May 26, 2011 –
MAYETTA: We-Ta-Se veterans will be actively involved this weekend honoring veterans through their participation in events both on the common land and in Topeka.
On Sunday, they will visit 17 cemeteries on the common land beginning at the Potts Place for a 21-gun salute at 8 a.m. and on Monday afternoon they will participate in a ceremony at the Great Overland Station in Topeka. Steve Ortiz, Tribal Chairman and Marine Corps Vietnam veteran, will be the featured speaker at 2 p.m. at the Memorial Day Service held at the All Veterans Memorial. We-Ta-Se will also post colors during the event.
Bronze plaque markers were purchased this year and have been placed next to each Potawatomi veteran grave on the common land. In the photo, from left to right, is Frank Shopteese, Roy Hale, and Jim Potts who made the placements and are also keeping a log of the graves (they are aware of) in each cemetery. Shopteese and Potts are full-time We-Ta-Se staff and Hale is retired but an active member of the We-Ta-Se American Legion Post #410.
Chairman Ortiz’s profile on the Memorial Day Services brochure, prepared by Col. Dan Welch (USMC), reads that Ortiz’s corporate and military experience has served him well in his current duties as Tribal Chair and that he has held a remarkable record of service for the PBPN and other affiliated tribes. In other news, Chairman Ortiz also spoke at the Second Annual Native American Health Care Conference held earlier this week in Las Vegas.
We-Ta-Se is located in the We-Ta-Se building at 15434 K Road on the common land and has a room devoted to Potawatomi veteran memorabilia. For more information call Post #410 at 785.966.2580 or visit their website at http://www.pbpindiantribe.com/veterans.aspx