PFC Stetson Pahayeoma was a Native American born on April 21, 1915 (various records give different birth dates) on the Hopi Reservation in northern Arizona to Naquayesva Pahayeoma and Dinah Wounhema. He registered for the Draft on October 16, 1940. He worked in Sales at the time.

On January 8, 1942, he enlisted in the Army at Ft. Bliss in Texas. He was not married and had no children. He wasn’t assigned to a specific branch at the time, but he was later assigned to Company K, 126th Infantry. Initially they were being trained for war in Europe, but they were redirected to the Pacific in 1942.

Private Pahayeoma was admitted to the hospital in February 1944, and treated for Tsutsugmushi Fever, a mite borne illness also called Scrub Typhus. The disease is endemic to the Asia-Pacific region and is spread by chiggers. It killed or incapacitated thousands of troops who were stationed in rural or jungle areas in the Pacific theatre.1 How long he was hospitalized isn’t provided, but he was subsequently discharged to return to his unit.

Records don’t show how many or which battles he participated in, but it appears that he was part of the Battle for Leyte. The US invaded Leyte on October 17, 1944. Sadly, Stetson was admitted again to the hospital in December 1944, but did not recover from his injuries and ultimately passed December 7. Like other soldiers, he was temporarily buried in Leyte until after the war. In October 1949, he was reinterred in the Santa Fe, New Mexico National Cemetery at his family’s request.

1 https://www.britannica.com/science/scrub-typhus. Accessed July 7, 2023.

1940 US Census, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/80606472:2442?tid=&pid=&queryId=0f70a15b3d638f31eb185105e6068c4a&_phsrc=CpV284&_phstart=successSource). Accessed July 31, 2023.

Draft Card, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/6715980:2238?tid=&pid=&queryId=0f70a15b3d638f31eb185105e6068c4a&_phsrc=CpV282&_phstart=successSource. Accessed July 31, 2023.

Enlistment, My Heritage (https://www.myheritage.com/research/record-10022-7168546/stetson-pahayeoma-in-us-world-war-ii-army-enlistment). Accessed July 31, 2023.

Hospital Admissions, Fold3 (https://www.fold3.com/record/706395544/pahayeoma-stetson-us-wwii-hospital-admission-card-files-1942-1954). Accessed July 31, 2023.

Interment, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/1439788:2590?tid=&pid=&queryId=0f70a15b3d638f31eb185105e6068c4a&_phsrc=CpV283&_phstart=successSource).

Background, Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/126th_Infantry_Regiment_(United_States) and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Leyte). Accessed July 21, 2023.

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