The Khan Family and American History’s Hidden Muslim Soldiers

When Khizr and Ghazala Khan, the parents of fallen U.S. Army Captain Humayun Khan, took the stage last week at the Democratic National Convention, they started a national conversation that has drawn attention to the role of Muslims in the U.S. military.

However, while Muslim-Americans have been a part of the national fabric for centuries, that conversation has tended to focus on those who served and fought in the last few decades. Perhaps that's because the early history of Muslims in the U.S.