Lanny Gayle Asepermy

Sergeant Major Lanny Gayle Asepermy, US Army, was born in Iola, Kansas, on 16 August 1946 and raised west of Apache, OK. He is a citizen of the Comanche Nation and his grandparents are full-blood Comanche and Kiowa Indians. He served in the Army for 24 years, from 1966 to 1990, during which he served in Vietnam from 1969 to 1970 where he participated in four campaigns, and earned the Combat Infantry Badge.

After his retirement, Asepermy dedicated his life to supporting tribal veterans affairs and promoting Native American military heritage. He was an active member of the Comanche War Scouts and Comanche Indian Veterans Association (CIVA) for 26 years (1992–2022). During that time he:

• Established the Comanche War Scout Circle of Honor with individual dyes of the 13 Fallen Warriors and five Prisoners of War of the Comanche Nation.
• Upgraded the CIVA Court of Honor which lists the names, rank, branch, and years of service of 1,293 Comanche veterans.
• Established the Tahsequah Garden in honor of the only Comanche veteran missing in action, and the Comanche Veterans Patriot Room, which contains 800 photos and biographies of Comanche Veterans.
• Created the Apache OK Veterans Memorial Park, which honors 28 who died as a result of war: seven who were POWs and 645 veterans, all from Apache, Oklahoma.
• Provided the protocol for the War Scout and CIVA Color Guard who fulfilled over 1,900 commitments, supported over 300 funeral services, and provided placement of 300 military markers of Native veterans.
• As a longtime ambassador/volunteer with the Oklahoma Military Heritage Foundation, he was the nominator responsible for the induction into the Oklahoma Military Hall of Fame of the WWI and WWII Code Talkers from the Comanche, Choctaw, and Pawnee Nations.

SGM Asepermy truly exhibits OKMHF’s motto, "Spirit of a Warrior and Heart of a Patriot.” For his service to veterans and his community, he is awarded the Major General Douglas O. Dollar Distinguished Public Service Award.