Navajo code talkers during the Battle of Saipan in 1944. As many as 25,000 Native Americans in World War II fought actively: 21,767 in the Army, 1,910 in the Navy, 874 in the Marines, 121 in the Coast Guard, and several hundred Native American women as nurses. These native bannock included over one-third of all able-bodied Native American men aged 18 to 50, and even included as high as seventy percent of the population of some tribes. The first Native American to be killed in WWII was Henry E.
Bernstein argues that World War II presented the first large-scale exodus of Native Americans from reservations since the reservation system began and that it presented an opportunity for many Native Americans to leave reservations and enter the “white world. For many soldiers, World War II represented the first interracial contact between natives living on relatively isolated reservations. According to Bernstein, life on reservations was difficult for Native Americans prior to the war due to low levels of development and lack of economic opportunities. Nearly one quarter of Native Americans had no formal education, and even for high school graduates, few forms of conventional employment existed on reservations. In the absence of conventional employment, those Native Americans who stayed on the reservations generally worked the land and farmed. Although Native Americans were not drafted for World War I because they were not considered citizens of the United States in 1917, approximately 10,000 Native American men volunteered for duty in World War I.
Native American men were included along with whites in the World War II draft. Initial reactions by Native Americans to the draft were mixed. While some were eager to join the military, others resisted. Although some resisted the draft, many others who were not drafted still volunteered for the war. Against a background of the popular Hollywood image of the Native American warrior spirit in American popular culture, Native American men were generally regarded highly by their fellow soldiers, and their role appealed to the public.
They first saw action in the Pacific Theater along with the rest of the US Army and Navy. Casualty reports showed Native Americans fighting as far away as Australia, North Africa, and Bataan. Native American soldiers were sometimes mistaken by white American soldiers for Japanese soldiers and taken prisoner or fired upon. One of the most significant benefits that Native American men and women obtained from the war effort were the honors they received for serving including pow wows arranged prior to their deployment or upon their return. Another benefit were the new skills that could be gained that might lead to better jobs. More than 30 Native Americans were awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, the third-highest aviation honor. Not counting the Purple Heart, more than 200 military awards were awarded to Native Americans.