"I graduated on the twenty-seventh of May, 1960; twenty-eighth of May, I was in San Diego, California, and I was in the Navy." (Audio interview, 2:28)

Charles Sequoyah Lee Chupco

Charles Chupco at time of interview [06/17/2017] War: Vietnam War, 1961-1975 Branch: Navy Unit: USS Maury (AGS 16); USS Mars (AFS 1); USS Guadalupe (AO 32); USS John Paul Jones (DDG 53); USS Crockett (PG 88) Service Location: Pacific Ocean; South China Sea; Japan; Philippines; Hong Kong; Singapore; Taiwan; Oklahoma; Great Lakes, Illinois; Guam (Mariana Islands); San Diego, California Rank: Chief Petty Officer

A member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, Charles Sequoyah Lee Chupco spent his high school years at the Chilocco Indian School, a boarding school for American Indian students in north-central Oklahoma. Life at Chilocco fostered a sense of independence and self-reliance, and the school became a second home to him. He entered the Navy the day after his high school graduation in 1960. After four years at boarding school, he was acclimated to rigorous rules and regulations, and he adjusted easily to the demands of military life. Chupco spent the next 20 years in the service in roles ranging from gunner’s mate to Navy recruiter, and went on to have a second career in the Round Rock (TX) School District.