scholar Tadeusz Kościuszko (1746–1817), Polish and Lithuanian national hero, general and a leader of 1794 uprising (which bears his name) against the Russians James Kowalski (born 1957) high ranking air force commander Włodzimierz Krzyżanowski (1824–1887), Polish military leader and a Union general in the American Civil War Donald J. Kutyna (born 1933), General, commander in chief of the North American Aerospace Defense Command and the United States Space Command from 1990 to 1992, and commander of Air Force Space Command at Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado from 1987 to 1990 Robert J. Modrzejewski (born 1934), U.S. Marine and Medal of Honor Recipient for conspicuous gallantry in Vietnam Richard F. Natonski (born 1951), U.S. Marine Corps lieutenant general whose last assignment was as the Commander of U.S. Marine Corps Forces Command. Kazimierz Pułaski (1745–1779), Polish soldier and politician; has been called "the father of American cavalry"; from 1777, until his death, he fought in the American Revolutionary War for the independence of the U.S. Awarded honorary U.S. citizenship in 2009. Hyman G. Rickover (1900–1986), U.S. Navy Admiral; known as the "father of the Nuclear Navy"; first Director of Naval Reactors Edward Rowny (1917–2017), U.S. Army General and ambassador, Chief U.S. Negotiator for Arms Control John Shalikashvili (1936–2011), U.S. Army general and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; born in Warsaw, Poland and emigrated to the U.S. as a teenager; became the first draftee to rise to rank of General and first JCS Chairman after General Colin Powell Frank P. Witek (1921–1944), U.S. Marine and Medal of Honor recipient Politics Anna Maria Anders (born 1950), Polish politician and diplomat Mark Begich, United States senator from Alaska, 2009-2015 Michael Bennet, United States senator from Colorado, mother of Polish descent Dan Benishek (born 1952), physician; U.S. Representative for Michigan's 1st congressional district (R-MI) A. Bruce Bielaski, director of the Bureau of Investigation (now the Federal Bureau of Investigation) Jackie Biskupski, politician and businesswoman from Utah Michael Bloomberg (born 1942), businessman and politician, and the former Mayor of New York City, paternal grandfather was a Polish Jew Zbigniew Brzezinski (1928–2017), Polish-American political scientist, geostrategist, and statesman Susan Bysiewicz (born 1961), Lt. Governor, Connecticut John D. Cherry (born 1951), Lt. Governor, Michigan Florian Chmielewski (born 1927), Minnesota musician; politician; former legislator; former President of the Minnesota Senate Andrew R. Ciesla (born 1953), State Senator, New Jersey, Republican Mark Critz, U.S. Congressman Ed Derwinski (1926–2012), former