A Belated Posthumous Medal of Honor for a Sioux Warrior (Woodrow Wilson "Woody" Keeble)

American Thinker ^ | March 02, 2008 | John B. Dwyer

[neverdem]

In the aftermath, he had been wounded at least five different times by fragmentation and concussion grenades in the chest, arms, right calf, knee, right and left thighs.  Eighty-three fragments were later removed.  He never complained and refused medical evacuation until his men were settled into their night defensive positions. 

Born on the Sisseton-Wahpeton Indian reservation in 1917, Woodrow Wilson Keeble joined the North Dakota National Guard in 1942 while the Chicago White Sox were trying to recruit the big athlete.  He served with Company I, 164^th Infantry Regiment, Americal Division, the first US Army unit on Guadalcanal. They fought side-side with the Marines; fighting that earned praise from Leatherneck commanders, one of whom (Col. Clifton B. Cates) wrote that they were "honored to serve with such a unit as yours." 

In an article about Keeble at the Army news site, fellow I Company member James Fenelon is quoted as recalling that "men of the 164^th rallied around this full-blooded Sioux whose accuracy with the Browning Automatic Rifle was unparalleled." (A detailed account of Marine-Army combat on Guadalcanal can be found here.)   

34 year old 1^st Sgt. Keeble volunteered for Korea as an individual augmentee from the 164^th Infantry and was assigned to G Company, 2^nd Battalion, 19^th Infantry.  On October 20, 1951 he had taken charge of G Company after all of its officers had been killed or badly wounded during the 24^th Division's participation in Operation Nomad. Its objective: push the Chinese communists off of their fortified winter line and take the city of Kumsong.  

This was a mission made more difficult by the fact that Chinese troops had taken advantage of a recent lull in the fighting to build trench-tunnel and bunker systems into the rugged mountains. This was the deadly terrain facing G Company and 1^st Sgt. Keeble.  (Read more about Operation Nomad here.)   From the account in Army.mil/news:

Fellow G Company 1^st Sgt. Kosumo Sagami later wrote that Keeble led all three platoons in successive assaults upon the Chinese who held the hill throughout the day. All three charges were repulsed, and the company suffered heavy casualties. The trenches were filled with enemy soldiers, fortified by three pillboxes containing machine guns and additional men, surrounded the hill.

Following the third assault and subsequent mortar and artillery support, the enemy sustained casualties among its ranks in the open trenches. The machine gunners in the pillboxes, however, continued to direct fire on the company. Sagami said after Keeble withdrew the 3rd platoon, he decided to attempt a solo assault. [....]

Armed with grenades and his Browning Automatic Rifle, Keeble crawled to an area 50 yards from the ridgeline, flanked the left pillbox and used grenades and rifle fire to eliminate it, according to Sagami. After returning to the point where 1st Platoon held the company's first line of defense, Keeble worked his way to the opposite side of the ridgeline and took out the right pillbox with grenades. "Then without hesitation, he lobbed a grenade into the back entrance of the middle pillbox and with additional rifle fire eliminated it," Sagami added. [....]

(Keeble's stepson Russell) Hawkins said one eyewitness told him the enemy directed its entire arsenal at Keeble during his assault: "... there were so many grenades coming down on Woody, that it looked like a flock of blackbirds." Even under heavy enemy fire, Keeble was able to complete his objective. Only after he killed the machine gunners did Keeble order his men to advance and secure the hill. 

Every surviving member of G Company recommended Keeble for the Medal of Honor, twice, but the paperwork was lost, and he was given the next highest award, the Distinguished Service Cross in 1952. Over the years, efforts continued to have that DSC upgraded. Woodrow Wilson Keeble died in North Dakota in 1982.

Finally, in December 2007, a bill signed by all North and South Dakota senators authorizing President Bush to award Keeble the Medal of Honor was passed.   Tomorrow, in a White House ceremony, Russell Hawkins will accept the Medal for his stepfather Master Sgt. Woodrow "Woody" Keeble. Among those in attendance will be some of Woody's North Dakota friends from the Circle of Nations, formerly Wahpeton Indian School, where he taught. 

The Medal of Honor will rest atop his other awards and decorations, which include the Silver Star, 3 Bronze Stars and 4 Purple Hearts.

Woodrow Keeble, a good, friendly, quiet man, as so many true heroes are, later talked about being in combat. 

"There were terrible moments that encompassed a lifetime, an endlessness, when terror was so strong in me that I could feel idiocy replace reason.  Yet I have never left my position.  Never have I shirked hazardous duty.  Fear did not make a coward out of me."  

His proud stepson has said, "Woody epitomized our cultural values of humility, compassion, bravery, strength" and "the embodiment of the Sioux word woyuonihan" or honor.

The deeds of Woodrow Keeble and all of our heroes are timeless, and they serve as an inspiration to us all as we strive to lead exemplary lives.

John B. Dwyer is a military historian.

[Syncro]

A great historic Hero story

Bumpin’ this!

[jazusamo]

Master Sgt. Woodrow “Woody” Keeble, one of America’s finest.

God Bless him and his family.

[LachlanMinnesota]

May he be rewarded in heaven and may God bless him and his family. The presence of Woodrow Keeble and others like him enrich all of our lives buy their spirit.

May he walk the red road forever.

[DTogo]

Wow...

Very inspirational.

[TigersEye]

Good thread!

[freema]

bookmark

[G.Mason]

Big bump for a true American hero.

"There were terrible moments that encompassed a lifetime, an endlessness, when terror was so strong in me that I could feel idiocy replace reason. Yet I have never left my position. Never have I shirked hazardous duty. Fear did not make a coward out of me."

ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒE

[TalBlack]

” Sagami said after Keeble withdrew the 3rd platoon, he decided to attempt a solo assault. [....]”

Wow.

Sleep the sleep of the Just, Mr. Wilson.

[TalBlack]

KEEBLE, DAMMIT! Mr. KEEBLE!

[Friend_from_the_Frozen_North]

Bookmark (for later)...

[Billthedrill]

A BTT for a real hero.

[SunkenCiv]

Ping!

[eleni121]

jackass sellout extrordinaire Woodrow Wilson

---

Ain’t that the truth!!

[oneamericanvoice]

Washte! Finally, the honor that this great man deserves!

[snippy_about_it]

Thanks for the post.

[Ciexyz]

Here's saluting this true American hero.

[Ciexyz]

Thanks for posting the names of the early heroes of the Indian wars.

[tanuki]

Wow! What amazing info. Thanks! It’s good to know these warriors received their due.

[no-to-illegals]

God is sometimes late to arrive with his blessings. But God always comes through for those who go to battle evil. So many Americans deserved, a chance to come home. So many came home because of Men like, Woodrow Wilson Keeble. A Great Truth To Be Celebrated, Sometimes A Celebration Takes A Handy Push From A Feeble Human, As God Directs The Human Hand. Long Overdue To Come Home Are Many Not Coming Home, I Thank God, This Man Did. I would have to believe, if he was ever asked, how He, Woodrow Wilson Keeble, made it Home Alive, He would have probably said, "I Thank Those, Who Did Not Come Home".

More of a Human, could not have been asked, yet He would once more have probably said, during His Life, "I Thank Those Who Did Not Come Home, I Will Celebrate With Those Men (My Fellow Humans) Later, And Thank Them!"

[joydoc]

THANK YOU WHOEVER POSTED THE STORY ABOUT WOODY,THE HERO. GOD BLESS HIM, HIS FAMILY AND AMERICA