Wichita Inspirations

Born in Lawton, Oklahoma in 1947, Virgil Swift grew up in his grandparents' home along Sugar Creek, north of Anadarko, Oklahoma. He traces descent to the Tawakoni and Waco of the Wichita peoples and direct ancestry to the renowned Wichita leader Tawakoni Jim. Virgil attended Anadarko public schools, and after graduating from high school he enrolled for two semesters at Cameron College in Lawton, Oklahoma. There he joined the ROTC program. As the United States became increasingly involved in conflict in Southeast Asia, Virgil enlisted in the u.s. Army in 1966; he took basic training at Fort Bliss in EI Paso, Texas, and received additional instruction as a medic at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio. In 1967 he was sent to Vietnam as part of the 25th Infantry Division. He served at Tay Ninh during the 1968 Tet offensive, a critical and particularly dangerous juncture in the war effort. Upon returning to the States, Virgil was stationed at Fort Stewart, Georgia. There he discovered that African Americans treated American Indian soldiers with more respect than southern whites did as he and a fellow Arapaho soldier were denied service at one mainstream es

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