Jimmy M. Shropshire James Zimmerman

In 2019, Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. named S. Joe Crittenden as the Secretary of Veteran Affairs for the Cherokee Nation. He is the first citizen appointed to the newly created executive cabinet position.

Before serving as Secretary of Veteran Affairs, he was elected to two terms as Cherokee Nation’s Deputy Principal Chief in 2011 and again in 2015.

During his tenure as Deputy Chief, he was an advocate for some of the most successful initiatives in the Cherokee government, including the improvement of health care access for Cherokees, the Cherokee Nation car tag expansion, the construction of new stateof- the-art health care centers, and the restoration of the Cherokee Nation’s new home initiative.

Service to the Cherokee people is something he knows well, as he has worked and served in some capacity under every Principal Chief since W.W. Keeler.

Secretary Crittenden was also elected to two terms on the Cherokee Nation Tribal Council.

Secretary Crittenden served in the U.S. Navy from April 1964 until August 1967 during the Vietnam War. He is a strong supporter of military veterans and the issues most important to our veterans, Cherokee and non-Cherokee alike.

One of the Secretary’s deepest passions is ensuring Cherokee military veterans are recognized for their service and have all their essential needs met. He helped ensure the new $2 million state-of-the-art Cherokee Nation Veteran’s Center was completed and opened, so that military men and women who served the United States always have a place of honor at the tribal headquarters.

He has also overseen three Cherokee Warrior Flights, which take World War II and Korean War veterans to Washington, D.C., to see the war memorials. This has grown into an annual event and trips for Cherokee veterans have been staged since 2014.

Lieutenant James Leroy Zimmerman served in the United States Naval Submarine Fleet aboard the USS San Juan and in the Pentagon, Washington D.C.

His term of service was from May 1991 to March 1998.

Zimmerman is the son of Frank and Margie (Stewart) Zimmerman.

Jimmy left Sallisaw a few days after high school graduation and a few days before his birthday headed to Fort Polk, LA, where he received basic training int eh U.S. Army Reserve. He became a Drill Sergeant for recruits bound for Vietnam. He served from June 1964 until November 1970, gaining the rank of E6 Staff Sergeant. Jimmy had a brother Billy who served in the U.S. Air Force during the Vietnam conflict, and he had a nephew, Eric, who served in the U.S. Marines. He has a grandson and a granddaughter-in-law that presently serve in the U.S. Air Force.

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