From the NFRW Armed Services Committee

April is Arab American Heritage Month.  Our Arab American veterans are often overlooked as a distinguished part of our military history.  We need to honor and reflect upon their service to our Nation.  We know that service members of Arab descent have served in our military during WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam, Kosovo, and have valiantly served in all aspects of the War on Terrorism. 

Excerpts from arabwarveterans.com state: “We are proud of our service, proud of our American heritage and proud of who we are.  There are more than 4.5 million Americans of Arab Heritage who originate from 22 Arab World and Middle East countries. They include Palestine, Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, United Arab Emirates, Morocco, Mauritania, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Sudan, Somalia, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, the Comoros Islands, and Djibouti.  We are Muslim and Christian and proud of our heritage, culture and demand our rights.  We have fought proudly, and patriotically and yet our patriotism is often challenged and denied.”

Staff Sgt. Muna Nuris is a prime example of a patriotic Arab American veteran.  She has completed multiple deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan.  She is quoted as saying: “I was born in Somalia, so I’m a child of war, I guess.  When I was 2 months old, because of the war, my mom moved us to Kenya until I was 5, and then to America, where we finally settled in Minnesota. I consider myself an American, even though I wasn’t born there.”  Furthermore, she gives credit to the Army for emphasizing cultural training and feels that the majority of Soldiers differentiate between Islam and terrorists.

Take time in April to research our Arab American veterans and read their stories.  If you know a veteran of Arab heritage, thank them for their service.