JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-RANDOLPH, Texas –
Native Americans have served in the U.S. military in every major conflict for more than 200 years. From the Revolutionary War to D-Day, Vietnam and the Middle East, American Indians have defended the United States.
Tech. Sgt. Anika Dexter, a member of the Navajo Nation and a military training instructor with the 37th Training Wing, says that she learned from her Army veteran grandfather the importance of military service.
“What my grandpa taught us at a very young age is the military is representative of your nation and I am a representative of my nation in the military,” she said.
Since before the United States was a country, Native Americans have been at the core of its military history.
During World War I, the War Department estimated that up to a quarter of adult American Indian men served in combat. About two-thirds served in the infantry, earning praise for their bravery under fire.
American Indians enlisted in overwhelming numbers after the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. The Marine Corps recruited Navajo code talkers in 1942 and established a code-talking school. More than 44,000 Native Americans saw active duty, including nearly 800 women. They earned five Medals of Honor. 51 Silver Stars, 34 Distinguished Flying Crosses,47 Bronze Stars and 71 Air Medals.
During the Vietnam War, 42,000 American Indians served with 90 percent voluntarily. Approximately one of every four eligible Native Americans served, compared with one of 12 amongst the rest of the population. Of those, 226 were killed in action and five received the Medal of Honor. To date, 27 American Indians have been awarded the Medal of Honor across all wars and services.
Dexter said she would watch her grandfather put on his medals and uniform every Veterans Day and learn from him the sense of pride he felt from its appearance.
“He looked at me and was he like. 'Grandchild, if you ever wear this uniform you need to wear it correctly and I’m going to show you how you're supposed to wear it' and I would watch him get ready,” Dexter said.
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 more than 150,000 Native American veterans.
“I am that representation of an indigenous person in the Air Force being a military training instructor,” she said. Dexter stresses to them that if she can make it, then they can as well, regardless of background.