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Cooper
A Hidden History Exposed
He never saw a National Football
League game; he never saw Tiger Woods make golf history; he never knew what
television was; he never knew what a disposable camera was; nor did he live
long enough to see Hawaii and Alaska declared states. This same man grew up to become one of
America’s greatest war heroes: he was
the first Native American Indian to become general and he was the first general
to loose his life while on a mission.
The man, General
Clarence Leonard Tinker, was born on November 21, 1887 on the Osage Reservation
in Pawhuska, Oklahoma Territory, before Oklahoma was declared a state. He was given the Osage Indian name
Ce-ce-mno-I which translates to Restless Elk As He Goes. He was the second of ten children; four who
would die young, to an Osage and English father, George Edward Tinker, and a
German mother, Sarah “Anna” Nan Schwagerte.
The young Tinker
was reared in Catholic educational institutions at Hominy and Pawhuska in
Oklahoma Territory. He lived on the
reservation with his family. His father
gave him his first job – working in the print shop of the Wah-Sha-She- News, the first Osage
newspaper, founded and published by George Edward.
George Edward was
a member of the Osage Council, Osage Commissioner, and he represented the
Osages in Washington. Sometimes, even
though he had more white in him than Osage; George Edward considered himself to
be 100% Osage.
“I used to tell them (my children) unless
they behaved themselves, I’d give ‘em to the white men. They were more afraid of white men than white
children were afraid of Indians…Clarence gave us some trouble, especially when
he was printer’s devil in the newspaper office.
I scared him into good behavior many times with the warning the white
man would get him.” George Edward told reporter Edward Curtis in
January of 1942.
The Tinker family was close knit, but
Clarence had a special bond with his youngest sister, the youngest of the ten,
Villa, whom he nicknamed Biddy.
“Everybody
started calling her Biddy after that.
She was totally spoiled and continued that way throughout all of her
life. Her favorite saying was: “My brother the general.’”
Patricia Soderstrom, Tinker’s great niece, said.
“I never
met Uncle Clarence but I was always aware of him. His sister was always a big part of our
family. One time, I said, ‘Aunt Biddy,
please tell me a story about Uncle Clearance that nobody else knows.’ He was a base commander at a base in
California. They had a problem with one
of the young pilots who was in flight training.
He was taking his trainer and flying to a nearby town where his
girlfriend lived. The young pilot would
call back and say that the weather was bad and he couldn’t get back on
time. General Tinker said, ‘I’ll take
care of it.’ He flew to where this young
man’s plane was and left a note for him: “The weather has cleared please come
back as soon as you can.” He picked a
way that made his point but he didn’t humiliate the young man.”
Patricia said.
In 1900, Tinker attended the Haskell Institute for
Indians in Lawrence, Kansas. Each
student was required to wear military uniforms, participate in marching and
drill squads, and work on the 650-acre farm.
In addition, Haskell placed a huge importance on religion. While at Haskell Tinker excelled in track and
football; and he also developed bad habits:
chewing tobacco and smoking cigarettes.
In March of 1906, Clarence quit Haskell.
It is assumed that Clarence was disciplined for something he did not do;
and thus, out of sense of justice, left the institution.
The summer of 1906 was a pivotal time for the Osage
Tribe. For hundreds of years the Osages
had been robbed of their land that was rich in minerals, oil, and fertile for
farming. That summer, the United States
Government admitted their violation to the Osage Tribe and allotted each tribal
member 657 acres of surface rights.
“My father and his sisters decided to move out of Osage county because
they were afraid somebody would be killed. They were killing Osages to get
their head right to the oil discovered in Osage County. All the Osages shared in that equally. And
the white man came along and wanted it so he’d marry the Osage girl.” Sarah Soderstrom,
Tinker’s niece, said.
By the time Tinker decided to attend Wentworth
Military Academy in Lexington, Missouri he was already financially independent
due to his head right. He loved the
military life, dreamed of becoming a soldier, and dreamed of flying air combat
missions. He graduated from Wentworth
Military Academy in 1908.
The Tinker family attended his graduation
ceremony. His mother played a joke on
her older son. When she walked to her
son to congratulate him she had Biddy stand behind her. Tinker wanted to know where his “baby”
was. His mother stepped aside and Tinker
lifted Biddy over his head, onto his shoulders, and showed her off to all of
his friends.
His first assignment was as a third lieutenant in the
Philippine Constabulary. It seemed the perfect assignment for him since he was
fluent in English, Osage, and Spanish.
His linguistic abilities allowed him to become the first white man to
speak and communicate with the natives of Philippine’s jungles.
After Tinker had been in the Philippines for fourteen
months he received his first promotion:
he was commissioned as Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army Infantry.
In 1911, Tinker went back to the states to visit his
family only to find Biddy was 8 years old and their bond was still strong. Tinker gave her the new nickname “Bill”. He and Bill drove to downtown to get their
picture taken together.
In 1912 Tinker applied to be an officer of the
infantry. Tinker grew impatient and, in
February, quit the Constabulary and sold sewing machines in Milan. He reapplied for the Constabulary and was
accepted, and, on March 19, 1912 was reappointed Third Lieutenant. In June of 1912 Tinker was accepted into the
United States Army, was promoted to 2nd Lieutenant, moved to Fort
Leavenworth, Kansas for three months while taking training courses. In November 1912 Tinker joined the 25th
infantry at Fort George Wright in Spokane, Washington.
In January of 1913 Tinker and fellow members of the 25th
Infantry were transferred to Hawaii.
Tinker wrote his older sister Genevieve asking her to come and help him
with domestic chores. Genevieve said
yes, not necessarily to help her brother, but to make sure that he met and
married a good Catholic girl. Genevieve
and her widowed friend introduced Tinker to Miss Madeline Boyle. The two were married in a Roman Catholic
Ceremony in Waikiki on October 8, 1913.
They would have three children together, their first born on January 13,
1916.
Throughout his military career Tinker served the United States in the
Philippines, Washington, Hawaii, Arizona, California, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas,
Virginia, England, Washington D.C., Louisiana, and Florida. One of the high points of his career was in
1919, when he was promoted to Major and began flying lessons. He then transferred to the Army Air Service
and was assigned to flight duty on July 1, 1922. Once again, his dream of fighting in combat
in World War I would not come to pass; instead, he was stationed at Kelly
Field, Texas where he was the Commandant of the Air Service Advanced Flying
School.
In 1925, he
attended Army’s Command and Staff College in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. One of his fellow classmates was future
president Dwight D. Eisenhower. Later in
their careers, the Tinkers and the Eisenhowers, along with six other couples,
would have bridge parties; and Tinker and Eisenhower were golfing buddies. In 1940, even though he never served
overseas, he became a brigadier general.
“He was
first air inspector for the Army Air Corps.
And he flew around the different air installations and did
inspections. During World War I, he was
assigned as a post engineer in charge of building the post located in Tuscan,
Arizona. He built the Air Base at Kansas
City, Kansas. He was commander of the
Third Air Force at Tampa, at MacDill Air Force Base.”
George Tinker III, Tinker’s nephew, said.
According to George, Tinker spent a
lot of his recreational time playing poker and bridge. While in London he found a partner to play
bridge and poker with: King George V’s
son, who would later become King Edward VIII.
Tinker also developed his love for polo and horses; tried to teach King
Edward VIII polo. Other things he did
for recreation was reading books such as “A Tree Grows In Brooklyn”, “War And
Peace”, General Pershing’s Report of the First Army”, and National Geographic
magazines.
By the time Ticker was stationed at MacDill Air Force
Base, he and Madeline had three children, Clarence Jr “Bud”, Midge, and Tim.
Tinker commissioned his own son Clarence Jr into the service.
Tinker would spend hours in his office doing what one
could call “strategic planning”. Tinker
believed the enemy the United States needed to fear the most was not Germany
but Japan; and he let his opinion be known, even at a time when it was not
popular.
Some days were difficult and Tinker would yearn for
the Osage atmosphere he was reared in.
During this part of loneliness, he’d always call his father.
“He stayed very close to his
father. While he was on assignment he
talked to his father on the phone in Osage.
The next morning the FBI was knocking on his father’s door wanting to
know what he had said. They didn’t have
anyone to translate.” Patricia said.
On December 7, 1941, General Tinker
took a rare day off to play golf in Tampa, Florida where he was stationed. An enlisted man ran to the green and told
Tinker what happened at Pearl Harbor.
Tinker hurried home, changed into his uniform, and went to work
immediately. He was immediately sent
to Hawaii, where he was Commander of the Air Forces in Hawaii; his job
description was to reorganize the air defenses of the islands. Finally his dream had come true: He would fight in combat overseas; but
instead of World War I it was World War II.
In January of 1942 Tinker was
promoted to Major General, becoming the first Native American Indian in the
U.S. Army history to attain that rank.
On June 4, the Japanese once
against began their assault of America, this time in Midway Island. America had to strike back and some believe
General Tinker was the mastermind behind the strategic planning of attacking
the Japanese at Wake Island, near Midway Island. General Tinker made the decision to
personally lead a force of early model B-24s to fight the Japanese naval
forces. In the late hours of June 6, or
early morning hours of June 7, of 1942, Tinker’s plane went out of control,
plunging into the sea near Midway Island.
General Tinker, his men and, the plan were never recovered.
Within one week, another crew took Tinker’s plan and
completed a successful air raid on Wake Island.
George Edward refused to believe his
son was dead. He insisted he was lost at
sea; perhaps an American ship picked him up and had not yet sent word; or
perhaps he was a prisoner of war in Japan.
A memorial mass was held for General Tinker at the Immaculate Conception
Church. It was clear this memorial mass
was not for someone who was dead, but very much alive, only needing to be
found.
Weeks later
George Edward went to Ponca City, Oklahoma to have an Osage Indian song written
for his son. Since then the Osage have a
ceremony every June, in which the song is played. This song is the only Osage song where
everybody in the audience is required to stand.
Presently, all of General Tinker’s
descendents (remaining descendents are one nephew; one niece Sarah; and 25
great nieces and great nephews) are proud of him, hold yearly memorial services
for him, and yet, remain dumbfounded that General Tinker’s history is not part
of the history books.
“The sad news is that even to this day this man’s name is never mentioned
in documentaries or movies about World War II or the Battle of Midway. The amazing news is he’s been gone since 1942
and we still have people wanting to write about him; wanting to talk about
him.” Patricia said.
PHOTO DESCRIPTION AND
COPYRIGHT INFO
Photo 1.
George Tinker in 1892, 5
years old. Public. Domain.
Photo 2.
Tinker Family in 1908. Public Domain.
Photo 3.
Clarence Tinker in 1908. Public Domain
Photo 4.
Lt. Tinker during his
Philippine Constabulary days 1908 to 1912.
During this time his younger sister Genevieve would keep house for him,
and, according to nephew, George Tinker 3rd, Tinker became the first
white man to communicate with the people of Philippine’s jungles. Public Domain.
Photo 5.
Clarence Tinker and Madeline
Doyle on their wedding day, October 8, 1913, at the St. Augustine Chapel in
Waikiki.
“Aunt Genevieve wanted to make
sure he met the right girl. They were
transferred to Hawaii and she is the one who introduced him to his wife.” Patricia Solderstrom, Tinker’s great niece
said. Public Domain.
Photo 6a and 6b
Marjor Tinker in Ft Riley,
Kansas in 1922. Public Domain.
Photo 7.
Major Tinker in Ft Riley,
Kansas in 19222. Public Domain.
Photo 8.
Tinker the pilot. Public Domain.
Photo 9.
Tinker at Davis Monthan. Public Domain.
Photo 10.
Tinker (far right) at Davis
Montham. Public Domain.
Photo 11.
Pilot Tinker. Public Domain.
Photo 12.
Tinker Family, California,
1935. Midge, Tim, Colonel
Tinker,Clarence “Bud” Jr, and Madeline.
“I have a picture of Uncle Clarence with his two young children and he
looks so tender with them. He looks so
caring. The whole Tinker family is very
loving, affectionate, caring about each other.”
Patricia Soderstrom said. Public
Domain.
Photo 13.
Madeline, Tinker, Tim, and
Bud. Public Domain.
Photo 14.
Colonel Clarence L Tinker Sr
congratulating 2 LT Clarence L Tinker Jr February 1939 in San
Antonio,Texas. Clarence Jr, also a
pilot, would later die in the battle of Santa Maria Pan Ria. Public Domain.
Photo 15.
A very proud
mother stood by when 2nd Lt. Clarence L. Tinker, Jr. received his wings and
diploma from his father, the graduation speaker, in San Antonia, Texas, on
February 1st, 1939. Public Domain.
Photo 16.
Col. Clarence L. Tinker. Public Domain.
Photo 17.
General Clarence L. Tinker
October 5, 1940. McDill AFB, Florida being sworn in as General. Public Domain.
Photo 18, 19, 20, and 21.
General Clarence Leonard
Tinker. Public Domain.
Photo 22 and 23.
General Clarence Leonard
Tinker at McDill Air Force Base, Florida.
Public Domain.
Photo 24.
Tinker family at McDill
AFB. Public Domain.
Photo 25.
Photo 26.
General Tinker, far
right. Public Domain.
Photo 27.
General Tinker, second from
right. Public Domain.
Photo 28.
General Tinker in Hawaii in
1942. Public Domain.
Photo 29.
Hawaii 1942. Public Domain.
Photos 30, 31, and 32.
General Clarence Leonard
Tinker. Public Domain.
