Dylan Jefferson's Grand Entry

What a moment! I would loved to have been there. . .

--ryan



GrandEntry: Soldier Expresses His Joy by Dancing at Crow Fair


By BECKY SHAY
Of The Gazette Staff
August 21, 2004


CROW AGENCY - Camouflage is meant to make a soldier less conspicuous. Not so for Spc. Dylan Jefferson as he danced into the arbor at Crow Fair on Friday evening.



Followed by hundreds of dancers in bright regalia, Jefferson's Army camo stood out as much as a fancy dancer's bustle would be in Tikrit, Iraq, where he has spent the last 18 months.

Kicking back at Crow Fair, a huge hometown event he has missed for two years, "is the best feeling," Jefferson said.

Jefferson flew into Billings on Wednesday and was met by a group of well-wishers whose warrior's welcome kicked off a four-day round of honors, including carrying the eagle staff and leading the grand entry into the powwow Friday evening at Crow Fair.

Being home and enjoying the safety of being with friends and going shopping in Billings is a nice although a "kind of weird" change of pace, Jefferson said.

"We're always carrying a weapon and watching our backs," Jefferson said. "To come home and not have to worry about that, all I can say is it feels good, it's a wonderful experience."

Jefferson is a man of few words, but he exuded happiness while standing in the sun waiting to lead the dancers into the arbor.
"I'm just getting over how hot it was and the stress, no sleep," he said.

Jefferson joined the Army fresh out of Hardin High School when he was 17. He needed his mother, Melanie Walker, to approve his enlistment. Signing the Army papers is a move Walker said she does not regret, even though she gets kind of crazy keeping up with war news.
"It's good to see him back," Walker said sitting in her family's camp at Crow Fair. "I go through spells. If I let it get to me, I'll just sit there and cry, then I just have to pick myself up and work. Keep busy and pray."

Jefferson, who had a birthday last week, has always been responsible, disciplined and a "really good kid," Walker said. But the veteran who returned to Crow Fair is not the boy who was a championship dancer there just a few years ago.

"He's really matured," she said. "He's only 20 years old and he's already seen so much."

His younger brother, Kameron, senses a more subtle change: "I see him as the same, but happier - happier to be home."

Jefferson usually calls his family on Sundays. Depending on the satellite phone reception, they talk 15 to 30 minutes. He knew his family was praying and rooting for him, but when Jefferson came into the airport and saw dozens of others there, he realized how many people had him in their thoughts.

Jefferson's dad, Calvin, said his son was elated as they drove in a caravan through Crow Agency and the campgrounds Wednesday night, even if the soldier thought they were a little loud for the late hour.

"Hey, it's not every day you go to war and come home a warrior," Calvin Jefferson said, adding that this time is an emotional and spiritual recharge for his son.

Jefferson still has six months to serve in his tour of duty in Iraq. He will leave in early September and return to duty in Tikrit with the 1st Infantry Division, 2nd Brigade. The city is the hometown of Saddam Hussein and, possibly because it was one of the first cities occupied, it has been relatively quiet in terms of insurgent attacks.

"I keep watching the news (to see) where the activity is," Walker said, her mother's nerves showing. "Right now in Tikrit, there's not much, but it could change. At this point, anything could happen."

Next week Jefferson's family will indulge his request to go to Big Splash water park. Laughing and enjoying the cool water is just about as far removed as one can get from conflict-filled, hot days in Iraq.

Jefferson said he is well provided for in Iraq, but care packages are much needed and much appreciated.

"There's a lot of stress out there, the heat," he said. "When you get stuff in from the states; care packages, they give you that warm feeling."

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