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.

[ex-Texan]

Bravo ! . . . Bump to the Top !

[indcons]

Kudos to a brave warrior.

Thanks for the heads up, Sunken Civ.





"On behalf of our grateful nation, I deeply regret that this tribute comes decades too late," Bush said at the White House medal ceremony. "Woody will never hold this medal in his hands or wear it on his uniform. He will never hear a president thank him for his heroism. He will never stand here to see the pride of his friends and loved ones, as I see in their eyes now."

But, Bush said, there are things the nation can still do for Keeble, even all these years later.

"We can tell his story. We can honor his memory. And we can follow his lead, by showing all those who have followed him on the battlefield the same love and generosity of spirit that Woody showed his country every day," the president said before a somber East Room audience that included three rows of Keeble's family members.

Fellow soldiers, family members and others have been pushing Congress and the White House for years to award Keeble the medal. They said the man known as "Chief," a member of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux tribe, deserves the medal for his actions in Korea in 1951, when he saved the lives of other soldiers by taking out more than a dozen of their enemies on a steep hill, even though he himself was wounded.

"Soldiers watched in awe as Woody single-handedly took out one machine gun nest, and then another," Bush said. "When Woody was through, all 16 enemy soldiers were dead, the hill was taken, and the Allies won the day."
[http://www.kidk.com/news/national/16213282.html]

[TMSuchman]

A large and loud

SEMPER FI! & salute to a real AMERICAN hero!

[AnAmericanMother]

To paraphrase Kipling, "He'll be happy where he knows."

God I'm sure has already rewarded this brave and faithful man in ways we cannot understand . . . but I'm glad for his family -- and for us -- that he has received this honor which is long overdue.

[Mr. Silverback]

Woyuonihan indeed!

A sharp salute for a hero proved in liberating strife.

[XR7]

BTTT

[quikdrw]

Rene Gagnon, Franklin Sousley, John Bradley, Mike Strank, Harlon Block and Ira Hayes. My spelling of their names may not be right, but those are the six men who raised the scond flag over Mt. Suribachi. John Bradley was in on the first flag raising over Mt. Suribachi, too.

[calex59]

Yes, you got it right. Heros all but some of them didn’t make it off of Iwo. At least 3 of them died before Iwo was won. All of the men who fought on Iwo were heros as far as I am concerned. Born in 1942, I had many relatives who fought, and some who died, in WWII. What a disaster our country has become. If they could come back they would be glad they are dead now rather than to witness what our country has become.

[quikdrw]

Three of them died on Iwo Jima. Mike Strank, Harlon Block and Franklin Sousley all died there, in that order.

Ira Hayes never got over Mike Strank’s death. Mike was Ira’s hero.

Navy Corpsman John Bradley was wounded.

I’m twenty years younger than you. My father, his brothers and brothers-in-law all fought in WWII. All of them came home from the war. One of my uncles was horribly wounded at Anzio. He lived, but was disabled all of his life.

They are all gone, now. And I miss them all.

[calex59]

They are all gone, now. And I miss them all.

Yeah, I miss mine too. Cheers, and it is good to know at least one person remembers and knows.

[atrulling]

Thank You everyone for your wonderful words. Woody was a comrade and friend of my grandfather. They served together on Guadalcanal and most of Co. I came home to the same small town in North Dakota (Wahpeton).

I will be going to an event that his tribe will be holding to honor Woody and the Medal of Honor on March 22nd. I would like to bring with me thoughts and notes from people around the country. I was wondering if you could take a couple minutes and handwrite (it seems more personal) and mail it to me (I’m actually using my sister’s work address for safety reasons- you can never be to safe). I think that these little things would mean a lot to his family. I think they are missing what the average American is saying this week since they are realing from the ceremonies that have been so long in coming. Thank You in advance.

Amy Trullinger

Family of Woodrow Keeble/
Michelle Trullinger
6388 E. County Line Rd.
Highlands Ranch, CO 80126

[BerryDingle]

Woody will never be forgotten as long as I'm around.