A Rare Gift

By: Felicia Fonseca

WINDOW ROCK, Ariz.(AP) – As a Marine private, Ronnie Tallman was torn between the military life and his traditional life on the Navajo Nation.

Tallman comes from a line of both warriors and healers, which might explain his decision to join the military — and the rare spiritual gift bestowed upon him as a Navajo that teaches him to heal, not hurt people.

For the 21-year-old Tuba City native, killing an insect or butchering sheep — not to mention picking up a gun and serving in the military — is out of the question now that he’s part of a special group of certified medicine men known as “hand tremblers.”

Tallman applied last year for conscientious objector status, seeking an honorable discharge based on religious beliefs. After nearly a year of waiting for his paperwork to filter through the proper channels, Marine Corps commandant Gen. James T. Conway turned him down.

A military screening board interviewed psychiatrists and a chaplain, among others, before determining Jan. 11 that Tallman’s application was “simply a means to avoid combat deployment to Iraq.”

Tallman’s lawyers decided to go to court.

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