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Native American Warrior Heroism in WWII The war had ended in victory for the United Nations, and after a troubled period of readjustment and reorganization, peace came at last. The story of the Native American Warriors’ contribution to the winning of the war has been told only in part. As one of the Sioux Warriors said, "As a rule nowadays the fellows don't go in for heroics." But already the Native American Warriors’ record was impressive by the spring of 1945, there were 21,767 Native American Warriors in the Army, 1,910 in the Navy, 121 in the Coast Guard, and 723 in the Marines. These figures did not include officers, for whom no statistics were available. Several hundred Native American women are in the various branches of the services. The Standing Rock Agency, North Dakota, estimated that at least fifty girls from that jurisdiction were in uniform. The Office of Indian Affairs had recorded 71 awards of the Air Medal, 51 of the Silver Star, 47 of the Bronze Star Medal, 34 of the Distinguished Flying Cross, and two of the Congressional Medal of Honor. There were undoubtedly many more which had not been reported. Many of these ribbons were decorated with oak leaf clusters awarded in lieu of additional medals. It was not unusual to see an Air Medal with nine oak leaf clusters, or twelve, or even fourteen. The casualty lists were long. They came from theaters of war all over the world. There were many Native American Warriors in the prison camps of the Philippines after the fall of Bataan and Corregidor, and later there were many more on Iwo Jima and Okinawa. There were Native American Warriors in the 45th Division in Sicily and Italy. They were at Anzio, and they took part in the invasion on D-Day in Normandy. A Ute Warrior, LeRoy Hamlin, was with a small troop which made the first contact with the Russians across the Elbe on April 25. Another Ute, Harvey Natchees, was the first American soldier to ride into the center of Berlin. Pfc. Ira Hayes, Pima, of the Marines, was one of the six warriors who raised the flag on the summit of Mt. Suribachi. Once in a while, a Native American Warrior diving into a foxhole when shells began to burst, would find himself face to face with another Native American Warrior, and they would start talking about Native American problems as they waited for the enemy fire to cease. When there were Native American Warrior(s) in an outfit, they were highly respected for their fighting spirit. The Native American people at home had matched the record of their fighting warriors. More than forty thousand left the reservations during each of the war years to take jobs in ordnance depots, in aircraft factories, on the railroads, and in other war industries. The older men, the women, and the children, who stayed at home, increased their production of food in spite of the lack of help. Native Americans invested more than $17,000,000 of restricted funds in war bonds, and their individual purchases probably amount to twice that sum. They subscribed liberally to the Red Cross and to the Army and Navy Relief societies. The mothers of warriors organized War Mothers clubs in their communities, and every warrior received letters and gifts while he was in the service. The clubs helped to entertain the warriors who came home on furlough, and when the war was over, they made plans for war memorials in honor of fallen warriors. Reflecting the heroic spirit of Native American Warriors at war in every theater of action, the list of those specially selected to receive military honors grew steadily. We shall never know of all the courageous acts performed "with utter disregard for personal safety," but the proved devotion of all Native American peoples on the home front and the conspicuous courage of their sons and daughters in the various services entitled them to share in common the honors bestowed upon the Native American Warriors here noted on Bravehorse’s Warriors. “It is an honor for me to research, compile, and share the exploits and heroic acts of these and other Native American and American warriors with you,” Bravehorse! From: US Military Records 2007-08-04©bravehorseswarriors™05 
Warriors, Places, & Events 
Posted by adjunctprofessor
at 11:25 PM EDT
