Ira Lindsey Bad Bear, also known by his Crow name Seven Eggs, was born on Sep. 8, 1947, in Crow Agency, Montana. Lindsey was a member of the Whistling Water Clan. He graduated from Hardin High School in 1968 and was drafted into the U.S. Army the following year.
Upon deploying to Vietnam, he served as a Construction Equipment Repairer with the 35th Combat Engineers. A skilled hunter, Lindsey utilized his gifts and talents to provide fresh meat for his buddies in the field. “It was a great accomplishment for me,” he later said about his time in Vietnam.
Like many returning Vietnam Veterans, Lindsey struggled with PTSD, alcoholism and homelessness. To deal with his ongoing anxiety, he often camped out in the prairie.
“I felt safer out there. I was kind of expecting trouble from every corner,” he later recalled. He married in 1978 and had six children, becoming a pillar in the local community. He even worked with the Crow’s VA staff part-time, encouraging Veterans to register for VA services. He said of this work: “You have kids coming back from Iraq and coming back from Afghanistan. I don’t want them to go through what I did.”
Lindsey died on April 29, 2018, and is interred at Apsaalooke Veterans Cemetery in Montana. We honor his service.
This #VeteranOfTheDay is from the Veterans Legacy Program. To learn more about the VLP, our partnerships and how we share the stories of Veterans in our national cemeteries, please visit the VLP webpage.
Nominate a Veteran
Do you want to light up the face of a special Veteran? Have you been wondering how to tell your Veteran they are special to you? VA’s “Honoring Veterans” social media spotlight is an opportunity to highlight your Veteran and his/her service.
It’s easy to nominate a Veteran. Visit our blog post about nominating to learn how to create the best submission
Topics in this story
More Stories
In honor of National Park Service's National Park Week, this week's Honoring Veterans spotlight honors the service of Army Veteran Michael Trevino, who today works as a facility manager at Reconstruction Era National Historical Park.
This week’s Honoring Veterans Spotlight honors the service of Navy Veteran Ken Mattingly, who served as a pilot during the 1950s and later became an astronaut during the Apollo missions.
This week’s Honoring Veterans Spotlight honors the service of Air Force Veteran Gavino Cavazos, who served from 1949 to 1973 during both the Korean and Vietnam Wars.
