Pete Kazena is being honored as Wagner’s November Veteran of the Month. Kazena enlisted in the United States Marine Corps on August 26th of 1976 and after serving for three years was honorably discharged from service on August 29th of 1979. After enlisting in the Marines, Kazena was given a choice between three Marine Corps Recruit Depots (MCRD) to attend his basic training. His three choices were Parris Island, San Diego and Camp Lejeune. Kazena chose MCRD San Diego. After completing his basic training, Kazena was then sent to Camp Pendleton in CA for four weeks for Infantry Training School as his Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) was 0311 Infantry. He had originally put in to be a truck driver, but the Marine Corps picked Kazena’s MOS for him and he was randomly selected him for infantry. As part of his training, he was trained for combat duty.

Kazena continued his infantry training at the Camp Pendleton base until March of 1977 when he was sent to be stationed for a year on Okinawa Island, Japan. Though the island is the fifth biggest of the Ryukyu Island chain, it is very small. Okinawa Island is approximately 70 miles long and 7 miles wide for a total of 466.02 square miles. Kazena was a part of a 25–30-person platoon. While stationed there, not only did his platoon do field training every week both defensively and with weapons, but his platoon traveled to several nearby areas for different kinds of terrain training. They traveled to the Philippines for jungle terrain training. They did a two-week training there walking and camping in the extremely hot jungles. The jungle was so thick that the supply chopper could not land. The platoon also went to Mt. Fuji, Japan for cold weather training during the months of November and December. Sometimes his platoon would do recon training where they would scout “enemy” territory through observation and surveillance. During any of this type of training, the platoon would always have a reference point such as a monument or site in order for platoon members not to get lost. During most of the training exercises that Kazena was a part of, he seemed to always end up being the point man. When asked why he thought he was constantly chosen, Kazena said that he had good leadership skills and was very easy to get along with.

In March of 1978, Kazena returned stateside back to Camp Pendleton where he continued combat training until he was discharged from the Marine Corps in August of 1979. During that last year and a half of being in the Marines, Kazena continued to do infantry field training, cold temperature training and mountain terrain training on the Santa Margarita Mountains. He also did more island as well as ship training. For combat ship training, members of the platoon would be picked up by a Vig helicopter to be dropped off at different landing sites. A Vig helicopter is considered one of the largest gyro (type of technology) helicopters at four feet long and features a coaxial rotor.

During his time in the Marine Corps, Kazena was awarded the Good Conduct Medal. Some of the highlights of Kazena’s service include getting to see and experience Tokyo. He was able to spend a weekend there and traveled their elaborate train system to get to and from Tokyo. He said that there were a lot of people walking and people were bumper to bumper. He can also recall landing in Manilla, Philippines via ship on August 16, 1977 which was the day that Elvis died. The streets were filled with people dressed as Elvis. While there he also tried monkey meat.

Kazena was born on October 26th of 1957 in Greenwood to his parents Fred Kazena Sr. and Alice Marie Gullikson Kazena. He came from a rather large family, being one of 15 siblings. Kazena attended the Whahehe83 country school until he was a third grader. In 1967, the school closed and Kazena then attended school in Wagner from fourth grade until freshmen year. Sophomore year through senior year he attended school in Marty where he graduated from high school. Upon graduating from high school, Kazena had a choice to either go to college or join the military. He decided to become a part of his family’s legacy of military service. His dad had served in the Army and both of his brothers had served, one in the Air Force (served in Vietnam) and one in the Marine Corp (three tours in Vietnam). When asked why he chose the Marine Corp, Kazena said he had two choices because of his brothers either the Marines or the Air Force.

After returning from his service, Kazena stayed a week in Wagner before moving to attend college at Devils Lake Junior College in North Dakota for two years. He moved back to Wagner in 1981, where he continued his college education at the University of South Dakota Springfield, studying sociology and psychology until 1983. He was just a couple credits short of earning his degree. After returning to Wagner from North Dakota, Kazena met his future wife, Kathy Rolston. They dated for five months before getting married on May 13th of 1981. The couple has been married for 43 years and have three children Elizabeth, Myron and Michael. The couple has been blessed with six grandchildren.

While attending college, Kazena was also working for the Yankton Sioux Tribe in 1981 at the detention center that used to be west of Marty. He then worked at the children’s shelter until the program closed in 1982. With the program closing, he decided to take a position with the Wagner School until 1984 when he was hired by Wagner Indian Health Services (IHS) working there for six years. From 1990 until 1995, he worked at Zenith High School before running the Yankton Sioux Tribal Council from 1995-1997. He then returned to IHS in 2001 as a motor vehicle operator and retired in 2016. In 2017 he began serving two terms on the Yankton Sioux Tribal (YST) Council. Kazena currently works part time for the Yankton Sioux Tribe’s Elderly Program, because even though he is retired, he enjoys keeping busy and active in the community.

Even though Kazena enjoys being busy, over the years he has taken time to enjoy fishing, hunting and mowing. He enjoys catching catfish below the dam as well as taking his grandchildren fishing where he changes their hooks more than he actually get to fish, but it is time well spent with wonderful memories made. He also enjoys hunting for pheasants and deer. Kazena has also been a very active community member and is a member of the McBride Legion Post 257, Chairman of the Ihanktonwan Veterans’ Tiny Home Project; a Commission Ruling Elder (CRE) for Greenwood Presbyterian Church; a Wagner Planning and Zoning Board appointee; YST councilman; YST tax commissioner; and is currently working on the VFW in Greenwood.

Kazena looks back at his time in the military as a very good experience that he would definitely do again. He does leave these words for the youth of the area. “Look at the military if unsure if you want to continue your education after graduation. Do not stay at home; do something positive.”

Thank you, Pete, for your service and for being Wagner’s November Veteran of the Month.