Dean Chavers: Indian veterans rarely honored for service

Tuesday, April 19, 2011  

"Indians have fought in every war the United States has had since the American Revolution. They have enlisted in higher numbers than the general population, and have served valiantly. But they are seldom honored for their service. The Navajo Code Talkers, for instance, were forbidden to tell people what they had done in the Marines in World War II. They had to remain silent for more than 30 years, until their mission was declassified. They were old men before anyone knew what they had done.

More than 12,000 Indians out of a total population of 300,000 served in World War I. A total of over 45,000 Indians out of a population of 340,000 enlisted in the military in World War II. This was one-third of the able-bodied men between the ages of 18 and 45.

A total of 28 Indians have been awarded the Medal of Honor. Seven Indians won the Medal of Honor in World War II. They were Lt. Jack Montgomery (Cherokee), Lt. Van Barfoot (Choctaw), Lt. Ernest Childers (Creek), Cmdr. Ernest Edwin Evans (Pawnee), Maj. Gregory (Pappy) Boyington (Coeur d’Alene), Pvt. Roy W. Harmon (Cherokee), and Pvt. John R. Reese Jr. (Creek).

Montgomery had gone to Bacone College, finishing his AA degree in 1938. He then went on to Redlands University in California, a sister college to Bacone, and finished there in 1940. He was a running back on the Bacone football team and a star baseball player. He planned to become a coach, but WWII got in the way. Instead of becoming a coach, he became a hero in battle. In February 1944, at Padiglione, Italy, Montgomery took out three echelons of enemy by himself, and took 32 prisoners. He killed 11 Germans by himself. His troops called him a one-man army.

He was not wounded that morning, but was seriously wounded that night in another battle, and had to spend the next six months in the hospital. He suffered minor pain the rest of his life from his wounds."

Get the Story:
Dean Chavers: Around the Campfire: Indians in the Military (Indian Country Today 4/19)