Native American veterans deserve their own memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., supporters say.

Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), who sits on the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, introduced a bill to erect a memorial at the National Museum of the American Indian. But veterans say they deserve a spot on the Mall itself.

“We feel that we don’t want to be represented on the museum property because we’re not relics anymore,” Jeff Begay, who served in Vietnam, told the AP. “We’re not artifacts to be observed. We are real soldiers, we contributed to defense of this country, and we need to be honored in the Mall area.”

John Garcia, deputy assistant secretary at the Department of Veterans Affairs, told the AP that a site on the Mall is a "real possibility."

Get the Story:
Native American veterans seek recognition with memorial on National Mall (AP 5/26)

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