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By Frank Pierson
Special to the Miner
Darrell Klesch
Oracle resident, Darrell Klesch, community leader, rock mason, environmental activist – and Viet Nam veteran – has left Oracle bound for North Dakota. He is joining a massive gathering of veterans of American wars in support of Sioux Nation-led Water Protectors that has brought Native American tribes together in an unprecedented alliance.
Klesch is making a statement by traveling a great distance, suffering days of extreme cold, calling out brutal oil politics, and representing Oracle’s long tradition of defense of Mother Earth.
The issues run deeper for Darrell than a 1,172 oil pipeline, 30 inches in diameter, sunk 10 feet underground intended to connect Bakken and Three Forks production areas with Patoka, Illinois. They run deeper than the vulnerabilities posed by that pipeline to precious water supplies in the region. They merge with the history of betrayal perpetrated by the US Government in battles fought and treaties made and broken followed by the relentless marginalizing of indigenous peoples.
On the day before Darrell left Oracle, he said, “I joined for several reasons. For me 500 years is enough of these people being pushed around. And they’re not vindictive. This is standing up for Mother Earth right now. We veterans, they’re calling us “cavalry” riding to the rescue, we’re up against an oil enemy. I feel this is the most beneficial thing I’ve ever done.”
And off he went, armed not with the latest military weapons of human destruction but with a camera, a cell phone, warm clothes and camping gear. We look forward to hearing his report when he safely returns. We are eager to learn first hand who was there, what was said and done, how the authorities behaved, what tribal leaders with their vet allies plan for the future.
Note: Darrell Klesch was drafted into the infantry during the Vietnam War and served his tour of duty there in a mechanized division in the US Army.
Update: According to the New York Times on Sunday, Dec. 4, the Department of the Army announced it is looking into alternative routes for the pipeline crossing. The Army Corps of Engineers, which is part of the Department of the Army, is not going ahead with building the pipeline under the Missouri River and Lake Oahe. The Department of the Army has called for an environmental study to be done.
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