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“Four words derailed the career of Maj. Gen. Michael A. Keltz: “Drunker than 10,000 Indians.”
A spokeswoman for Air Education and Training Command confirmed the ethnic slur Tuesday, first reported in a blog written by a former U.S. Air Force officer and veterans’ advocate.
Keltz, the former commander of 19th Air Force at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, resigned from his job last week and announced he would retire, saying in a written statement that he “inadvertently made an unfortunate comment.”
The comment was made April 9 at an Article 15 hearing at which Keltz was the convening authority. An unnamed company grade officer was seeking a reduced punishment from a finding of wrongdoing, determined by the officer’s commander at a previous hearing.
Tony Carr wrote on his John Q. Public blog that Keltz, during the hearing to consider whether the officer’s punishment was fair, had a photo of the officer and a friend standing together at a unit event where they had been drinking. Keltz observed that they appeared to be “drunker than 10,000 Indians,” the blog said.”
– Stars and Stripes, Comment about Indians caused Air Force general to resign.
“A US Air Force general has been forced to step down over his “inappropriate comment” at a disciplinary hearing. He studied a photo showing two officers, describing them as “drunker than 10,000 Indians.”
I inadvertently made an unfortunate comment, I own it, and I hold myself accountable to the same high standards my subordinate commanders are held to,” Major General Michael Keltz said in a statement.
“As a result, I have tendered my resignation from command and requested to retire from service,” he added.”
– RT, ‘Drunker than 10,000 Indians’: US Air Force general resigns over comment in court.
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Download the 18″x24″ poster (.pdf), Indian Country 52 #19 – 10,0000 Caucasians (Racist).
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Indian Country 52
Indian Country 52 is a weekly project by David Bernie that uses the medium of posters that promote issues and stories in Indian Country.
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This work by David Bernie is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. You may download, share, and post the images under the condition that the works are attributed to the artist.
