Native Americans in the U.S. Military, Part II Quiz

Answer: Vanishing American

Native Americans were considered savages and therefore, by nature, inferior to the 'civilized' white man. "The Vanishing American Theory" held little hope for the survival of Native Americans unless they could be civilized. Adapting the European culture meant Native Americans would lose their independence, hospitality and courage but would retain their vices. Those vices, coupled with learned "Anglo" vices, would insure their extinction. Against the odds, by 1940, the Native American population in the U.S. had risen to 350 thousand. Of those, more than 44 thousand saw military service in WWII. Forty-four percent volunteered. Several hundred female Native Americans served as WACS, WAVES and in the Army Nurse Corps.

The War Department asserted that if the general population had enlisted at the same rate as Native Americans the draft wouldn't have been necessary.

Answer: Clarence L. Tinker

Clarence Leonard Tinker was born in 1887 to an Osage/English father and German mother near Pawhuska, OK on the Osage Nation. He was reared in Osage traditions. His Native American name, Ce-ce-mno-l, translates to 'Restless Elk As He Goes'. While of mixed blood, Tinker's father, George Edward Tinker, always asserted he was 100% Osage in spirit. Tinker's first job was working in the print shop of the first Osage newspaper. Wah-Sha-She-News was founded and published by Tinker's father. In 1912, Clarence Tinker was accepted into the U.S. Army and received a 2nd Lieutenant's commission in the Infantry.

In 1922, after completing flying lessons, he transferred to the U.S. Army Air Corps. Tinker served as Assistant Military Attache for Aviation in London, England where he was awarded the Soldier's Medal for rescuing a Navy pilot from burning wreckage. After standing as Commandant of the Air Service Advanced Flying School at Kelly Field, Texas, he acted as Commanding Officer of numerous bomber squadrons in the U.S. Gen. Tinker died at Midway during a long-range bombing mission on the Japanese. His aircraft fell out of formation and disappeared. His body, those of his crew and the aircraft were never recovered. Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma is named in his honor. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal posthumously.

Answer: Van T. Barfoot

Van Thurmon Barfoot, born in Edinburg, MS in 1919, later changed his middle name to Thomas. One of seven Native Americans to receive the Medal of Honor for their actions in WWII, he served with the 45th Infantry Division in Italy. On May 23, 1944, outside the town of Carano, Italy, Barfoot left his squad and moved alone upon the enemy's left flank.

After he crawled through a minefield, he took out two machine gun nests using grenades and his Thompson sub-machine gun. Barfoot then took on three advancing Mark VI tanks - disabling the first's tracks with a single grenade.

The other two turned tail. Not yet finished, he also took out a German big gun with a demolition charge. By the end of the engagement, Barfoot had killed seven Germans and taken 17 prisoner.

A Tech Sgt. at the time, Barfoot received a field commission to 2nd Lieutenant. During his service in WWII, the Korean War and Vietnam, Barfoot accumulated 20 medals including three Purple Hearts, the Bronze Star and the Silver Star.

At the age of 90, the retired Colonel entered into a skirmish with a homeowner's association in Henrico County, VA. The association objected to the 21-foot flagpole Barfoot erected at his home to display the U.S. flag. Barfoot stood fast. The association backed down after the press, the public, The White House and Virginia's two senators became involved. Barfoot died in 2012 at the age of 92. Mississippi named a stretch of their Highway 16 the Van T. Barfoot Medal of Honor Highway.

Answer: Chester Nez

His birth name wasn't Chester Nez. His true identity was lost somewhere at the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) boarding school he was shipped off to when he was eight years old. There, he would have his mouth brush-scrubbed with bitter soap when he spoke the Navajo language. Nez was born in 1921 and grew up on the "Checkerboard" of New Mexico. The Checkerboard was an area of portioned plots of land relegated to whites and non-whites for the initial purpose of farming. According to Nez, life on the Checkerboard was more difficult than life on the Navajo Nation. "We would go three or four days without eating," Nez recalled in his memoirs. "Everything always comes last to the Checkerboard." Nez was recruited by the Marine Corps in 1942 while he was still in high school. He and another 28 enlistees would become the all-Navajo 382nd Marine Platoon. The men were locked in a room and given 45 minutes to devise the code that baffled the Japanese throughout WWII.

In his book, Nez wrote about how his Navajo culture and faith helped him through the war. On the battlefield, he said he could sometime hear the bells from his father's sheep and knew his people were praying for him. "I had noticed the bells before, usually around noon," he wrote. "Even thousands of miles from home, in conditions I could never have imagined, it was comforting, the sound of the sheep and the goats coming in...I felt sure they continued to pray for me and burned sage or chips of cedar, fanning the smoke over their bodies. Their prayers were carried across the miles as the pure, bright chime of the bells. The clear tones told me that I was still in good faith." "Code Talker: The First and Only Memoir by One of the Original Navajo Code Talkers of WWII" is the full title of Nez's book.

Answer: Minnie Spotted Wolf

Spotted Wolf (1923-1988) grew up working on her father's ranch in sparsely populated Heart Butte, MT. As a child she learned to cut fence posts, drive large trucks and break horses. Spotted Wolf was accepted into the U.S. Marine Corps Women's Reserves in 1943.

She was interested in enlisting in the U.S. Army in 1941 but, reportedly, was dissuaded by a recruiter who told her "war is not for women". Spotted Wolf attended boot camp at Camp Lejeune, NC. She said of the rigorous training, "It was hard, but not too hard." She served out her four years, stationed in California and Hawaii, driving trucks loaded with heavy machinery.

When Spotted Wolf returned home to Montana she obtained her teaching degree and taught for the next 29 years at reservation schools.

When she died, at age 65, she was buried in her Marine Corps uniform. Spotted Wolf was the first female Marine Corps veteran to be honored at the Montana Veterans Memorial. The other choices were Native American women who served in WWII.

Answer: Raymond Harvey

Not much is known about the individual Native Americans who served in Korea - other than the fact there were 10 to 15 thousand of them. Lt. Col. Raymond Harvey (1920-1996) was born of a Chickasaw mother and Anglo father in Pennsylvania but grew up in Sulphur, OK.

In WWII, he landed in France a week after D-Day to serve in campaigns in Northern France and Germany. His actions in WWII netted Harvey the Distinguished Service Cross, two Silver Stars and two Purple Hearts. Harvey was awarded the Medal of Honor for his bravery at Taemi-Dong, Korea on March 9, 1951.

After retirement he worked at Northrup Corporation and then as an investment banker before he became Director of Indian Affairs at the Arizona Division of Emergency Services.

Answer: Mitchell Red Cloud

Red Cloud (1924-1950) was first a U.S. Marine Sergeant who saw action at Guadalcanal and participated in the invasion of Okinawa during WWII. Splitting his service, he entered the Army in 1948 as a Infantryman Corporal and was assigned to E Company, Second Battalion.

At the battle of the Chongchon River, Red Cloud was stationed at a forward observation post when he heard the Chinese coming in during the dark early morning hours for a surprise attack. He sounded the alarm and emptied numerous magazines from his Browning automatic rifle into the advancing Chinese. Shot eight times he refused aid, with the exception of basic field dressings. Red Cloud, unable to stand on his own, braced himself against a tree and continued firing.

When his body was retrieved, in the light of day, a line of dead Chinese soldiers lay in front of him. During his civilian years, 1946-1948, Red Cloud married and had a daughter - Annita.

In 1996 the USNS Red Cloud was commissioned and christened by Annita. Red Cloud received the Purple Heart for a bullet to his shoulder in WWII and the Medal of Honor for his actions in Korea. Perry Woodley was the medic who applied field dressings to Red Cloud's wounds. George Red Elk and Henry Wildfang served in Vietnam.

Answer: Charles George

Pfc Charles George (1932-1952) was named Tsali by his parents when he was born in the small village of Birdtown in western North Carolina. His name, translated in English to Charles, evolved into meaning "self-sacrifice" from the Trail of Tears legend of Tsali. George was faithful to his birth name when he threw himself on a grenade in Korea to shield his comrades.

His parents held tight the Medal of Honor George received posthumously but sixty years after his death, George's Purple Heart, Bronze Star and Good Conduct medals were discovered in a New York antique shop by two young boys.

The boys and their father researched to find the rightful owners and returned the medals to George's family at a 2012 Veteran's Day ceremony in North Carolina. Armando Ruiz and Marion Santo were the two soldiers whose lives George saved. Santo wrote the Medal of Honor citation. Camp George, in Daegu, South Korea also bears his name. James Kennicut was a Cherokee Korean War veteran from Oklahoma.

Answer: Tony K. Burris

Sgt. 1st Class Burris wrote his mother from Korea, "I'm too ornery to be unlucky," he said. Determination, not luck, was the element that governed his many courageous actions which ultimately brought his demise. Born in the rural town of Blanchard, OK on May 30, 1929, Burris had nine siblings. Reportedly, he was a leader of men from an early age. Since, according to his sister, Wanda, "He kept a book handy and read everything he could get his hands on," his family was surprised when he volunteered for service in 1950 - especially the infantry.

"The terrible part for me is when he volunteered to go into the infantry. He could have gone into anything...," his sister Loretta said. Burris was yet another soldier who, single-handedly, took on the Chinese. In the dead of night, and wounded, Burris charged - taking out a machine gun emplacement along with six Chinese. He then stood up and intentionally drew fire to signal the enemy's position. A film produced by the Choctaw Nation on Burris' life can be viewed at www.choctawcinema.com All other choices were Korean War veterans.

Answer: Woodrow W. Keeble

Master Sgt. Keeble was one of the most decorated soldiers in the history of North Dakota and the first full-blooded Sioux to receive the Medal of Honor. Coming from an impoverished family, he was sent to study full time at the Wahpeton Indian School where he later returned to teach. Keeble was a large man - more than six feet tall and weighing in at 235 pounds. He excelled at sports and put his great pitching arm to use hurling grenades at the Chinese. On an October day in 1951, Keeble led his platoon to take a hill near Sangsan-ni. After fierce fighting with no advancement, Keeble advanced alone and, under heavy enemy fire, took out three machine gun nests. Keeble was wounded at least twice in WWII and three times in Korea. In Korea, 83 pieces of shrapnel were removed from his body and more remained. Those wounds cost him one of his lungs later in life.

He was born on May 16, 1917 in South Dakota and died on January 28, 1982 after suffering several strokes. Keeble's awards include, two Silver Stars, two Bronze Stars and four Purple Hearts. The fight for his Medal of Honor began in 1972 and culminated in 2008 when the White House announced the award. Keeble said of his service, "There were terrible moments that encompassed a lifetime, an endlessness, when terror was so strong in me, that I could feel idiocy replace reason. (Yet,) I have never left my position, nor have I shirked hazardous duty. Fear did not make a coward out of me."

The other choices were also Native Americans who served in Korea. Ben Nighthorse Campbell was of mixed-blood. He was a high school drop-out who later came to represent Colorado as a U.S. Senator. Otwa Autry, from the Creek Nation, attained the rank of Brigadier General. Joseph Clark was a Vice Admiral of Cherokee descent.