Jerry Fully shows off many of his creations as a taxidermist
Serving his country and his tribe
By Ronni Pierce
Choctaw Nation
Porter, Okla. - For over 42 years Jerry Fuller has had his dream job–a taxidermist by trade and writer/poet by choice. Jerry held a variety of jobs before he found his calling. After leaving the Navy, he dabbled in construction, machine repair, and worked for the phone company. When an injury forced him into retirement, he took up his true passion of taxidermy.
He loves the work, makes his repeat customers happy, and has the best stories. “I’ve been in this business 42 years in August. I love it and I get to meet the nicest people and hear some of the greatest stories.”
That’s evident as he peppers his spirited conversation with some of the stories he’s heard over the years, as well as his own homespun wisdom and favorite common sense quotes, such as, “A good conscience makes a soft pillow.” According to Jerry, he started putting his thoughts and memories down on paper about 15 years ago. Reflections of the people who inspire him show up in his poems and stories.
In fact, the one that inspired him the most is the memory of a child who lived next to his family in Stigler when he was young. The boy had polio and couldn’t walk, but his father made him a cart with two wheels that he hooked up to the family donkey. The boy made the trip to school every day on that cart, lying on his stomach, 2 1/2 miles to the small schoolhouse in the morning and 2 1/2 miles back home in the evening. “The fortitude that kid had,” Jerry explains. “You lay down on a cart on a bumpy road for 2 1/2 miles on your stomach, it’s not very comfortable. But he did it, twice a day. If he can do it, you can do it.”
And that became the title for his first children’s book, “You Can Do It.” It tells the story of Little Spirit, an orphaned Choctaw child being raised by his grandfather. The little boy can’t walk at first, but with encouragement from his grandfather and his horse Spirit Wind he learns to be a great hunter and protector of his tribe.
Originally his granddaughter illustrated the book, but when the book’s publisher discovered he had other grandchildren and great grandchildren with talent, she insisted they all contribute their artwork. So all his grandchildren and great grandchildren have at least one picture in the book including drawings of Little Spirit, Spirit Wind, and forest animals.
The book ends with one of Jerry’s poems:
An Indian Prayer
May we break an arrow for peace.
May we all build one fire.
May we catch the flight of the wind.
May we be true and faithful till the end!
May we build our lodging on a hill,
Sheltered from the cold north wind,
Shaded from the sun,
And soft earth to lay on when day is done.
May we have an open view to the stars and moon.
May we never have our hearts filled with gloom.
May our teepee be filled with love.
May the Great Spirit guide us from above.
May from our brothers, there never be wrath.
May there always be fish in the streams.
May we always have happy dreams.
Another one of Jerry’s favorite quotes, “If something is worth living for, it has to be worth dying for,” applies to his being drafted after he graduated from Bixby High School. “I kept calling the draft board in Stigler to see if my number was coming up,” he remembers. When he was called, his friends convinced him he should choose the Navy. It was a life changing experience for Jerry.
During the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis, he served on a submarine tender, a supply ship for submarines. He met a lot of nice people and heard a lot of their stories, “Some of them I’ve remembered and written down.”
With his homeport in Charleston, South Carolina, his ship served 12 submarines in his squadron. He says the old ship never traveled very far, but he recalls being stuck in a bad storm on the outer edge of a hurricane near Key West with waves cresting over the top of the ship.
“I got out before Vietnam got hot. Got two of my buddies on the Wall. Too many men were lost in that war,” he stops short and pauses. “But if I was called again, and could do it, I would.”
“In Korea, I had a brother in the Marine Corps and another brother and brother-in-law in the Army. I was young. But the things I saw my mom and dad go through, the uncertainty,” he reflects a moment, “My sis would address three letters every day with tear stains on them.”
He doesn’t really remember when he started recording his military memories or setting them to verse. But he takes great pride in the work and in reciting his prose for other members of the military. “I’ve sat on stages with generals, colonels, mayors, and they all have such big lumps in their throats they can’t talk.”
During a recent trip to the Indian healthcare clinic in Claremore, a woman whose husband was going through diabetes treatment approached Jerry. She had bought his book for her husband and wanted to tell him how much it helped him get through his treatment. Her husband said if that little boy could make it, he could too. It motivated that man, and that makes Jerry both proud and humble, knowing that he can actually help people. “I’m just trying to get my ticket validated.”
“I’m proud I’m an Indian,” he says. “It can’t get much better than that–a Navy veteran and an Indian.”
One of his favorite poems follows:
The American’s Creed
I love this great country. Please show me that I am loved.
I don’t know what the future may hold, but with faith, courage, determination, and guidance from above, I’ll help it unfold.
Love, guidance and respect from you I ask, regardless of what I did in the past.
I ask compassion and forgiveness when I do wrong.
I pray my mistake will help me grow strong.
Don’t judge me by the things which you have done.
Because I know with your help the best is yet to come.
Millions of veterans have fought to make this country great.
For that, I say thanks.
This is my prayer for all mankind:
May war and my generation be left behind.
Because what I’ve been taught, these things I vow.
I’ll always practice the golden rule.
Until I get my degree, I’ll stay in school.
I’ll respect our flag, and a good example try to be.
I’ll do my best to help us remain free.
I’ll respect and uphold the laws of this land.
Against wrong, I will take a stand.
To others I’ll try never to offend.
But freedom and justice I will always defend.
I’ll never use the words, “I can’t.”
Because I know where the future is concerned, I pray, common sense I never lack.
And I’ll always remember impossibility is an opinion not a fact.
May God bless America.
Watch the Jerry Fuller interview here.