July 5, 2008

Adding Insult to Injury

Does anyone else find it odd that the US Army names their helicopters after Native American tribes and chiefs?

AH-64 Apache
UH-60 Black Hawk
CH-54 Tarhe
OH-58 Kiowa
OH-6 Cayuse
CH-47 Chinook
H-13 Sioux
UH-1 Iroquois
AH-56 Cheyenne

Are we displaying the names of the fallen like heads on spikes?

It would be one thing if these war machines were named for Natives Americans that were proud members of the US military but that doesn't seem to be what is happening here. Almost all of these chiefs and tribes are famous for resisting American dominance. The most famous contribution of Native Americans to the US military were the code talkers used largely in WWI and WWII. These men came from the tribes such as the Navajo, Cherokee, Choctaw and Comanche. Many Seminoles and Crow tribesmen worked as scouts in the 1800's. Funny that these tribes seem to have been left out of the great name parade.

I'm surprised that I've never noticed this before. Apparently, a lot of people are upset about the Atlanta Braves and the Washington Redskins but this thing goes by the wayside. It's about as appropriate as if the Germans unveiled that their new line of fighting vehicles with names like the Wiesel, the Anne Frank, the Levi, and the Cohen.

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