Native American vets push for recognition

5/26/2013
ASSOCIATED PRESS

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.  — Before World War II and in the decades since, tens of thousands of American Indians have enlisted in the Armed Forces to serve their country at a rate much greater than any other ethnicity.

Yet, among all the monuments and statues along the National Mall in Washington, D.C., not one stands in recognition.

A grassroots effort is brewing among tribes across the country to change that, while Democratic Sen. Brian Schatz of Hawaii has introduced legislation that would clear the way for the National Museum of the American Indian to begin raising private funds for a memorial.

The president of the National Congress of American Indians, Jefferson Keel, says it’s an effort both sides of the political aisle can get behind and something that just needs to be done.