Gore Veteran Among Those Honored by Cherokee Nation

Principal Chief Bill John Baker, Deputy Chief S. Joe Crittenden, Deputy Chief-elect Bryan Warner and Tribal Councilor E.O. Smith pictured with U.S. Air Force veteran George Carter and family.

The Cherokee Nation honored three veterans with the Medal of Patriotism at the August Tribal Council meeting on Monday.

George Carter Jr., 67, of Gore; Carroll Fry, 68, of Nowata; and Lorie McCoy, 52, of Tahlequah, were recognized by Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Bill John Baker and Deputy Chief S. Joe Crittenden acknowledging their service and sacrifice to their country.

Sgt. Carter was born in 1952 in Muskogee and enlisted in the U.S. Air Force in 1971. In 1973, Carter deployed to South East Asia where he was assigned to the F-4 Fighter Squadron 432nd Combat Support Group in Udorn, Thailand and with the 635th B-52 Bomber Squadron in U Tapao, Thailand. He returned to the states in 1974. He was assigned to the 381st Supply Group when he was honorably discharged in 1975 from McConnell Air Force Base in Wichita, Kansas.

“I would like to thank the Chief, Deputy and the Tribal Council for not just this award, but for the past eight years,” said Carter, a Cherokee Nation Businesses board member. “Anybody can look around and see where we were at, and where we are now.”

Petty Officer 1st Class Fry was born in 1951 in Nowata and enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1970 where she was stationed in Bainbridge, Maryland. She spent two and a half years in Maryland, before being transferred to a Naval Facility in Midway Island, where she spent 15 months and transferred to Brewdy, Wales for two and a half years. She returned stateside to Annapolis, Maryland in 1979. Fry then transferred to Hawaii for her last duty station before honorably retiring from the Navy in 1990.

Pfc. McCoy was born in 1967 in Chicago and enlisted in the Army in 1992. She was sent to Ft. Jackson in Columbia, South Carolina. She became a light wheel vehicle mechanic and her primary responsibility was to supervise and perform maintenance and recover operations on the military vehicles. Miss McCoy was transferred to Ft. Hood, Texas where she was assigned to Company E 27th Maintenance Support Battalion and First Cavalry Division. She was honorably discharged in 1994.

Each month the Cherokee Nation recognizes Cherokee service men and women for their sacrifices and as a way to demonstrate the high regard in which all veterans are held by the tribe. Native Americans, including Cherokees, are thought to have more citizens serving per capita than any other ethnic group according to the U.S. Department of Defense. To nominate a veteran who is a Cherokee Nation citizen, please call 918-772-4166.

KXMX News Staff

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