Joseph Medicine Crow was 98 years old at the time of the interview. His Crow Indian Tribal name was High Bird but the Bureau of Indian Affairs gave him the name Joseph Medicine Crow. He was inducted into the Army in Ogden, Utah. He had the opportunity because of his graduate degree work at Linfield College to become an officer. A college roommate spotted him at the induction center. The induction officer offered Medicine Crow an officer commission because of his higher education. He refused because he felt compelled to follow in his grandfather's footsteps. His grandfather was called Medicine Crow or Sacred Raven and had gone on the warpath at the age of 15 years old. At that early age, his grandfather had snuck into an enemy camp and captured horses. This was considered a highly esteemed deed and was characterized as a war deed. His grandfather was well known as a horse capturer. This Indian viewpoint is more favorable than the white man's reference to the same individual as a horse thief. Medicine Crow knew he had to follow his grandfather's footsteps because that is what Crow Indians do. In his military career, Medicine Crow would be a good horse thief [Annotator's Note: Medicine Crow's choice of terms], counting war deeds. He captured a lot of horses [Annotator's Notes: while serving overseas]. Medicine Crow trained in Texas before going overseas. The men in his troop from Montana and California liked to make fun of Texas while they marched and sang a ditty that mocked the state [Annotator's Note: Medicine Crow breaks into the marching song to the tune of Mademoiselle from Armentieres and then laughs at its humor]. Medicine Crow still sings the song from boot camp.

After training in Texas, Joseph Medicine Crow went to Camp McCoy near New York, New York for embarkation to Europe. He had a good time in New York City for the week or so he was in the camp awaiting his voyage to Europe. He enjoyed the girls and drinking because he did not know when he would have another opportunity while in Germany. When he boarded the ship for the voyage across the Atlantic, he noticed it was a Liberty ship that he had worked on while he was employed in Tacoma, Washington building small boats [Annotator's Note: just prior to his induction in the Army in 1943]. German submarines had been going after those boats in the Atlantic. Medicine Crow worked in the kitchen and was fed well. While on the voyage to Europe, Medicine Crow entered the Mediterranean Sea and saw Africa from the ship. They debarked from the ship in Marseilles, France. When the ship arrived, they heard German radio broadcasting messages to the Allies in English. The broadcaster's name was Sally [Annotator's Note: Axis Sally]. Sally welcomed the 103rd Infantry Division and said the Germans would provide them with a hot time. The troops left the ship then marched to their next destination as there were no trucks to transport them.

Joseph Medicine Crow walked all night after exiting the Liberty ship in France. They covered 25 miles the first night. They continued to march through France to Paris and then to Belgium. The 103rd Infantry Division advanced to the German border while chasing the German Army through France and Belgium. They came upon a creek with Germany on the opposite site. Army newsmen set up a media event and took pictures. Medicine Crow was ordered to jump into Germany. He was labeled the first American Indian soldier to enter Germany. It was an honor given to Medicine Crow. The 103rd Division continued to chase the German Army through their homeland and into Bavaria. Eventually, his Company K, 411th Regiment, 103rd Infantry Division [Annotator's Note: Company K, 3rd Battalion, 411th Infantry Regiment, 103rd Infantry Division], known as the Cactus Division, would be first to enter the headquarters of Hitler [Annotator's Note: German dictator Adolf Hitler] at Berchtesgaden, Germany. It was a fancy mansion on a high mountain. The castle contained art work that had been captured from all over Europe. The regiment then moved on to the Brenner Pass and linked up with American troops coming from Italy that were under the command of General Mark Clark. This was another first for American forces in which Medicine Crow participated. The war end shortly after that. Medicine Crow was a member of the Army of Occupation in Germany. During this time, he enjoyed skiing in the high country where he was based. It was memorable to ski on the Fourth of July. Upon his return home, Medicine Crow was routed through France. While in Paris, he enjoyed chasing wild women. The girlfriends in Europe went for him because he was an American Indian. He may have left descendants in Europe.

After Joseph Medicine Crow had spent time in Italy, he returned to southern Germany then went to Poland. It was there that he encountered small towns with concentration camps. The villagers would point out the camps on the outskirts of the towns. The German soldiers had previously fled the camps. The inhabitants invited the Americans to enter the camps. The compounds were unbelievable. The smell was terrible. Stacks of dead humans were 50 to 60 feet long. Medicine Crow saw the gas chambers where hundreds of Jews were gassed. After they were gassed, the bodies were burned. The inhumanity was hard to comprehend. Hitler [Annotator's Note: German dictator Adolf Hitler] regarded all other races as no good, particularly the blacks and Jews. Medicine Crow traveled through Germany to Berlin. He saw the division of the city and the country by the Allies and Russia. While on security patrol adjacent to the Russian occupied territory in Germany, he met a Siberian native who said he was an Indian also. The Siberian related how the Russians had tried to kill them and place them in reservations similar to the treatment of the Indians in the United States.

Joseph Medicine Crow somehow enjoyed war. This is despite some opinions that war is terrible. War allowed him to commit war deeds to fulfill his grandfather's great war history. After returning home, Medicine Crow recited his war deeds to the tribal elders as part of the ritual tribal tradition. When the elders heard of his war deeds, they designated him a full fledged authentic Crow war chief. At 98 years old, Medicine Crow is the last authentic Plains Indian war chief. The tribal elders composed a war song for him [Annotator's Note: Medicine Crow sings the tribal war song at this point. He interprets a portion using his tribal name of High Bird]. High Bird is a great warrior who counted coup on Hitler's [Annotator's Note: German dictator Adolf Hitler] Germans. He enjoyed committing war deeds against Hitler's Nazi soldiers. One war deed involved an encounter with a German field camp. A German approached them with a white flag. Medicine Crow was sent forward to find out what he wanted. The German said that they knew they were surrounded, but he was there to challenge an American soldier one on one. The company commander told Medicine Crow to go get him. The flag was dropped and the hand to hand combat ensued. The German was much larger than Medicine Crow and initially the fight went against the American. Somehow, the combat reversed and Medicine Crow soon had control of the German. Medicine Crow put him down. He counted the victory as a war deed. It would be considered as counting coup by the elders in the recitation of his war deeds before his designation as a Crow war chief. This was part of the reason the tribal elders designated him an authentic tribal war chief.

Joseph Medicine Crow had an uncle known to the Crow people as White Buffalo Turns Around. He received a new name from the people after an incident that happened when Medicine Crow's uncle was only about ten years old. There were trappers visiting and trading with the Crow camp. One of the trappers became suspicious of White Buffalo Turns Around. He thought that the young boy might be stealing from them. The trapper fired his weapon and the young boy immediately ran through the camp to escape harm. The Crow people seized upon the incident to give a new name to White Buffalo Turns Around. He thereafter was called Chased by a White Man or White Man Runs Him. White Man Runs Him would gain fame for being a favorite scout for General Custer [Annotator's Note: Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer]. When White Man Runs Him died he was buried near Custer. Custer was looked upon by the Crows as a brilliant and handsome warrior. As a result, Custer was known to the Crow people as Son of the Morning Star. [Annotator's Note: An attempt is made to have Joseph Medicine Crow remember an incident at the German Siegfried Line, but the memory is too vague for him to recollect].

Joseph Medicine Crow captured 50 enemy horses in Germany. This was considered to be a great war deed by the Crow nation. While in Germany, Medicine Crow's unit followed a mounted group of German soldiers. There were about 40 to 50 enemy troops with about 50 horses. When the enemy arrived at a farm, they dismounted and put the horses in a corral. The American troops surrounded the farm. Medicine Crow was a scout and translator so, invariably, he was always close to the company commander. At this time, the commander was a West Point trained officer. Medicine Crow was known as Chief to the young commander. Medicine Crow trained many new officers and they appreciated the help. Assessing the situation, a decision was made to take on the Germans the next morning. Medicine Crow requested that the commander allow him to take the German horses so the enemy could not escape. The commander provided an assistant to aid in the effort. At dawn, the two Americans entered the corral before the Germans left the farm building. Medicine Crow mounted a horse and told his assistant to open the gate. At that, Medicine Crow herded the horses out of the corral and the Germans were left without their mounts. The Americans awaited the enemy to respond and then they cleaned them up. They wiped out the whole outfit of 40 to 50 German soldiers. When Medicine Crow returned to the United States and ritually recounted the incident, he was credited with a great war deed. To capture one horse was a war deed but to capture 50 horses was a great war deed to the Crow. Medicine Crow was a famous horse thief [Annotator's Note: Medicine Crow laughs as he recounts that the Crow people consider this a great war deed while the white man would view him as a horse thief]. While escaping with the horses, Medicine Crow sang the same song that he sang earlier in the interview [Annotator's Note: see segment titled Becoming the Last Crow War Chief].

Joseph Medicine Crow had a grandfather named White Man Runs Him. That grandfather was actually the brother of Medicine Crow's grandmother so he was considered to be his grandfather. As a young boy, Medicine Crow visited his grandfather often. The story of the Custer battle [Annotator's Note: US Army Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer and nearly his entire command were decimated out by the Sioux, Cheyenne, and Arapaho Indians in 1876 at the Battle of the Little Bighorn] was often recounted by White Man Runs Him. Much of the battle events were based on the memory of White Man Runs Him as he was Custer's favorite scout. Some of the details of the battle were told to White Man Runs Him by a Southern Cheyenne war chief named Brave Bear who actually took part in the battle. Brave Bear told White Man Runs Him that there was no surprise attack by Custer. The Indians knew the Army was on the way. Sitting Bull knew that the Army was pursuing him, but he would prefer to die than to go to an Indian reservation. The battle was to be a last stand for the Indians, not Custer. The Crow scouts who accompanied Custer knew that the size of the Indian village was too large for Custer to attack. There were 3,000 to 5,000 Indian warriors who faced Custer. Custer came down Medicine Tail Coulee. The Cheyenne war chiefs told their warriors to get ready for the Army's attack. Brave Bear told his warriors to be on the lookout for the soldiers to cross the river in front of them. When the soldiers attacked, the warriors should look for the enemy cavalry leader in his buckskins. They should kill him first. Next, the soldier carrying the American flag should be killed as the other soldiers followed the flag. After those two men fell, then the warriors should attack the remaining soldiers and drive them all back. That was what happened as all the soldiers including the band turned around and fell back to the hill. The last of the troops in the Custer column became first in the retreat. The former first echelon of the cavalry column became the end of the retreating troops. Custer had already been killed near the river. A Sioux war chief named Crazy Horse had known Custer in previous years in the Black Hills of Montana while Custer had been protecting gold miners and railroad people. Crazy Horse and Custer had been good friends and enjoyed hunting and drinking with each other in the earlier years. Now Custer lay dead and Crazy Horse picked up the body and placed it on a horse. He brought Custer to his men who had all been wiped out. Custer's body was dumped near the corpses of the dead troopers. Despite stories depicting Custer as fighting to the end with both guns blazing, he was actually killed early in the battle and his body brought to where the last stand occurred. Custer was not last to go, but it was his last stand.

Joseph Medicine Crow's grandfather, White Man Runs Him, met Theodore Roosevelt. The Crow nation felt comfortable in visiting the Great White Father in times of need. The treaty signed between the Crow nation and the United States in 1825 recognized the Crow tribe as a sovereign nation. In 2011, President Obama invited Crow Indians to escort Doctor Joseph Medicine Crow to receive the Medal of Honor. Medicine Crow would also receive the Napoleon Medal of Legion from France [Annotator’s Note: among other decorations, Medicine Crow received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Bronze Star Medal, and the French Legion of Honor]. Medicine Crow was fortunate to be recognized for his deeds during his lifetime. He also had a lot of girls recognize him, and they all wanted to go with him. [Annotator's Note: Medicine Crow laughs at the humor of his statement.]