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05-28-2005, 12:05 PM
American Indians of the Alamo Scouts
by: Lance Zedric
The Alamo Scouts were a top secret reconnaissance and raider unit that operated in the southwest Pacific during World War II and performed 108 missions without losing a single man, including two POW camp raids. They are recognized by the Army as a forerunner of the modern Special Forces. By some accounts as many as one-quarter of the enlisted graduates of the first Alamo Scouts training class were American Indian and served on operational teams, while the others returned to their units to utilize their special training.
http://www.indiancountry.com/pix/1096410966_large.jpg
Photo courtesy U.S. Army/Lance Q. Zedric -- Forerunners of today's Special Forces, the Alamo Scouts - of which nearly one-quarter of the enlisted graduates from its first training class were American Indian - were a top secret reconnaissance and raider unit that operated in the southwest Pacific during World War II and performed 108 missions without losing a single man. This 1944 photo shows a fully-equipped Alamo Scout team during the first training class at the Alamo Scouts Training Center on Fergusson Island, New Guinea. (Front row) Pfc. Joseph Johnson, 1st Lt. Michael Sombar and Cpl. David Milda. (Back row) Sgt. Byron Tsingine, Ssg. Alvin Vilcan, Cpl. John A. Roberts, Cpl. Walter A. McDonald, and Ssg. Caesar Ramirez. Johnson. Milda, Tsingine and Vilcan are American Indians. Little has been documented about Native servicemen other than the Navajo code talkers, despite statistics that American Indians have the highest per capita percentage of service in the U.S. military.
Part One (http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096410966)
Part Two (http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096410999)
http://www.indiancountry.com/images/ict_top_header_logo.gif
by: Lance Zedric
The Alamo Scouts were a top secret reconnaissance and raider unit that operated in the southwest Pacific during World War II and performed 108 missions without losing a single man, including two POW camp raids. They are recognized by the Army as a forerunner of the modern Special Forces. By some accounts as many as one-quarter of the enlisted graduates of the first Alamo Scouts training class were American Indian and served on operational teams, while the others returned to their units to utilize their special training.
http://www.indiancountry.com/pix/1096410966_large.jpg
Photo courtesy U.S. Army/Lance Q. Zedric -- Forerunners of today's Special Forces, the Alamo Scouts - of which nearly one-quarter of the enlisted graduates from its first training class were American Indian - were a top secret reconnaissance and raider unit that operated in the southwest Pacific during World War II and performed 108 missions without losing a single man. This 1944 photo shows a fully-equipped Alamo Scout team during the first training class at the Alamo Scouts Training Center on Fergusson Island, New Guinea. (Front row) Pfc. Joseph Johnson, 1st Lt. Michael Sombar and Cpl. David Milda. (Back row) Sgt. Byron Tsingine, Ssg. Alvin Vilcan, Cpl. John A. Roberts, Cpl. Walter A. McDonald, and Ssg. Caesar Ramirez. Johnson. Milda, Tsingine and Vilcan are American Indians. Little has been documented about Native servicemen other than the Navajo code talkers, despite statistics that American Indians have the highest per capita percentage of service in the U.S. military.
Part One (http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096410966)
Part Two (http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096410999)
http://www.indiancountry.com/images/ict_top_header_logo.gif