"As a soldier, we've sworn to protect against enemies both foreign and domestic,"

 "They've been spraying them with water and mace and other things," said Wilbur Hilton, of Flint, a retired plumber and Vietnam War-era U.S. Army veteran. "We as veterans want to know if they can do the same to us. And if they will do this to us veterans of the military, then what does that tell us about our country?"

The veterans, easily identifiable in hats and camouflage jackets, remain far outnumbered by campers in plainclothes.

At a campsite about 50 yards away, Iraq War Veteran Derrick Banaden, 33, of San Marcos, Texas, was helping put up the big green tent.

Asked what he thinks will happen in the next few days, he said, "Good things."

He said it's the first time veterans have had he chance to protect the "original people" of this land.

Sense of duty draws U.S. veterans to Dakota pipeline

Veterans interviewed by Reuters gave a plethora of motives for traveling here. Some felt it was their patriotic duty to defend protesters, especially since Native Americans have historically had an active presence in the U.S. military. “We’re under constant surveillance with helicopters and planes flying over. There is a military boundary with barbed wire,” said Angie Spencer, 34, a clinical psychologist from Seattle who has worked with veterans.

Native Americans serve at a high rate in the armed forces, according to data from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. A 2012 report showed more than 150,000 veterans of Native American descent. U.S. Defense Department data as of 2014 put Alaskan/Native American service members at more than 24,000.
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