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- Uniforms of the U.S. Navy 1830-1841
- Uniforms of the U.S. Navy 1841
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- Uniforms of the U.S Navy 1941
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- Customs and Traditions
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- Diversity
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- The World Cruise of the Great White Fleet
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- Notable People
- Presidents
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- Admiral William S. Benson
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- Admiral Michael Gilday
- Master Chief Petty Officers of the Navy
- MCPON Delbert D. Black
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- MCPON Robert J. Walker
- MCPON Thomas S. Crow
- MCPON Billy C. Sanders
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- MCPON Duane R. Bushey
- MCPON John Hagan
- MCPON James L. Herdt
- MCPON Terry D. Scott
- MCPON Joe R. Campa Jr.
- MCPON Rick D. West
- MCPON Michael D. Stevens
- MCPON Steven S. Giordano
- MCPON Official Photographs
- Trailblazers
- Historical Figures
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- Benjamin Stoddert (1798 - 1801)
- Robert Smith (1801 - 1809)
- Paul Hamilton (1809 - 1812)
- William Jones (1813 - 1814)
- Benjamin W. Crowninshield (1815 - 1818)
- Smith Thompson (1819 - 1823)
- Samuel Southard (1823 - 1829)
- John Branch, Jr. (1829 - 1831)
- Levi Woodbury (1831 - 1834)
- Mahlon Dickerson (1834 - 1838)
- James K. Paulding (1838 - 1841)
- George Edmund Badger (1841)
- Abel P. Upshur (1841 - 1843)
- David Henshaw (1843 - 1844)
- Thomas W. Gilmer (1844)
- John Y. Mason (1844-1845) (1846-1849)
- George Bancroft (1845 - 1846)
- William B. Preston (1849 - 1850)
- William A. Graham (1850 - 1852)
- John P. Kennedy (1852 - 1853)
- James C. Dobbin (1853 - 1857)
- Isaac Toucey (1857 - 1861)
- Gideon Welles (1861 - 1869)
- Adolph Edward Borie (1869)
- George M. Robeson (1869 - 1877)
- Richard W. Thompson (1877 - 1880)
- Nathan Goff, Jr. (1881)
- William Henry Hunt (1881 - 1882)
- William Eaton Chandler (1882 - 1885)
- William C. Whitney (1885 - 1889)
- Benjamin F. Tracy (1889 - 1893)
- Hilary A. Herbert (1893 - 1897)
- John D. Long (1897 - 1902)
- William H. Moody (1902 - 1904)
- Paul Morton (1904 - 1905)
- Charles J. Bonaparte (1905 - 1906)
- Victor H. Metcalf (1906 - 1908)
- Truman H. Newberry (1908 - 1909)
- George von L. Meyer (1909 - 1913)
- Josephus Daniels (1913 - 1921)
- Edwin Denby (1921 - 1924)
- Charles F. Adams, III (1929 - 1933)
- Claude A. Swanson (1933 - 1939)
- Charles Edison (1940)
- William Franklin Knox (1940 - 1944)
- James Forrestal (1944 - 1947)
- John Lawrence Sullivan (1947 - 1949)
- Francis P. Matthews (1949 - 1951)
- Dan A. Kimball (1951 - 1953)
- Robert B. Anderson (1953 - 1954)
- Charles S. Thomas (1954 - 1957)
- Thomas S. Gates (1957 - 1959)
- William Birrell Franke (1959 - 1961)
- John Bowden Connally, Jr. (1961)
- Fred Korth (1962 - 1963)
- Paul B. Fay (acting) (1963)
- Paul Henry Nitze (1963 - 1967)
- Charles Fitz Baird (acting) (1967)
- Paul R. Ignatius (1967 - 1969)
- John Hubbard Chafee (1969 - 1972)
- John William Warner (1972 - 1974)
- J. William Middendorf (1974 - 1977)
- William Graham Claytor, Jr. (1977 - 1979)
- Edward Hidalgo (1979 - 1981)
- John Lehman (1981 - 1987)
- James H. Webb (1987 - 1988)
- William L. Ball (1988 - 1989)
- Henry L. Garrett III (1989 - 1992)
- Daniel Howard (acting) (1992)
- Sean Charles O'Keefe (1992 - 1993)
- ADM Frank B. Kelso, II (acting) (1993)
- John Howard Dalton (1993 - 1998)
- Richard Jeffrey Danzig (1998 - 2001)
- Robert B. Pirie, Jr. (acting) (2001)
- Gordon R. England (2001-2003) (2003-2005)
- Susan M. Livingstone (acting) (2003)
- Hansford T. Johnson (acting) (2003)
- Donald Charles Winter (2006 - 2009)
- Raymond Edwin Mabus, Jr. (2009 - 2017)
- Sean G. J. Stackley (acting) (2017)
- Richard V. Spencer (2017 - 2019)
- Thomas B. Modly (acting) (2019-2020)
- James E. McPherson (acting) (2020)
- Kenneth J. Braithwaite (2020-present)
- Profiles in Duty
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- Private First Class Oscar P. Austin
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- Commander Mary Sears
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- Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt
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- Private First Class Herbert K. Pililaau
- Sergeant First Class Rodney J.T. Yano
- First Lieutenant Baldomero Lopez
- Master Sergeant Roy Benavidez
- Civil Rights Activist Cesar Chavez
- Admiral David Glasgow Farragut
- Private First Class Fernando Garcia
- Sergeant Alfredo Gonzalez
- Sergeant Rafael Peralta
- Chief Petty Officer James E. Williams
- Guide and Interpreter Sacagawea
- Sergeant Darrell Samuel Cole
- Notable Ships
- People--Native Americans
- Code Talkers
- Themed Collection
- Image (gif, jpg, tiff)
American Indian Sailors aboard a Navy LST (landing ship, tank). Date of the photo is unknown. NHHC Photo Archives.
Contributions of American Indians to the U.S. Navy: Serving the United States Since its Birth
Since 1776, when General George Washington began enlisting American Indians for his Army, Navy, and Marines, American Indians have contributed significantly to the defense of our nation. During the Civil War, 20,000 American Indians served with Union forces both at sea and on the land. During World War I, although ineligible for the draft, 15,000 American Indians volunteered to fight in the Great War. Although American Indians have been an integral part of our country long before its birth, American Indian veterans weren’t awarded citizenship and voting rights until 1919. In 1924, voting rights were extended to all American Indians after the Snyder Act was passed. In World War II, 44,000 fought with distinction, including 1,910 in the Navy and 874 in the Marines. For the Navy, two Oklahoma Cherokees distinguished themselves. Rear Admiral Joseph J. “Jocko” Clark commanded aircraft carriers and later a task force. Commander Ernest E. Evans was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions during the Battle off Samar, Philippines.
Between 10,000 and 15,000 American Indians fought in the Korean War and more than 42,000 during Vietnam. In 1966, South Carolina Cherokee Boatswain’s Mate 1st Class James E. Williams, while serving at South Vietnam’s Mekong Delta, killed an unknown number of enemy forces while destroying 65 vessels and disrupting an enemy logistic operation. Williams was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions during the three-hour battle against Viet Cong guerrillas with the two riverine patrol boats he commanded.
In the early 1970s, Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Elmo Zumwalt sought to reduce racism and sexism in both the Navy and Marine Corps with Z-Gram #66 (Equal Opportunity) which benefited American Indians immensely. Rear Admiral Michael L. Holmes and Commander John B. Herrington are notable examples of the new opportunities for American Indians as a result of Zumwalt’s Z-Gram. Holmes served 32 years as a naval aviator, and Herrington flew for the Navy and later NASA, becoming the first enrolled member of an American Indian tribe to fly in space.
As of March 2012, active duty American Indian military members numbered 22,248, with over half, 13,511, in the Navy. More than 160,000 American Indians call themselves veterans today. Approximately, 15,000 active duty, reserve, and civilian members of the Navy’s total force declare themselves American Indian or Alaska native. In the twenty-first century the Navy’s leadership remains strongly committed to diversity.
*****
Notable American Indians in the U.S. Navy
U.S. Navy Ships Named in Honor of American Indians
- USNS Red Cloud (T-AKR-313)
- USNS Sacagawea (T-AKE-2)
- USNS Catawba (T-ATF-168)
- USNS Navajo (T-ATF-169)
- USNS Sioux (T-ATF-171)
- USNS Apache (T-ATF-172)
- USS Evans (DE-1023)
- USS James E. Williams (DDG-95)
- USS Choctaw V (AT-70)
- USS Chickasaw III (AT-83)
- USS Platte
- USS Cherokee IV (AT-66)
- Yaquima
- Wovoka
- Black Hawk II (AD-9)
- Wanamassa
- Winamac
- Waukegan
- Keywadin II (ATA-213)
- Tioga II (Launch)
- Wabash IV (AOR-5)
- Ankachak
- Accohanoc (YTB-545)
- Squanto
American Indian-themed Ship Insignia
Navajo Code Talkers
- Navajo Code Talkers Dictionary
- Navajo Code Talkers: World War II Fact Sheet
- Navajo Code Talkers: A Select Bibliography
Further Reading
- Indians in the War 1945
- 20th Century Warriors: Native American Participation in the United States Military
- Expeditions, Diplomatic and Scientific Activity, and Operations Against Native Americans and Pirates: Selected 19th Century U.S. Navy Operations
- Shelling of the Alaskan Native American Village of Angoon, October 1882
- Z-Gram #66; dated 17 December 1970: Equal Opportunity
- Vignette: CDR Ernest E. Evans
- Navy Ships Named in Honor of American Indians blog
- Surface Warrior - Remembering Ernest Evans blog
Graphics and Support Products
Jacksonville, FL (Nov. 22, 2006) - USS John F. Kennedy (CV 67) Command Master Chief Carl L. Dassance pounds on a ceremonial drum during a Native American and Alaskan Heritage celebration. Dassance, who belongs to the Ojibwa tribe, is also a member of the Native American organization, Family Drum, which acknowledges their heritage by playing their ceremonial drum weekly to honor Native Americans who serve in the Armed Forces. U.S. Navy photo by Seaman Nathan L. Anderson. 061121-N-6159N-001
Selected Imagery from NHHC's Collection
Selected Artwork from NHHC's Collection
Footnotes
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