Service by Muslims in the United States military dates back to the American Revolutionary War, where records indicate that there were some Muslims who fought on the revolutionary side against the British. [1]
Muslims have fought in all major United States conflicts, including the War of 1812, [2] the American Civil War, World War I, World War II, and the Vietnam War. [1] More recently, they have served in the Gulf War, the Iraq War, and the War in Afghanistan.
The Army Chief of Chaplains requested on December 14, 1993, that an insignia be made to symbolize Muslim chaplains, and on January 8, 1994, a crescent-shaped design was produced. [3]
In 2015, there were approximately 5,896 American Muslims serving in the United States military. [4]
Muslims have fought and died in both World War II and the Vietnam War. Some Muslim Americans served in World War II in North Africa, Europe, and Asia. [5] Additionally, at least 12 Muslims are known to have died in the Vietnam War. [5] Before the abolition of slavery in America, many African Muslim slaves fought for the Union.
An African slave by the name of Bilali Muhammad defended Georgia's Sapelo Island from British attack during the War of 1812. His group consisted of 80 slaves who were mostly Muslim and were armed with muskets. [6]
291 Muslims are known to have fought during the Civil War. [1] Some sources claim that the highest-ranking Muslim officer was Captain Moses Osman, the son of Robert and Catherine Osman. [1] However, Moses Osman was confirmed in the Zion German Lutheran Church in 1843 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. [7] [8]
The most highly ranked Muslim in the war may be Nicholas Said. He came to the United States in 1860 and found a teaching job in Detroit. In 1863, Said enlisted in the 55th Massachusetts Colored Regiment of the United States Army and rose to the rank of sergeant. He was later granted a transfer to a military hospital, where he gained some knowledge of medicine. His Army records state that he died in Brownsville, Tennessee, in 1882. Another Muslim soldier from the Civil War was Max Hassan, an African who worked for the military as a porter. [9]
5000 Muslims are known to have fought for the US during World War I. [10]
Abdullah Igram, a Muslim-American World War II veteran, campaigned for Islam to be an option in servicemembers' religious identification. His organization provided additional tags that soldiers were permitted to wear starting in 1953, and by then dog tags included codes for 'other' and 'prefer not to say'. By the Vietnam War, personnel could use a wide list of spelled-out religious names. [11]
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According to the Department of Homeland Security, a total of 6,024 Muslim-American troops served in overseas deployments in the ten years following 9/11, with 14 fatalities reported in Iraq. As of December 2015, there were approximately 5,897 active Muslim members of the US military, accounting for roughly 0.45% of the total. However, practicing Muslim service members are required to shave their beards and other facial hair and often face difficulties obtaining food that meets their dietary requirements, in accordance with military policy. [12] The involvement of Muslim Americans in the military has received increased attention following events such as the September 11 attacks, the 2009 Fort Hood shooting, and Khizr Khan's 2016 Democratic National Convention speech. [13]
Humayun Khan was a Pakistani-American born in the United Arab Emirates on September 9, 1976, to Pakistani parents. After graduating from the University of Virginia in 2000, he joined the U.S. Army's 201st Forward Support Battalion, 1st Infantry Division. Throughout his four years of service, he rose in ranks to become an officer in the U.S. army before being killed by a car bomb on June 8, 2004, saving the lives of his fellow soldiers. [14] President Donald Trump’s temporary immigration ban based on a list of terror-linked countries (created under the Obama administration) brought Khan's parents, Khizr and Ghazala Khan, into the public spotlight as they addressed Trump at the 2016 Democratic National Convention. Speaking out to defend their son and others who died in the American military, they created an "unexpected and potentially pivotal flash point in the general election". [9]
Colonel Douglas Burpee is a retired U.S. Marine, having flown helicopters for 27 years. Burpee was born an Episcopalian but converted to Islam when he was 19 in the late 1970s while attending the University of Southern California. [15] He was accepted into the Officer Candidates' School in Quantico, VA, after graduation. At the end of his service, Burpee was the highest-ranking Muslim in the U.S. Marine Corps. [15]
Corporal Kareem Rashad Sultan Khan was a Corporal in the US Army's 1st batallion Stryker Brigade Combat Team, having enlisted in 2005 and rising up the ranks. Khan was deployed to Iraq and in August 2007 was killed in Baqubah a town outside of Baghdad. He was killed in the process of clearing a house and posthumously awarded his rank and both the Bronze Star Medal and Purple Heart. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery. [16]
The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting against the United States forces to win the independence of the Southern states and uphold and expand the institution of slavery. On February 28, 1861, the Provisional Confederate Congress established a provisional volunteer army and gave control over military operations and authority for mustering state forces and volunteers to the newly chosen Confederate president, Jefferson Davis. Davis was a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy, and colonel of a volunteer regiment during the Mexican–American War. He had also been a United States senator from Mississippi and U.S. Secretary of War under President Franklin Pierce. On March 1, 1861, on behalf of the Confederate government, Davis assumed control of the military situation at Charleston, South Carolina, where South Carolina state militia besieged Fort Sumter in Charleston harbor, held by a small U.S. Army garrison. By March 1861, the Provisional Confederate Congress expanded the provisional forces and established a more permanent Confederate States Army.
The Women's Army Corps (WAC) was the women's branch of the United States Army. It was created as an auxiliary unit, the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) on 15 May 1942, and converted to an active duty status in the Army of the United States as the WAC on 1 July 1943. Its first director was Colonel Oveta Culp Hobby. The WAC was disbanded in 20 October 1978, and all units were integrated with male units.
The United States Cavalry, or U.S. Cavalry, was the designation of the mounted force of the United States Army. The United States Cavalry was formally created by an act of Congress on 3 August 1861 and ceased as a distinct Army branch in 1942. The name "cavalry" continues to be used as a designation for various specific United States Army formations and functions.
The Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA is a Latin Church jurisdiction of the Catholic Church for men and women serving in the United States Armed Forces and their dependents.
A military chaplain ministers to military personnel and, in most cases, their families and civilians working for the military. In some cases, they will also work with local civilians within a military area of operations.
The United States Army Quartermaster Corps, formerly the Quartermaster Department, is a sustainment and former combat service support (CSS) branch of the United States Army. It is also one of three U.S. Army logistics branches, the others being the Transportation Corps and the Ordnance Corps.
Shoulder sleeve insignia (SSI) are distinctive cloth patches worn on the left sleeve of the United States Army uniform just below the shoulder seam by soldiers assigned to divisions, corps, armies, and other specifically authorized organizations. They are also worn on the right sleeve by soldiers to indicate former overseas service with certain units during periods of U.S. military operations in hostile conditions (MOHC).
A colonel in the United States Army, Marine Corps, Air Force and Space Force, is the most senior field-grade military officer rank, immediately above the rank of lieutenant colonel and just below the rank of brigadier general. Colonel is equivalent to the naval rank of captain in the other uniformed services. By law, an officer previously required at least 22 years of cumulative service and a minimum of three years as a lieutenant colonel before being promoted to colonel. With the signing of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2019, military services now have the authorization to directly commission new officers up to the rank of colonel. The pay grade for colonel is O-6.
The 24th Infantry Regiment is a unit of the United States Army, active from 1869 until 1951, and since 1995. Before its original dissolution in 1951, it was primarily made up of African American soldiers.
The United States Army Chaplain Corps (USACC) consists of ordained clergy of multiple faiths who are commissioned Army officers serving as military chaplains as well as enlisted soldiers who serve as assistants. Their purpose is to offer religious church services, counseling, and moral support to the armed forces, whether in peacetime or at war.
African Americans have served the U.S. military in every war the United States has fought. Formalized discrimination against black people who have served in the U.S. military lasted from its creation during the American Revolutionary War to the end of segregation by President Harry S. Truman's Executive Order 9981 in 1948. Although desegregation within the U.S. military was legally established with President Truman's executive order, full integration of African-American servicemen was not established until 1950 in the Navy and Air Force, 1953 in the Army, and 1960 in the Marine Corps.
Sikhs and Sikh Americans have served in the United States military since World War I through all subsequent wars. Since the 1980s, observant Sikhs have faced difficulty in serving due to a discontinuation of exemptions to uniform standards which previously allowed Sikhs to maintain their religiously mandated beards and turbans while in uniform.
Religious symbolism in the United States military includes the use of religious symbols for military chaplain insignia, uniforms, emblems, flags, and chapels; symbolic gestures, actions, and words used in military rituals and ceremonies; and religious symbols or designations used in areas such as headstones and markers in national cemeteries, and military ID tags.
United States military chaplains hold positions in the armed forces of the United States and are charged with conducting religious services and providing counseling for their adherents. As of 2011, there are about 2,900 chaplains in the Army, among the active duty, reserve, and National Guard components.
Humayun Saqib Muazzam Khan was a United States Army officer who was killed by a suicide attack near Baqubah, Iraq during the Iraq War. He came to national attention in the United States during the 2016 presidential campaign as an example of a Muslim American soldier who died in service to the U.S. military.
Khizr Muazzam Khan and Ghazala Khan are the Pakistani American parents of United States Army Captain Humayun Khan, who was killed in 2004 during the Iraq War. The couple received international attention following a speech at the 2016 Democratic National Convention that criticized Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.
Why Courage Matters: The Way to a Braver Life is a 2004 book by United States Senator John McCain with his frequent collaborator and aide Mark Salter. Published by Random House, it is mostly mini-biographies and mini-commentaries on others, but contains a small autobiographical element.
There are an estimated 200,000 Muslims in Virginia in the United States as of 2008, according to the American Religious Identification Survey. As of 2014, Virginia has the fourth highest Islamic population concentration in the United States.
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