National

Lakota veteran Marcella LeBeau to discuss WWII experience

Tuesday, November 3, 2015

Marcella LeBeau in 1944

Marcella LeBeau, a member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe who served in World War II, will share her story at a Veterans Day event in South Dakota next week.

LeBeau was just 24 when she volunteered to become a nurse in the U.S. Army. She helped take care of troops who fought at the Battle of the Bulge and on D-Day, two of the biggest campaigns of the war.

"I was young, I didn't know what war was," LeBeau said at an honoring in Washington, D.C., back in 2004.

For her service, LeBeau received the Legion of Honour, the highest military award in France. She went back to Normandy on the 60th anniversary of D-Day in June 2004 to accept the award.

Marcella LeBeau in 2011. Photo from Cheyenne River Reservation - Fine Art Project / Facebook

"I don't consider myself a hero," LeBeau said at the time. "But in the role that I played, accepting the Legion of Honour, it was for everyone -- all of our World War II veterans and especially Native Americans."

LeBeau, who remains active in her community at age 95, will share her experiences with the Black Hills Veterans Writing Group on November 14. The event will take place from 9am to 11:30am at the South Dakota Air and Space Museum.