One nation or many
There is no single “Apache Nation” that sent soldiers to the world wars. Apache men and women served from several separate nations, among them Western Apache communities such as the San Carlos and White Mountain Apache, the Mescalero, the Jicarilla, the Fort Sill Apache and the Apache Tribe of Oklahoma. Each nation keeps its own records and its own ways of remembering. This article gives a general outline and does not offer counts for any one nation, since reliable numbers differ by source. For specifics, a nation’s veterans’ office or cultural department is the best source.
Citizenship and service
When the United States entered World War I in 1917, most Native Americans were not citizens, even though many had been born in the country. Many Native men still served, some as volunteers and some through the draft, since noncitizen Native men were included in the draft. Commonly cited estimates put Native service in the war at roughly twelve thousand, though the figure is approximate.
Some officials hoped service would speed assimilation, and some Native men and women had their own reasons for serving, including family tradition, pay, opportunity and a sense of duty to their homelands. Motives varied, and no single reason fits all of them. In 1919 Congress offered citizenship to Native veterans of the war who applied for it. In 1924 the Indian Citizenship Act extended citizenship to Native people born in the United States who did not yet have it. Even so, the right to vote remained controlled by the states.
The generation that fought in World War I included people whose parents or grandparents had lived through the Apache Wars and the reservation system’s early years. Some of the families had experienced imprisonment, and in the Chiricahua community the shadow of the prisoner of war years lasted into the twentieth century. The Chiricahua prisoners of war era ended in 1913, with families choosing between Oklahoma and the Mescalero reservation. That heritage is part of the context in which young men from those families entered a national army, but its effects on any one person are hard to generalize.
The years between the wars
Even after 1924, many Native veterans faced obstacles. In Arizona and New Mexico, Native residents were denied the vote for years, on grounds such as guardianship or because reservation residents were said not to pay state taxes. Native veterans of World War II were among those who helped challenge these exclusions, and in 1948 court decisions in both states ended them. These cases are part of the broader story of the Apache civil rights movement and Native civil rights in the Southwest.
The Army’s Indian scout units also continued into this era. A small detachment of Apache scouts remained in service in southern Arizona, and the story of the Fort Huachuca scouts is told elsewhere.
World War II
World War II drew a much larger share of Native people into service. Commonly cited estimates place the number of Native Americans in uniform at over forty thousand, a notable proportion of the Native population at the time. Men served in the Army, Navy, Marines and other branches in Europe, North Africa and the Pacific, and Native women served as nurses and in auxiliary roles. Navajo code talkers are the best known example of Native language use in the war; they belonged to the Navajo Nation, a separate nation.
Family and community histories record service by men from many Apache communities, in infantry, armored, paratroop and other units. Some were wounded, some were killed, and some were taken prisoner. These are personal histories best told by the families and nations concerned, and they should not be reduced to stereotypes about Native soldiers. Writers in the period often described Native recruits as natural trackers or fighters. That idea is a stereotype, and Apache soldiers were trained and served like any other soldiers.
At home, reservations also contributed. People left for war work in cities, bought war bonds, took part in rationing and worked in farm and ranch labor. The experience of wartime wage work and travel changed many lives. Some returned to the reservation, and others stayed in cities, a movement that continued with postwar relocation.
After the wars
Veterans returned to communities with limited services. Many used benefits such as education and home loans where they could, though access on reservations was often difficult. Some became tribal officials, teachers or business owners, and veterans’ groups have long been active in Apache communities.
Remembering veterans today
Apache nations honor their veterans in different ways. Examples include color guards at public events, veterans’ memorials, naming of buildings, and gatherings and ceremonies that recognize returning service members. Some ceremonies related to returning soldiers are private, and this site does not describe them. Service is also a continuing story: Apache men and women serve in the armed forces now, and their nations recognize them as part of their communities.
Honoring a veteran is not the same as endorsing every government policy of the time, and many Apache people hold both pride in service and a clear memory of the treatment their nations received. Both can be true.