Native Americans in the armed forces

" We are a warrior people,"
- Ben Nighthorse Campbell
Former U.S. Senator

In 1990, President George H.W. Bush established November as National Native American Heritage Month. Bush's proclamation reads in part: "Our Constitution affirms a special relationship between the federal government and Indian tribes and -- despite a number of conflicts, inequities, and changes over the years -- our unique government-to-government relationship has endured."

Native Americans have been stalwart in their support of and participation in the United States military. It is fitting that November, the month we observe Veterans Day, is also the month we honor America's natives.

This article will attempt to describe some of the many contributions Native Americans have made toward the protection of our country.

Long history of military service

In George Washington's army of 250,000 soldiers, 5,500 were Natives. About 20,000 American Indians also fought in the Civil War.

Pushmataha is described by author Herman J. Viola in his book "Warriors in Uniform." Pushmataha was a commissioned officer in the United States Army. He fought during the War of 1812, raising a force of 500 Choctaw soldiers who served with distinction in various engagements, including the Battle of New Orleans.

Ely S. Parker was a Seneca chief. He became General Ulysses S. Grant's secretary and achieved the rank of brigadier general. After the Civil War, Parker was the first Native American to head the Bureau of Indian Affairs. He later studied law, but was denied admittance to the New York Bar because, as an Indian, he was not an American citizen.

Scouts

After the Civil War, Viola says the government's concept of the Indian as the enemy slowly gave way to the reality that in western warfare, the Indian could be an invaluable ally. In 1866, Congress authorized the Army to enlist up to 1,000 Indians to act as scouts, receiving the same pay and allowance as cavalry soldiers. That opened the door to permit Native Americans to serve in the Army. It also provided an opportunity for whites and Indians to know more about each other's cultures.

Citizenship

Early in our country, the prevailing idea was that military service constituted citizenship. Colonists hoped to win independence by relying on local militia whose members were citizen soldiers. Only citizens, defined as "men of property," could serve in the militia, and Indians were excluded from citizenship.

In Elk v. Wilkins, 5 S.Ct. 41 (1884), a Winnebago Indian, brought an action against the registrar of Omaha, Nebraska for refusing to register him to vote. John Elk claimed that under the Fourteenth Amendment, he was a citizen of the United States and entitled to the rights and privileges of citizens. The United States Supreme Court held that even though Elk was born in the United States, he was not a citizen because he owed allegiance to his tribe.

When Congress passed the Selective Service Act of 1917, it authorized the President to temporarily increase the country's military force. That act subjected "all male citizens between the ages of twenty-one and thirty to duty in the national army for the period of the existing emergency," which was the United States entering World War I.

Despite the fact that Native Americans were not citizens, so many volunteered and served bravely in World War I that Congress made Native American veterans citizens in 1919. [H.R.5007] In 1924, the Indian Citizenship Act [Public Law 68-175, 43 STAT 253] made all Native people citizens of the United States.

But not all Indians wanted citizenship. One writer said that to this day, many in the Iroquois Confederation resist the idea that they are American citizens, traveling on their own passports and refusing service and conscription into the United States military.

World War I

Although Native Americans were not citizens, approximately 6,500 were drafted during World War I. Approximately 25 percent of Native men served in the military during World War I.

Joseph Oklahombi, a member of the Choctaw tribe, was the most highly decorated Native American serviceman during World War I. Oklahombi rushed a German stronghold in France in 1918 and, along with other American soldiers, captured 171 prisoners, killing 79 others. He received a Silver Star and the Croix de Guerre, France's highest military honor.

Native Americans helped confound the enemy trying to tap into our military's messaging with Code Talking in World War I. Code Talking is the practice of using complex Native American languages for use as military code. Since many Native American languages had never been written down, it was all the more difficult to crack a code based on them. Because the language used by the Choctaw Code Talkers in the transmission of information was not based on a European language or on a mathematical progression, the Germans were unable to understand any of the transmissions. Within 24 hours after the Choctaws began their work during one battle in France, the commander reported the tide of the battle had turned. A captured German officer confirmed they were completely confused by the messages and gained no benefit from their wiretaps.

The United States Congress awarded the Choctaw Code Talkers of World War I a gold medal in 2008. In 2013, Oklahoma named a state highway the WWI Choctaw Code Talkers Highway.

Native Americans rushed to enlist after Pearl Harbor was attacked. Several tribes held special war councils to discuss mobilization. Approximately 150,000 American Indians served in World War II.

Ira Hamilton Hayes was an Akimen O'odham Native American and a U.S. Marine during World War II. Hayes remains one of the best-known American Indians who served in World War II. In 1945, Hayes was one of six servicemen who raised the American flag during the Battle of Iwo Jima in the South Pacific. Hayes appears on the far left of the celebrated photograph that was the basis for the Iwo Jima Memorial in Arlington, Virginia. Actor Tony Curtis portrayed Hayes in the 1961 film, The Outsider. In the movie, Hayes is shunned by his fellow Marines and mocked as "chief."

Building upon the Choctaw Code Talkers of World War I, several tribes had members who participated as Code Talkers during World War II, including the Hopi, Comanche, Cherokee and Chippewa tribes. But the most celebrated were the Navajo Code Talkers.

Skeptical at first, the military placed radios 300 to 400 yards apart and sent coded messages using both Navajo Code Talkers and Morse code machines. The Code Talkers deciphered the messages in under a minute and the machines took an hour.

Some military terms had no equivalent in Native languages, so substitutions were used. Machine gun became sewing machine; tank became turtle; bomber became pregnant airplane and Hitler was crazy white man. No wonder the enemy was confounded!

Fort Pickett, in Virginia, was recently renamed after an American Indian hero, Van Thomas Barfoot, a Choctaw. On May 23, 1944, Barfoot crawled off alone and made a direct hit into a German gun nest. He took 17 prisoners. Later the same day, Barfoot stood in front of a German tank, and with his first shot, destroyed it. He then assisted two severely wounded men to safety. He was awarded the Medal of Honor.

The Korean War

About 10,000 American Indians served in Korea. Many had also served during World War II. Five Native Americans were awarded the Medal of Honor for their service in Korea.

Ben Nighthorse Campbell, a member of the Cherokee Nation, served in the Air Force during the Korean War. In his introduction to Viola's book, Campbell wrote that he remembered the feeling he had when his troop ship returned to port in San Francisco: "We had stayed on deck throughout the night just so we could see the Golden Gate emerge through the morning fog. I was only a 19-year-old airman at the time and yet my memory of the pride and love of country we all felt on board that ship are as clear today as they were over half a century ago."

Campbell earned his GED on the GI Bill and went on to become a Member of Congress and then a Senator from Colorado. He has a great sense of humor: "Christopher Columbus arrived in the 'New World' in 1492 and mistakenly called us Indians because he thought he was in India. I can speak for all Native Americans when I tell you we are sure happy Columbus did not think he was in Turkey,"

The Vietnam War

About 42,000 Native Americans served in Vietnam. Author Tom Holm says in his book "Strong Hearts Wounded Souls," that Native Americans made up only one percent of the general population, but far exceeded their proportional population in their service in Vietnam. About 75 percent served in infantry, ranger, airborne, special forces, tank and artillery units or as door gunners in helicopters or gunboats.

Carson Walk Over Ice, a member of the Crow Nation, was a Green Beret in the 101st Airborne Ranger Division, known as the Screaming Eagles. He wrote: "So when it came my time to serve, I enlisted. Even though my own grandfather was a prisoner of war of the United States during the Indian Wars. . . I was able to jump out of airplanes and helicopters, to land and attack enemy camps. I did all these things for almost ten months before I got wounded and was taken out. But when I came back from Vietnam, I could say to the other veterans, 'I did all the stuff that our forefathers did, that you did, that my dad, my uncles, my grandfathers did. I did those things too.'"

First Sgt. Pascal Cleatus Poolaw Sr., a Kiowa, served this country through three wars, and gave up his life in Vietnam. Poolaw has been called America's most decorated American Indian soldier with 42 medals and citations. Among his medals are four Silver Stars and five Bronze Stars. He also earned three Purple Hearts, one for each of the wars in which he fought - World War II, Korea, and Vietnam.

When his son, Lindy, received orders for Vietnam, Poolaw volunteered for the combat zone with the hope of serving there in place of his son. Another of his sons, Pascal, Jr., had already been wounded in Vietnam, and his right leg had to be amputated. When the senior Poolaw finally reached the port of departure, he discovered Lindy had left for Vietnam the day before. He decided to follow his son. Having the father and son of the family serving in combat at the same time was nothing new to Poolaw. He had served in World War II with his dad, Ralph Poolaw, and his two brothers. On Nov. 7, 1967, Poolaw's unit was attacked by Viet Cong forces, and he was mortally wounded as he tried to save another man. One of the buildings at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, Poolaw Hall, is named after him.

Survey after the Vietnam War

After the Vietnam War, a national survey of Native Americans who served in the war was conducted. Nearly 80 percent of those surveyed, representing 77 tribes, were not drafted, but volunteered.

One of the questions in the survey was why each entered military service. Holm noted that most members of minority groups did so for financial reasons or because they wanted to better themselves. But he says American Indians felt that such things as duty, honor, and family and tribal traditions were important reasons for entering the armed forces. Their fathers and grandfathers were warriors.

One veteran wrote about the striking similarities between what the United States did in Vietnam and what happened to his people: "We went into their country and killed them and took land that wasn't ours. Just like the whites did to us."

Most of those surveyed expressed they had negative experiences while serving. They were called "blanket asses" or "redskins," and nearly every one of them was called "chief" at one time or another. One Seneca Vietnam veteran described what his platoon sergeant told the men: "The gooks are all out there and we're here. This is Fort Apache, boys, and out there is Indian country." The Seneca vet said: "Can you believe that? To me. I should have shot him right then and there. Made me wonder who the real enemy was."

Just as happened with other Vietnam vets, some Native American vets suffered from stress-related symptoms as a result of their wartime experience. According to Holm, many returning Native American Vietnam vets turned to their own people and sought solace and healing through their own traditions. Tribal ceremonies, either conducted to honor the warrior or purge him of the taint of combat, helped veterans adjust to civilian life.

The Middle East

Native Americans are only 0.8 percent of the U.S. population but they made up 1.6 percent of the military's ranks in Iraq and Afghanistan.

U.S. Army Private 1st Class Lori Ann Piestewa, a Hopi, died in the same Iraqi attack in which fellow soldiers Shoshana Johnson and Jessica Lynch were injured. Piestewa was the first Native American woman to die in combat while serving in the U.S. military and the first woman killed in the Iraq War. A mountain summit near Phoenix is now named Piestewa Peak in her honor.

Sergeant Lee Duane Todacheene was killed in Balad, Iraq in 2004 from mortar fire. He is believed to be the first Navajo killed in the Iraq war.

At least 30 American Indians were killed in Afghanistan. Another 188 were wounded.

During the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the 120th Engineer Combat Battalion had the highest proportion of American Indians, 20 percent, of any military unit in the combat zone. The 120th was part of the Oklahoma National Guard and successor to the famous Thunderbirds of World War II. The unit was awarded a meritorious commendation for its fighting in Afghanistan.

Veterans Treatment Courts

The United States Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Tribal Government Relations notes that veterans are respected in ways similar to that of elders in tribal communities. Veterans are uniquely respected for assuming a role of protector, and for their personal sacrifices. As part of the VA's outreach program, it will come into tribal courts to help veterans who become involved with the criminal justice system. Many tribes already have Tribal Healing to Wellness Courts that are similar to drug courts in the U.S., and those wellness courts are sometimes adapted to fit the needs of a tribe's veterans. The VA's guide offering collaboration to tribes to form VTCs can be found at: https://www.aisc.ucla.edu/iloc/resources/documents/ResourcesForJustice-InvolvedVeterans-OTGR-Edits_508.pdf.

Conclusion

According to the Department of Defense, 29 Native Americans have received the Medal of Honor, 25 who served in the Army, three sailors and one Marine.

The National Museum of the American Indian is in the National Mall in Washington, D.C. A Veterans Memorial is outside. It was designed by Harvey Pratt of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes. Pratt, a Marine, served in Vietnam from 1962 to 1965. Called the Warriors' Circle of Honor, it is an elevated stainless-steel circle balanced on an intricately carved stone drum. The design incorporates water for ceremonies and benches for gathering and reflection.

To all our Native American veterans, thank you for your service to our country.