HONORING AMERICAN INDIANS AND ALASKA NATIVES IN THE ARMED FORCES

American Indians and Alaska Natives serve in the Armed Forces at five times the national average and have served with distinction in every major conflict for over 200 years- from the Revolutionary War to today’s conflicts in the Middle East. American Indians and Alaska Natives also have a higher concentration of women servicemembers at nearly 20 percent to date.

Currently, 27 American Indians have been awarded the Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest military honor.

During World War I and World War II, a variety of American Indian languages were used to send secret military messages ⁠— codes that enemies were never able to break. In World War I, Choctaw and other American Indians transmitted coded messages by telephone in their tribal languages. In World War II, the Marine Corps recruited Navajo code talkers and even established a code-talking school. These telephone squads were key in helping the U.S. win several battles that ended the war.

Since the Gulf War, the U.S. has been engaged in an ongoing series of conflicts, primarily in Afghanistan and Iraq. American Indian men and women continue to serve in high numbers at home and abroad. According to the Department of Defense, more than 24,000 of the 1.2-million current active-duty servicemembers are American Indians, and the 2010 Census identified over 150,000 American Indian and Alaska Native veterans.

For decades, no landmark in our nation’s capital recognized these tremendous contributions. Thankfully Veterans Day 2020 saw the unveiling of the highly anticipated Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian – National Native American Veterans Memorial!

Today and every day we honor our American Indian and Alaska Native Service men and women!

Source:https://www.nicoa.org/american-indian-veterans-have-highest-record-of-military-service/