During all this kerfuffle over immigration, it might be interesting to note that, in the course of our country’s history, 8 people – 6 men* and 2 women – have been granted honorary US citizenship, although most of them were dead when they got it.

The two who were granted it in life were Winston Churchill and Mother Teresa.  William Penn, the founder of Pennsylvania, and his wife Hannah Callowell Penn, who administered the Province after Penn got sick and continued after he died, were awarded the honor posthumously, as was Raoul Wallenberg, a Swedish diplomat in Hungary who issued thousands of passports to Jews and sheltered them in buildings designated as Swedish territory during the Holocaust.

The three other foreign nationals rendered great service to the nascent United States in our War of Independence.  The Marquis de Lafayette we’ve all heard of.  Bernardo de Gálvez was a Spanish colonial governor of Louisiana who provided critical supply-lines to the Americans, then generaled some impressive victories over the Brits along the Gulf Coast, winning Florida back (temporarily) for the Spanish Crown.  Galvez, LA is named for him, as is Galveston.

The third Revolutionary War hero to be given honorary US citizenship is General Kasimierz Pulaski.  Pulaski became a special hero to Chicago schoolchildren: every year, for his birthday, they would get the first Monday in March off as, outside of Poland, Chicago has the largest population of Poles on the planet.

Pole Flag

Pulaski is considered the Father* of the US Cavalry.  During the Battle of Brandywine, before even receiving an official rank, he took some men, reconnoitered the British advance, and determined that the fleeing Americans were about to be cut off.  Washington told him to rally such troops as he could and to use his discretion to secure the retreat.  Pulaski decided to charge!  His audacious act saved the Army, George Washington’s life, and the United States.  He was made a Brigadier General, and in time turned the US riders from a disjointed scout force into a cavalry worthy of the name.

Thanks, Kazzie!

Pulaski was later wounded in battle during the Siege of Savannah and taken aboard the first warship ever named the USS Wasp.  He died within 48 hours, but accounts conflicted as to the disposal of the body.  The captain of the Wasp said he had been taken ashore in Georgia and died there.  Others said he died aboard and was buried at sea. Still others averred that he died aboard and was buried in Charleston.

A set of bones buried in Savannah and said to be Pulaski’s were exhumed in 1996. Although certain wounds apparently matched those garnered over a career of hard fighting, the results of that study were inconclusive, and the body was re-interred with military honors in 2005.  Subsequent mitochondrial DNA analysis funded by the Smithsonian revealed just this year that these remains are indeed those of Pulaski.

*However…

…many characteristics of the skeleton we now know to be Pulaski’s – a short, slim, confirmed bachelor and teetotaler – are female in appearance.  Pulaski’s baptism was conducted in private due to something referred to in the records as a “debility.” There are some indications that this debility may have been Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia, which can lead to many male-seeming characteristics in a female child.

Tonight the Smithsonian Channel will present a show about Pulaski, leaning towards the conclusion that he was intersex. I’ll be watching!

During all this kerfuffle over the role of men, women and trans people serving in the military, it might be interesting to note that, in the beginning of our country’s history, Kazimierz Pulaski may have actually been the Mother of the US Cavalry.

Thanks, Kasi?