MEDAL OF PATRIOTISM AND WARRIOR MEMORIAL BRICK
Are you or a loved one a veteran? With Veterans' Day just passing, we wanted to share one way that the Cherokee Nation honors our warriors throughout the year.
The Medal of Patriotism is for our Cherokee Veteran tribal citizens who have been honorably discharged from the military. In order to submit the Medal of Patriotism application, one needs to write a short biography that highlights the veteran’s military service and provide copies of the veteran’s Cherokee Nation citizenship card and DD214 military discharge form.
The Office of Veteran Affairs also has a Warrior’s Memorial for both living and deceased veterans who have served our country. All Cherokee Nation Medal of Patriotism recipients are eligible for a free brick at the Cherokee Warrior Memorial. The Office of Veteran Affairs usually do not accept a brick application before the Veteran is honored with the Medal. However, bricks are available for $25.00 per brick and can be purchased without receiving the Medal of Patriotism to be placed in the Warrior’s Memorial.
For an application or more information, contact The Office of Veteran Affairs at 918-772-4166. You may also contact Keli Oosahwee (keli-oosahwee@cherokee.org) for any questions or concerns.
My family applied for a posthumous honor for my grandfather recently and were able to honor his service as a family only a few short months later. We would love to see every Cherokee Nation warrior honored similarly. I know we have many in our community. We also have current copies of the applications available if you want to reach out to cncv.communications@gmail.com. Wado for your service!
--Sabrina McKinney
