GERONIMO IS TO BE HONOURED BY US HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES...


"Geronimo" is to be honoured by the US House of Representatives.

Americans will probably appreciate this story more than I.

The legendary Apache chief, Geronimo, so well known and depicted in dozens of western films for over a half century or more, is to be honoured for his bravery through a voice vote in the US House of Representatives, 100 years after his death.

The non-binding resolution honours his life, "his extraordinary bravery, and his commitment to the defence of his homeland, his people , and Apache way of life."

Geronimo - known as Goyathlay in the language of his Chiricahua Apache - died in 1909 at nearly 90 years of age, at Fort Still in Oklahoma. He had been held as a prisoner of war for twenty years despite the understanding he would be allowed to return to his people.

This is a wonderful gesture from the US House Of Representatives for a warrior chief of the then Apache Nation, and now recognised as a great American.

I believe that the name "Geronimo" was actually a war-cry of the American paratroopers as they parachuted out of their planes into battle. This has been confirmed by a reader of this story.