WE NEED A GARDEN OF HEROES

 During the last year of his presidency Donald Trump advocated for a Garden of Heroes to commemorate Americans who helped make this country great. Since the president encouraged folks to nominate candidates for the Garden of Heroes I submitted the following names to the White House for consideration:

·       Jim Thorpe- Sac and Fox Nation: college football All-American and Olympic champion; considered the greatest athlete of the first half of the twentieth century

·       Lieutenant Commander John Waldron- Lakota Nation: naval aviator who died leading his squadron against the Japanese fleet at the Battle of Midway

·       General Ely Parker- Seneca Nation: civil engineer who served on staff of General Grant during Civil War; later appointed by President Grant to be commissioner of Indian affairs

·       General Clarence Tinker- Osage Nation: army pilot who died at sea while leading his bomber unit against the Japanese fleet at the Battle of Midway

·       Sequoyah- Cherokee Nation: polymath who completed the Cherokee Syllabary which permitted the Cherokees to be able to read and write their language

·       Geronimo- Apache Nation: tribal leader and medicine man who had a large portion of the US Army pursuing him and his followers before his surrender

·       Sitting Bull- Lakota Nation: tribal leader and holy man who led his people to resist US government policies towards indigenous peoples

·       Crazy Horse- Lakota Nation: tribal war leader who resisted the US government

As you can see all my nominations are Native Americans. While not personally Native American, I appreciate their contributions to American history and culture and desired to see an ample number of worthy Native Americans represented in the Garden. Unfortunately, President has ended the Garden of Heroes project. Whether or not the Garden of Heroes is realized, who would you nominate?