Free Republic

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, 164th Infantry Regiment, Americal Division, the first US Army unit on Guadalcanal. They...

I received a piece of mail last week that got my attention because it involves North Dakota’s most decorated soldier. Cass County Veterans Service Officer Jim Brent, who will celebrate his 10th year in that position on Wednesday, sent along information about Master Sgt. Woodrow Wilson Keeble, a Lakota Sioux who grew up in Wahpeton, N.D., and distinguished himself while serving his country in World War II and Korea. This was the first time I’d heard of Keeble. In two wars, he was awarded five Purple Hearts for wounds, two Bronze Stars, one with “V” for valor, a Silver Star...