Native American Veterans

According to data published by the Wall Street Journal there are 12,000 American Indians, Alaska natives and Canadian aboriginals serving in the U.S. military. Native Americans went into the military for a variety of reasons- to uphold the Warrior tradition, economic reasons, personal reasons, the draft, or a combination were the usual reasons given. Those who could not enlist because of age or inability to speak English, served on the home front in a variety of capacities on military bases or in factories. They raised larger crops to feed more people and gave money to support the war effort. The numbers that served are surprising, considering the often precarious relationship between the United States government and our sovereign nations.
The commitment and contributions of Native Americans in the United States are again astounding. They have served in the United States military since the American Revolution. During the Civil War, there were three (3) Confederate Units and one (1) Union unit primarily made up of Native Americans from the Oklahoma tribes. Two of the most well-known Native American military men at this time were Eli S. Parker and Stand Watie. Eli S. Parker, a Seneca from New York, was the military assistant to General Ulysses S. Grant. Stand Watie, a Cherokee, was the last Confederate Brigadier General to surrender to the Union troops. In World War I, many Native Americans were so eager to join that they went to Canada to enlist before the United States entered the war. Six thousand (6,000) of the more than eight thousand (8,000) who served during this war were volunteers. It was this tremendous act of patriotism that persuaded Congress to pass the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924.
During World War II, twenty-five thousand (25,000) Native American men and women fought on all fronts in Europe and Asia, receiving more than eighty-one (81) air medals, sixty-two (62) Silver Stars, fifty-seven (57) Bronze Stars, forty-four (44) distinguished Flying Crosses, and two (2) Congressional Medals of Honor.
In the Viet Nam War more than forty-one thousand, five hundred (41,500) Native Americans enlisted to serve in the United States Armed Services. Of these, ninety percent (90%) were volunteers, giving Native Americans the highest record of service of any ethnic group in the country.
In 1990, prior to Operation Desert Storm, some twenty-four thousand (24,000) Native American men and women were serving in the military. Approximately three thousand (3,000) were in the Persian Gulf, and again, twelve thousand (12,000) today are serving in the Armed Forces. This equates to one (1) out of every four (4) Native Americans are military veterans.

If you are an Afghanistan or Iraq Vet Please get connected here: http://communityofveterans.org/

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