Medal Of Honor Going To Native American Soldier

Team Infidel

Forum Spin Doctor
Mideast Stars and Stripes
February 23, 2008 By Leo Shane III, Stars and Stripes
WASHINGTON — A Native American soldier who fought in World War II and the Korean War will be posthumously honored with the Medal of Honor next month, White House officials announced Friday.
Retired Master Sgt. Woodrow Keeble, a South Dakota native who died in 1984, will be recognized for actions in North Korea in October 1951. According to Army records, he ignored life-threatening wounds to take out three mountainside enemy pillboxes which had pinned down a U.S. platoon.
Keeble was initially awarded a Distinguished Service Cross, a Silver Star and a Purple Heart for those actions, but members of his state’s congressional delegation have pushed for Medal of Honor recognition for him for years.
Army records say Keeble displayed “extraordinary heroism and completely selfless devotion to duty” during his assault on enemy troops in Korea.
After seeing an advance platoon was pinned down by gunfire, Keeble rushed from his support unit to the front line. He then crawled ahead to take out three enemy positions with grenades, despite intense fire trained on him as he moved along the mountainside.
A formal ceremony awarding the top military honor will be held at the White House on March 3, officials said.
Keeble, a member of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate tribe, will be the first Dakota Sioux to receive the Medal of Honor. Twenty-four other Native Americans have received the award, including three for actions in Korea.
More than 3,500 servicemembers have received the Medal of Honor in its history, including two from the current Iraq conflict and one for actions in Afghanistan.
For a 1952 Stars and Stripes story recounting Keeble’s actions, go to stripes.com.
 
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