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LAKE COUNTY – Nelson Hopper still remembers the war.
Some days, the 91-year-old World War II veteran says tears begin to run down his face, coming seemingly from nowhere. He said his war experience affects him a lot.
“I've seen some terrible things happen,” he said, which made him think differently about his life and the world.
Yet his recollections of the war aren't clouded by fear or sadness.
“I remember a lot of those things really clear. I can remember it still. It's never left my mind,” he said.
Born in February 1917, Hopper was raised on the Big Valley Rancheria.
On March 3, 1943, at age 26, Hopper was drafted into the US Army at the rank of private. He was shipped to Monterey and then to Camp Bowie, Texas, where he took his basic training, before being sent on to Fort Hood, Texas, to receive training as part of the 651st Tank Destroyer Battalion.
From there he was sent to Maryland and then put aboard the USS Marine Raven and sent to the European Theater.
He didn't make the Normandy Invasion; instead, he and fellow soldiers were sent to Scotland and then put on trains into England in May of 1944. A month later, they were sent by ship to Utah Beach in Franch. There, Hopper was placed in the Third Army, Fifth Division's infantry, under Gen. George Patton.
“I respected all those officers,” Hopper said of Patton and the other US war leaders. “They don't have them like that anymore.”
Hopper said he was afraid of dying in Europe, so far away from his home. He prayed every day and night, in his foxhole and as he went about his duties, asking to survive the war and get home safe. He said he promised to be a good person if he survived. “I live by that code, still.”
His grandmother called for a Big Head Dance to protect Hopper when he was first drafted, and another dance would be held after he was sent abroad.
While Hopper would survive the war to return to his family, they weren't left unscathed by the war. Hopper's uncle, Willie Holmes, died in Italy during the Battle of Anzio in January of 1944..
American Indians weren't segregated from other races in the Army during World War II, said Hopper, which is what happened to black soldiers.
Hopper became a squad leader, and said the men referred to him as “chief.” “I didn't mind that,” he said, adding that it was done in a friendly manner.
In fact, he said when many of his fellow soldiers discovered he was Indian, they treated him “like a king.”
During the terribly cold winter that began in late 1944, Hopper was in Germany, where he would shortly take part in the Battle of the Bulge.
He remembers an encounter with an elderly German man, who approached Hopper as he was burning wax paper from his K-rations to heat his coffee.
The German, who had gone to school in the United States, asked Hopper about his race, and Hopper replied he was an American Indian.
“This is not the Indian's war,” Hopper recalled the man saying. The man added that the US “took everything” from Indians.
Hopper said he told the man he was doing his duty and, when it was over, he looked forward to going home.
A short time later, in December of 1944, Hopper was wounded in the foot during the Battle of the Bulge.
Hopper said he didn't see many fellow American Indians while serving. However, it was a young American Indian medic who picked him up to take him to a field hospital after he was shot.
Not only was the medic Indian, he also was from the Lake County area. The medic's name was Bennett Elliott, who died at age 97 this past April. Hopper said Elliott would later remind him of their chance meeting, which Hopper said he hadn't initially recalled because he had been heavily medicated for pain.
Elliott took Hopper to a field hospital; from there, Hopper was sent to a hospital in Paris. During that time, he developed gangrene in his wounded foot and nearly lost his leg.
From Paris, Hopper was sent to a hospital in Birmingham, England, where he underwent spinal taps to deal with his swelling leg.
It would take him three months of hospitalization to recover, but even today he deals with the pain from that injury, which occasionally flares up in the form of pain and swelling.
In the spring of 1945, freshly released from the hospital, Hopper found himself once again headed back to France and then to Worms, Germany.
“By golly, the war ended while I was at Worms,” he said with a grin.
He found himself once again on the move, with the Army shipping him back to Marseilles, France. There, he was placed in the publications office. Hopper said he couldn't type and had no other publication-type skills initially, but they sent him to a 10-day school, where he learned to run a mimeograph machine.
But his service came to an end shortly afterward, as the war in Europe drew to a close.
“I feel, even to this day, that I had God on my side,” he said.
Placed aboard the hospital ship USS General Richardson, Hopper made his way home to the United States, landing in Boston after a 14-day sea crossing in a convoy of 74 ships, all of them zigzagging to avoid submarines.
“I was so happy to get back,” he said.
From Camp Miles Standish in Boston he was sent to Camp Beale in Marysville, where he was discharged. From there, he hitchhiked home to Lake County.
Initially, when he got home, Hopper said he didn't apply for disability due to his wounds. However, the Red Cross made application for him and he received a 10-percent disability determination. The Veterans Administration also did followup exams on his wounds in San Francisco.
He eventually went to work in Ukiah on the courthouse, and his foreman got him interested in becoming an ironworker, a job which took him to the Bay Area.
It was while climbing on a building project one day that he realized he was frightened of climbing, which hadn't happened to him before. That's when the Veterans Administration diagnosed him with what is known today as post traumatic stress disorder.
“'You have a problem and it's terrible,'” he recalled a VA doctor telling him.
“I still have it,” he added. “I'm scared even to this day.”
The same courage that took him through the war years went with him through the rest of his life. Hopper continued as an ironworker, eventually becoming a foreman and taking jobs around the state, including building underground missile silos at an Air Force base near Monterey.
He said he never let tough times get him down.
An opportunity came to go to South America for a dam project, but Hopper couldn't take his first wife with him, so he turned it down.
When he left the war behind, Hopper also left behind tokens of his service, in the form of his medals and awards, which he refused based on his Indian beliefs.
“We never do things to be praised for it,” he said. “We do it because it needs to be done.”
When he came home to Lake County, he joined the Joy Madeiros Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2015. In 1986, the VFW post went to the US government – without Hopper's knowledge – to ask for the medals on Hopper's behalf.
During the Veterans Day ceremony on Nov. 11, 1986, decades after he had left the medals behind, Hopper got a surprise. He was called to the podium and presented with his awards and medals.
“I almost fell over,” he said.
He received that day the Bronze Star for Valor; a Purple Heart for the wound he suffered at the Battle of the Bulge; an Army Good Conduct Medal; the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with four stars; the World War II Victory Medal; and the Combat Infantry Medal, which Hopper said he's proudest of, since it proves he was in combat.
Along with his medals, he received a letter from Superior Court Judge John J. Golden, congratulating him on his service.
This past May, an event was held to honor American Indian veterans, and Hopper was presented a flag and offered the event prayer. It was the first such occasion to specifically honor the contributions of American Indians to protect a country that is still very much theirs.
Today, Hopper has come full circle. He lives once again at Big Valley Rancheria with his wife, Earlene. The couple, married since 2000, live in a little house that looks out onto Clear Lake – or Xa-bahten, as it's known in the tribe's native language of Bahtssal, of which he's believed to be one of the last native speakers.
He has four children, two sons and two daughters, and numerous grandchildren, among them attorneys with Boalt School of Law degrees. His son, Joseph Myers, is executive director of the National Indian Justice Center, based in Santa Rosa.
Over the years, Hopper has taught young tribal members how to build tule boats and how to dance in and conduct ceremonies.
“I live here like I do because I'm an Indian,” he said. “I'm comfortable.”
While he jokes that he's been around “too damn long,” at 91 Hopper is still tall, active and optimistic.
“I'm shooting for 100, anyway,” he said.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
KELSEYVILLE – If you have ever travelled down Sylar Lane in Kelseyville it’s pretty likely that you are familiar with William “Hukk” Hukkanen. He’s an iconic figure in the little town as he sits in his rocking chair on his front porch giving passers by a wave or nod.
William B. Hukkanen was born in Kelseyville in December 1923 at the Allison house, which stood where the telephone building is now. This proud veteran will celebrate his 85th birthday in December.
Every day he sits on the front porch of the home he has lived in since 1926, enjoying the outdoors and the friendly waves from folks. Don’t think for a minute that is the extent of his day though.
“Hukk,” as he likes to be called, works a large garden, chops wood and cooks his own meals. He remains very active, reads voraciously and is not shy about sharing his opinion. At nearly 85 years old and having served his country, he’s earned that right.
Hukk joined the United States Navy in August 1942. He was anxious to serve his country and defend her after the attack on Pearl Harbor. While in the Navy, Hukk served aboard several ships before he was discharged in December 1945 and returned to his home town of Kelseyville.
Some time ago he composed a synopsis of his time in the Navy, which follows.
“Well, they went and did it – bombed Pearl Harbor about 1300 or 1400 hours Pacific Time. I was not too shocked because I had figured out that we would go to war with Japan. As soon as I could get a ride, I went to the Santa Rosa Navy Recruiting Station, about 50 miles away from my home. I enlisted in the Navy, but they sent me home to finish high school and told me they would call me when needed. At present, they had more people than they knew what to do with.
“They called me in August 1942 to the Naval Recruiting Station in San Francisco and sent me to boot camp at NTS San Diego. In October 1942, I reported to the USS South Dakota (BB-57) and served in her through the battle of Santa Cruz in October and Savo Island in November in the Solomon Islands.
“In December1942 I transferred to the USS McCawley (APA-4) and served in her while hauling troops and cargo and making landings in the Solomon Islands. She was sunk in the Blanche Strait near Rendova Island in June 1943 and I was transferred to the USS President Hayes (APA-20). I served in her hauling troops and cargo and was coxswain on a Higgins boat in the first wave when we made landings in Bougainville. We also made the landing on Emary Island before I was transferred back to the US in April 1944 for 30 days leave and to work on the construction of a new ship.
“I reported aboard the USS Bering Strait (AVP-34) in July 1944 at Kirkland Shipyard in Seattle and our shakedown cruise was to Pearl Harbor. We then took part in the invasion of the Marshalls, Gilberts and Saipan, as well as working air sea rescue for the B-29s bombing Japan. Working as a coxswain or bow hook on a rescue vessel, we picked up five crews from the ocean.
“I returned to the US and was transferred to the USS Tamalpais (AO-96) in May 1945. After a shakedown cruise, we spent time in the Marshalls, Gilberts, Admiralty Islands and then on to the occupation of Japan.
“In summation of my time in the Navy, I would probably have reenlisted if it hadn’t gotten so chicken after the war was over. We got a bunch of 90-day wonders who were constantly trying to tell me how to do my seamanship after I had served in five ships. I loved my ships with the mother image they portrayed and the great crews. I served with some of the best skippers in the fleet and a couple not so good. I did some time on bread and water and stood before the mast and had a blast in the Navy.
“I came out of the Navy with 10 Battle Stars on my Pacific Ribbons and two Ship Citations from the Secretary of the Navy. When I go “deep six” I will say, “Boy, am I glad I did that!” If this sounds a little salty, well I was, and I still am!
“My son is helping me write a book on my time in the Navy. It’s good reading for sailors because they understand what I am about. They say, “Once a jarhead, always a jarhead.” Once a blue water sailor, always a sailor.”
Hukkanen earned several awards during his naval service. He does not brag but is tremendously proud of his service, the men he served with and especially of those who never made it home.
His awards include the Combat Action Ribbon, the Navy Good Conduct Medal, the Navy Unit Citation with two stars, the Asiatic Pacific Campaign Medal with 10 stars, the World War II Victory Medal and the Navy Occupation Service Medal (Japan).
When he shows you his awards he talks with sincerity and his voice cracks and eyes water when he remembers the men who gave their all, never to return to their families.
Hukkanen was married twice and currently lives with his two dogs, Sally and Scooter. On relationships with women he says, “I learned a long time ago not to argue with women. That’s a fight you can’t win.”
His son, Sam, is employed at the Kelseyville Fire Department and his daughter, Kristine, lives in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin.
As for life today he said, “'Generation gap’ is an older person’s excuse ‘cause they can’t communicate.” He mentioned that he chats with the kids walking past his porch and shows an interest in them, something he believes matters in their lives.
Hukk also believes people have lost focus on what really matters. He said, “People want more than they can get. That’s why we’re in such trouble.”
As for him, Hukk says, “My life has been a helluva good ride. I never hurt nobody, that I know of.”
He added, “I could go outta here tomorrow and I’d be OK. If you live with a fear of death you’ll be scared your whole life.”
Ginny Craven is the founder of Operation Tango Mike. On Veterans Day 2007 she received the annual “Friend of the Veteran Award.” Craven lives in Kelseyville.
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- Written by: Ginny Craven
The lawsuit, which was filed in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, seeks to end the unconscionable delays experienced by veterans when applying for disability benefits. VVA and VMW seek immediate action to prevent further irreparable harm to our nation's veterans.
VVA has a local chapter, 951, that serves the county's large Vietnam veteran population.
The lawsuit demands that the VA provide an initial decision on every veteran's claim for disability benefits within 90 days and resolve appeals within 180 days.
Additionally, the veterans groups ask that the Court grant further relief in the form of interim benefits awards in the event that the VA exceeds these minimum standards of constitutionally-guaranteed due process. These interim benefits will provide veterans with a lifeline of support when it is most needed to facilitate reintegration into their lives back home.
"The failure to expedite veterans' compensation claims creates, at best, the impression that the nation does not respect its veterans," said John Rowan, National President, Vietnam Veterans of America. "America's veterans deserve more, and the VA's failure to fulfill its responsibilities brings dishonor to our nation and can only make the call of military service more challenging."
The VA acknowledges that it takes an average of at least six months to reach an initial decision on an average benefits claim; the actual delay is closer to a year.
Appeals of these initial decisions, which are reversed more than 50 percent of the time, take, on average, more than four years, with some stretching 10 years or more. In contrast, private health care plans – which process more than 30 billion claims a year – process claims and related appeals in less than three months.
"As a matter of both policy and practice, the VA subjects veterans to long delays before receiving any of the benefits to which they are entitled," said Donald Overton, executive director, Veterans of Modern Warfare. "Our hope is that this lawsuit will compel the VA to process veterans' benefits claims more quickly and honor our nation's commitment to those that have defended and served."
"All veterans will benefit significantly from the legal action of VVA and VMW," said Robert Cattanach, partner, Dorsey and Whitney. "The intervention of VVA and VMW is necessary because under federal law individual veterans are not allowed to access the judicial system. Dorsey and Whitney is committed to helping America's veterans quickly secure the benefits they have earned from the VA."
There are approximately 25 million veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces alive today. More than 7 million of those veterans are enrolled in the VA's health care system, and approximately 3.4 million veterans receive benefits.
More than 600,000 VA benefits claims are backlogged – this number will only increase as the 1.7 million troops that have served in Iraq and Afghanistan continue to return home.
"A soldier's transition to civilian life is challenging. The VA's failure to diagnose PTSD promptly and accurately, and the corresponding delay in the award of benefits, plainly results in veterans being denied this critical lifeline," said Dr. Charles R. Figley, PTSD expert and author, of Tulane University. "VVA and VMW's lawsuit will help to reduce this additional and, in many cases, unmanageable stress for veterans."
According to the VA, the suicide rate among individuals in the VA's care may be as high as 7.5 times the national average. Delays in awarding benefits to America's veterans increases the suffering of individuals already struggling with an inability to cope, as the seemingly endless wait for the VA to make a final decision on a claim magnifies the alienation and anxiety that they experience.
For example, the inability to provide basic subsistence support significantly impacts a veteran's ability to maintain economic stability, seek and gain employment, provide and sustain a home, or care for a family. As a consequence, there is a substantial increase in the number of broken families, cases of homelessness and depression caused by the failure to provide disability benefits on a timely basis.
Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA) is the nation's only congressionally chartered veterans service organization dedicated to the needs of Vietnam-era veterans families, as well as to the needs of other veterans and their families. VVA's founding principle is "Never again will one generation of veterans abandon another." Visit the VVA online at www.vva.org.
Veterans of Modern Warfare (VMW) is a veterans service organization dedicated to serving our nation's most recent war veterans. Its purpose is to support veterans and their families by providing education and information about the benefits America's veterans have earned, assistance in obtaining benefits, advocacy in issues important to our generation, and camaraderie through locally based, national chapters. Visit the VMW online at http://vmwusa.org.
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- Written by: Lake County News Reports
Pursuant to a plea agreement proposed by the District Attorney's Office, Judge Stephen Hedstrom sentenced Jose Manuel Hernandez-Medina, 53, to three years probation, 45 days jail, a fine of $2,295, and no hunting or possession of firearms in any area inhabited by game animals for three years.
Hernandez-Medina's .22 and .308 rifles, digital camera and machete were ordered forfeited to law enforcement authorities as part of the deal, according to Chief Deputy District Attorney Richard Hinchcliff, who oversees all fish and wildlife prosecutions in Lake County.
On July 5, Game Warden Loren Freeman received a call from an informant reporting several males standing around three dead doe deer along Round Mountain Road in the Clearlake Oaks area, according to Hinchcliff.
The informant reported a vehicle license plate number to the warden, who ran the plate to determine the address of the registered owner of the vehicle, Hinchcliff said.
Freeman responded to that address in the city of Clearlake, where he found Hernandez-Medina cleaning blood out of an ice chest. Hinchcliff said that, after further investigation, Freeman found and confiscated three doe deer that had been illegally killed, along with a .22 caliber rifle and ammunition, a .308 rifle, a digital camera and a machete.
Hinchcliff charged Hernandez-Medina with felony conspiracy and six misdemeanor violations of the Fish and Game Code.
On Monday, Hinchcliff said Hernandez-Medina pleaded guilty in Superior Court's Department Four in Clearlake to misdemeanor violations of taking deer when the season was not open, taking deer without possessing a deer tag, and possessing deer without being in possession of a valid hunting license.
Hinchcliff said other charges were dismissed in exchange for those admissions.
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- Written by: Lake County News Reports