Celebrating Native American Heritage Month: Jerry Elliot High Eagle, Osage Presidential Medal of Freedom awardee

Jerry Elliott High Eagle, born in 1943 in Oklahoma City, was one of the first Native American employed at NASA.  His contributions as lead retrofire officer during the Apollo 13 disaster earned him the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Although facing racial discrimination from the professors at University of Oklahoma, he received a degree in physics, being one of the first Native Americans to achieve such an accomplishment. He joined NASA as a flight mission operations engineer in 1966.  He was Program Staff Engineer during the Apollo-Soyuz Program.

He was the only Native American in mission control during Apollo 11's successful moon landing.  He was lead Retrofire Officer during the Apollo 13.  For his work on helping bring the astronauts home safely, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Richard Nixon.

His name "High Eagle" was given to him by tribal elders when he turned 41.

Celebrating Native American Heritage Month: Clarence Tinker, first Native American major general in the US Air Force

Clarence Tinker, born November 21, 1887 in Indian Territory, near Pawhuska, Oklahoma, was a member of the Osage Nation and the first Native American to achieve the rank of major general in the United States Air Force.

He was raised Osage and spoke the language.  Tinker received his commission as a lieutenant in the US Army in 1912 and was transferred to the Army Air Service in 1922. In 1940, he became a brigadier general.  After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, he was named Commander of the Seventh Air Force in Hawaii to reorganize the air defenses.  He was promoted to major general in January 1942.

In June 1942, he led a force against the Japanese Naval forces.  His died when his plane crashed into the sea.  

In October 1942, the Oklahoma City Air Depot was renamed Tinker Field in his honor.  It is now known as Tinker Air Force Base.