

Editor,

As a result of last week's article on a project I am doing on WW II Tribal vets, I am writing this letter to clarify the situation from my perspective. There were some issues that need to be clarified that were not intended by either the paper or myself. Those issues were primarily having to do with my military and professional work record. The issues that I believe need to be addressed are as follows:

I was not a prisoner chaser in the sense that I was one of the guards who "was responsible for tracking down troops who went AWOL." I was a guard who pulled various kinds of guard duty within the base brig on Camp Pendleton, Calif. There were occasions when we took various prisoner groups out of the main compound to other parts of the main base for work parties, to the sick bay, commissary or hospital, to administrative or judicial hearings in other areas of the base, etc.

I never had the authority or duty to "pick them up (meaning AWOL troops), bring them back and lock 'em up and give them a dishonorable discharge or bad conduct or something of that nature." Disciplinary action in the military must follow military law as codified in the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ).

The article states as follows: "It is something Wyman believes passionately in, (and this is true) after spending much of his life in the military." I spent two weeks less than four years in the military, and at the time of my discharge, I was not yet 21 years old. As a fire team and squad leader in a line company, I never trained the troops I served with, we served and trained together. Also, corporals don't train line companies.

In working in the OEO Office in Washington, DC, when Don Rumsfeld was the Director, I attended several meetings in his Office, but I did not have "a lot of meetings with him."

I should have said and made clear that in my last job, after retiring from the federal government, I was appointed to the position of State Coordinator, Office of Indian Affairs, by Governor Marc Racicot. This position is in effect the Director of Indian Affairs for the State of Montana.

These are the clarifications I would like to have made to the article. Finally, I very much appreciate The Leader's efforts in trying to assist me in doing a Tribal Military History Project.

Wyman J. McDonald

Ronan

Editor's note: We reviewed a recording of the interview, and Mr. McDonald was accurately quoted about both his duties as a squad leader, in which he does mention training as one of his duties, and also as a military policeman, in which he refers to himself as a "prisoner chaser." The quote above about bringing AWOL troops back was an accurate quote, although we can understand his concern that people know that MPs are not responsible for trying cases or sentencing troops. We just took it as a general explanation of the process that AWOL troops have to go through once they are arrested. We appreciate his taking the time to clarify those statements. The reference to spending "much" of his life in the military was an editor's mistake.