U.S. Senator Mike Rounds is helping secure a charter for an organization that will advocate for Native American veterans.
Congress grants charters to veteran organizations to advocate on behalf of a specific group. The National American Indian Veteran organization is located on the Cheyenne River Reservation.
Rounds said the charter is due to the hard work of native veteran Don Loudner. Rounds said the connection is personal.
“He was actually in the National Guard with my dad during the Korean War at the time-period. I think they both served in Alaska if I’m not mistaken. Dad and Donny Loudner were friends. Dad introduced me to him," said Rounds. "He had been trying to get a national organization put together to represent Native Americans across the country.”
According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, there are more than 140-thousand Native American veterans in the United States.
There are currently federal charters for Italian-American, Polish-American, and Catholic-American organizations. Rounds and Loudner's work bring Native Americans into the charter fold.
"I want to thank Senator Rounds and all the champions of an important bill to grant the NAIV a charter recognizing its service to Native veterans," said Loudner.
Rounds’ office took up the charter issue and got it included in this year’s National Defense Authorization Act. President Biden signed the package into law in late December.
