Wanna hear something really surprising?

[Variola Major]

I was reading a book earlier today, and it brought light to something very surprising. In 2002, 1% of all US military personnel were Native American. In the same year, .1% of all American civilians were Native American. I see no reason to believe the statistics have changed much in 8 years. So, the military has a percentage of Native Americans ten times higher than the nation as a whole. No other ethnic group has that large of a difference in military and civilian numbers. The highest difference between military and civilian percentages for any ethnic group other than Native Americans (in 2002) is an 8% difference for African Americans, with 20% of military personnel being black and 12% of civilians being black. This does not come anywhere near the 1000% difference between military and civilian populations for Native Americans. Simply put, Native Americans give a much higher percentage of their population to the military than any other ethnic group in America. Considering the large number of atrocities the US government has committed against the Native Americans in the past, the fact that a larger percentage of Native Americans join the military than any other ethnic group in this country is, to say the least, shocking. Also, this makes me love Native Americans even more than I used to.  

[Variola Major]

Also, I feel it appropriate to mention that one of the marines who raised the flag on Iwo Jima, Ira Hayes, was a full blooded Native American. He belonged to the Pima tribe.  

[Buki_Actual]

Oorah  

[Fresnel]

Variola Major

Also, I feel it appropriate to mention that one of the marines who raised the flag on Iwo Jima, Ira Hayes, was a full blooded Native American. He belonged to the Pima tribe.

Native Arizonan. We've got something named after him... Hayes Peak or something like that. IIRC, he was the only one who made it back from that alive.  

[Variola Major]

Fresnel

Variola Major

Also, I feel it appropriate to mention that one of the marines who raised the flag on Iwo Jima, Ira Hayes, was a full blooded Native American. He belonged to the Pima tribe.

Native Arizonan. We've got something named after him... Hayes Peak or something like that. IIRC, he was the only one who made it back from that alive.

Not that he lived long afterwards.  

[Orkronos]

Interesting. *sips tea*