The Complicated Pride Of Native Hawaiians In The Military - Honolulu Civil Beat Native Hawaiians have fought in America’s battles from the War of 1812 to Iraq and Afghanistan. Reading time: 8 minutes. Shad Kane never had any doubt what he would do after high school. He followed his brother into the Navy and ended up fighting across the rivers and swamps of Vietnam. “Every one of us that went to Kamehameha Schools was expected to join the military,” the 75-year-old Vietnam veteran said in a recent interview. He didn’t really pay attention to his Hawaiian heritage until he and his wife visited an American Indian reservation on the mainland, years after he retired from the military and became a police officer.