'Brat' follows in family footsteps

  • Published
  • By Rudi Williams
  • American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON (AFPN) --  "It may sound funny, but a big part of my desire to join was a sense of patriotic duty that I felt and still feel to this day," said Master Sgt. Layne Berryhill.

The military brat, whose mother and father also served in the Air Force, calls himself a "junkie" who is "addicted" to the feeling he gets wearing Air Force blue.

A member of the Creek Indian Nation of Oklahoma, Sergeant Berryhill said he was pulled to the military by the many opportunities it offers and by his personal search for structure, guidance and discipline.

Sergeant Berryhill, a paralegal in the Air Force Legal Agency at Bolling Air Force Base, D.C., followed his mother's and father's footsteps into the Air Force in May 1983. His father had been an E-4 working in a recruiting office when he was killed in a vehicle accident in August 1962, about a month before Sergeant Berryhill was born.

His mother was a saxophonist in the Air Force Band at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas. She stayed on active duty until she was forced out because she was pregnant with the sergeant's older brother, David, who was born on May 14, 1959. In those days, women were not allowed to stay on active duty when they became pregnant.

Sergeant Berryhill claims his Creek Indian heritage from his late father.

"Sadly, that part of my family has passed, and I have little knowledge of their lives," he said. "But I'll continue to find out more about my family as time passes."

Noting that he did not claim his Indian heritage when he enlisted, Sergeant Berryhill asked the question, "When can I be considered not a minority serving in the military, but an American serving his country," he said. "If there is a division of people in the military based on race, then how will we ever be a cohesive military?

"My goal is to serve my country as an American," he said. "I have no desire to be considered anything other than that. My Indian heritage, that I share and (will pass) onto my children, should have no bearing on my service. I honor all those who served this country without consideration of their family tree. The rich, the poor, the challenged and the blessed are all equal in my eyes, and I hope that at the end of my career I am equal in theirs."

Sergeant Berryhill said it is more honorable to recognize someone's contributions as an individual rather than as a member of a separate culture.

"It's in the service of one's self and family that one truly honors one's ancestry," he said. "I've never felt like I am anything other than an American serving my country, and that is how I would like to be remembered.

"The Indian cultures have worked to earn the respect they deserve and have earned it through action and dedication," he said.

Sergeant Berryhill calls it a "great honor" to have a month set aside to highlight the heritage, culture and contributions of American Indians.

"I believe the celebration of a culture shows that people are not willing to accept things as they are, but can change things for the better," he said.

"The accomplishments of others have allowed me and many like me to serve our country," Sergeant Berryhill said. "I hope people recognize (that) the efforts of those who came before us made our lives possible as they are today. I hope everyone shows their respect and in their own way honors the contributions of the American Indian."