Cuffee Saunders Revolutionary War Born into slavery, Cuffee Saunders secured his freedom by serving during the Revolutionary War. Image Source: Benjamin Huntington, Oath certifying Cuffee Saunders's purchase of freedom, 1821, Gilder Lehrman Institute, GLC00318 Cuffee Saunders’s Biography Primary Source: Oath certifying Cuffee Saunders’s freedom This document is composed of two oaths attesting to Cuffee Saunders’s freedom. At the time, Saunders was still registered with the enslaved name of Wells. aria-labelledby="par-1830-figcaption" > Benjamin Huntington, [Oath...

Henry Knox Revolutionary War Henry Knox rose through the ranks during the American Revolution to become chief of artillery in George Washington’s army. Image Source: Gilbert Stuart, Oil painting of Henry Knox, 1806, The Museum of Fine Arts Boston Henry Knox’s Biography Primary Source: Henry Knox to his wife, Lucy Knox In this July 8, 1776, letter to his wife, Lucy, Henry Knox wrote from New York City that “the eyes of all America are upon us” after the landing of “the enemy . . . on Staten Island.” aria-labelledby="par-1863-figcaption" > Henry Knox in New York City...

Federico Fernández Cavada Civil War Cuban-born Federico Fernández Cavada served in the Union Army during the Civil War as an engineer and topographer with the Balloon Corps, sketching Confederate forces from the air. Image Source: Mathew B. Brady, View of Professor Thaddeus Lowe and staff inflating reconnaissance balloon, ca. 1862, Gilder Lehrman Institute, GLC05111.02.1345 Federico Fernández Cavada’s Biography Primary Source: “Sketch of Virginia, and the Rebel Camps and Batteries” Col. William F. Small, a member of the 26th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, drew this...

Pauline Cushman Civil War Pauline Cushman served as a spy for the Union Army and is buried at San Francisco National Cemetery. She was an actress who used her skills to gather intelligence for the Union Army. Image Source: Mathew Brady Studio, Photograph of Pauline Cushman in uniform, ca. 1860-1870, National Portait Gallery Pauline Cushman’s Biography Civil War Veterans Federico Fernández Cavada Pauline Cushman Edward Day Cohota All Conflicts Revolutionary War Civil War World War I World War II Cold War Iraq & Afghanistan

Edward Day Cohota Civil War Edward Day Cohota served in the Union Army for thirty years and was one of approximately 300 Asians and Pacific Islanders who fought in the Civil War. Image Source: Photograph of Edward Day Cohota, ca. 1880-1890, Cape Ann Museum Edward Day Cohota’s Biography Civil War Veterans Federico Fernández Cavada Pauline Cushman Edward Day Cohota All Conflicts Revolutionary War Civil War World War I World War II Cold War Iraq & Afghanistan

Louis Santop Loftin World War I Louis Santop Loftin, Hall of Fame baseball player and WWI Veteran, is buried at the Philadelphia National Cemetery. Loftin played baseball in the Negro Leagues from 1909 to 1926 and was one of the league’s first star players. Image Source: Photograph of Louis Santop, ca. 1920-1930, National Baseball Hall of Fame Library Louis Santop Loftin’s Biography Where did Louis Santop Loftin play baseball? During his seventeen-year career, Louis Santop Loftin played for nine different baseball teams (some of them more than once). This interactive...

Ella Osborn World War I Ella Jane Osborn, a nurse deployed to France during World War I, is buried at Wainscott Cemetery in New York. She kept a remarkable diary in 1918 and 1919 that captured her experiences during the war. Image Source: Ella Jane Osborn, View of a page in the diary of World War I army nurse Ella Jane Osborn, ca. 1918-1919, Gilder Lehrman Institute, GLC06570 Ella Osborn’s Biography Primary Source: Ella Osborn’s Diary Osborn kept a diary from January 1918 through April 1919 that offers unique and humanizing insight into the lives of World War I Service...

James Reese Europe World War I James Reese Europe, a bandleader in New York City, was an advocate for uniquely Black music. Europe enlisted during World War I and became a lieutenant in the 369th Regiment, known as the Harlem Hellfighters. Image Source: R. E. Mercer, Photograph of James Reese Europe’s Clef Club Band, 1914, New York Public Library James Reese Europe’s Biography World War I Veterans Louis Santop Loftin Ella Osborn James Reese Europe All Conflicts Revolutionary War Civil War World War I World War II Cold War Iraq & Afghanistan

Yeiichi “Kelly” Kuwayama World War II Yeiichi Kuwayama served as a platoon medic in the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, composed of Japanese Americans. His unit fought in some of the fiercest World War II battles in Italy and France. Image Source: Photograph of Kuwayama presenting President Truman with a donation contributed by members of the 442nd for a memorial to President Roosevelt, 1945, Library of Congress Yeiichi “Kelly” Kuwayama’s Biography World War II Veterans Yeiichi “Kelly” Kuwayama Joe Morris Sr. Annie Fox John W. Rogers Sr. All Conflicts Revolutionary War...

Joe Morris Sr. World War II Joe Morris Sr. was one of four hundred “code talkers” who memorized a code that substituted traditional Navajo words for military phrases. The contributions of the Navajo code talkers were classified until 1968. Image Source: Photograph of Joe Morris giving a talk at Travis Air Force Base, 2008, US Air Force Joe Morris Sr.’s Biography World War II Veterans Yeiichi “Kelly” Kuwayama Joe Morris Sr. Annie Fox John W. Rogers Sr. All Conflicts Revolutionary War Civil War World War I World War II Cold War Iraq & Afghanistan