From Ironworker Magazine –

Welby “Ike” Isaacs, ironworker and oldest living Indigenous veteran from Six Nations, continues to inspire

At 17, he joined the military.

Tragic circumstances led Welby “Ike” Isaacs to serve his country in the military. After his grandmother’s death when he was just 14, Isaacs was left with no immediate family in Six Nations. His Six Nations’ community looked after him until he decided to drop out of high school and enlist.

Welby “Ike” Isaacs is a man many admire for his courage, strength and dedication. Born January 20, 1939, Isaacs grew up in the Six Nations of the Grand River, a First Nations reserve located along the banks of the Grand River in southwestern Ontario, Canada. Six Nations is the only reserve where all six Haudenosaunee nations live together.

In December 1959, Isaacs joined the Canadian armed forces, going to Base Borden to train before moving on to the Royal Canadian Dragoons regiment in Petawawa. He was then sent to Germany to serve as a radio operator in a tank and other military vehicles. Upon returning home in December 1959, Isaacs was posted to Base Gagetown, New Brunswick.

In February 1962, Isaacs was posted in Egypt in the town of Rafah, part of the Gaza Strip, representing the United Nations. Isaacs served in the Middle East in reconnaissance. Upon returning home in February 1963, Isaacs served as a physical training instructor until February 1966. During his nine-year career, Isaacs reached the rank of lance corporal before being honorably discharged in 1966.

He then bought a home in Brantford and joined Local 736 (Hamilton, Ontario). He spent the rest of his professional career as a proud ironworker working in the automotive industry for 37 years before retiring in 2004.

In June 2022, Isaacs was awarded the first USS Arizona Medal of Freedom in Hamilton, Ontario. Hamilton is home to the lab that rolled steel from the USS Arizona, one of the Pearl Harbor battleships that sank during the 1941 attack, to create the medals for the Lauren F. Bruner USS Arizona Memorial Foundation.

The foundation was named after Lauren F. Bruner, one of Arizona’s last surviving crew members. Bruner established the nonprofit to honor those aboard the ship the morning of the attack on U.S. military installations in Hawaii. Bruner and the other Arizona survivors received steel from the ship, which had been sitting for years in a salvage yard. Before he died, Bruner gifted his pieces of steel to the foundation. The salvaged steel was used to create the medals.

Isaacs, who did not serve aboard the Arizona, was given the medal for his service to Canada and to honor the six Canadian crew members who served and were killed on the USS Arizona.

Ed McGrath, executive director of the foundation, says to help preserve history more medals are being made to honor the men and women who serve and defend America and Canada. For more information on the Lauren F. Bruner USS Arizona Memorial Foundation and the Medal of Freedom, visit ussaz.org.

CAPTIONS: Canadian Press photos by Frank Gunn

Above: Retired Local 736 member Ike Isaacs, first recipient, Indigenous Canadian veteran.

Below: A tribute to Six Nations Veterans Association’s Welby “Ike” Isaacs prior to the hockey action between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Los Angeles Kings, in Toronto on Nov. 8, 2021.

Below (2): Welby “Ike” Isaacs recognized during the Toronto Maple Leafs’ Remembrance Day and Indigenous Veteran’s Day ceremonies. Isaacs says it was an honor to be recognized, especially for a lifelong Leafs’ fan like himself. According to the Maple Leafs’ press release, 2,700 Indigenous people serve in the Canadian military.