Current:Home > FinancePentagon panel to review Medals of Honor given to soldiers at the Wounded Knee massacre-DB Wealth Institute B2 Expert Reviews
Pentagon panel to review Medals of Honor given to soldiers at the Wounded Knee massacre
View Date:2024-12-23 21:08:05
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Defense Department will review the Medals of Honor that were given to 20 U.S. soldiers for their actions in the 1890 battle at Wounded Knee to make sure their conduct merits such an honorable award.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin ordered the review by a special panel of experts after consultation with the White House and the Department of the Interior. Congress recommended such a review in the 2022 defense bill, reflecting a push by some lawmakers to rescind the awards for those who participated in the massacre on South Dakota’s Pine Ridge Indian Reservation near Wounded Knee Creek.
An estimated 250 Native Americans, including women and children, were killed in the fight and at least another 100 were wounded.
Medals of Honor were given to 20 soldiers from the 7th Cavalry Regiment, and their awards cite a range of actions including bravery, efforts to rescue fellow troops and actions to “dislodge Sioux Indians” who were concealed in a ravine.
Native American groups, advocates, state lawmakers from South Dakota and a number of Congress members have called for officials to revoke the awards. Congress apologized in 1990 to the descendants of those killed at Wounded Knee but did not revoke the medals.
In a memo signed last week, Austin said the panel will review each award “to ensure no soldier was recognized for conduct that did not merit recognition” and if their conduct demonstrated any disqualifying actions. Those could include rape or murder of a prisoner or attacking a non-combatant or someone who had surrendered.
Austin said Army Secretary Christine Wormuth must provide the historical records and documentation for the awards for each soldier to the panel by Friday. The panel must provide a written report no later than Oct. 15, recommending that each award be either revoked or retained.
The standards for awarding the Medal of Honor have evolved over time, but the review will evaluate the 20 soldiers’ actions based on the rules in place at the time. Austin said the panel of five experts can consider the context of the overall incident to assess each soldier’s actions.
The dispute continues a long history of contentious relations between the tribes in South Dakota and the government dating to the 1800s. The Wounded Knee massacre was the deadliest, as federal troops shot and killed Lakota men, women and children during a campaign to stop a religious practice known as the Ghost Dance.
veryGood! (677)
Related
- Jana Kramer’s Ex Mike Caussin Shares Resentment Over Her Child Support Payments
- Earth just had its hottest summer on record, U.N. says, warning climate breakdown has begun
- Judge says protections for eastern hellbender should be reconsidered
- Search for escaped Pennsylvania murderer enters eighth day
- Arbitrator upholds 5-year bans of Bad Bunny baseball agency leaders, cuts agent penalty to 3 years
- Bethany Joy Lenz Details How She Escaped a Cult and Found Herself
- California lawmakers approve new tax for guns and ammunition to pay for school safety improvements
- Three 15-year-olds die when car crashes into vacant home in suburban St. Louis
- Steelers shoot for the moon ball, but will offense hold up or wilt in brutal final stretch?
- EPA staff slow to report health risks from lead-tainted Benton Harbor water, report states
Ranking
- College football top five gets overhaul as Georgia, Miami both tumble in US LBM Coaches Poll
- Presidential centers issue joint statement calling out the fragile state of US democracy
- Man struck by tree while cleaning hurricane debris is third Florida death from Hurricane Idalia
- Louisiana grand jury charges 91-year-old disgraced priest with sexual assault of teenage boy in 1975
- Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, Something Corporate
- Where Al Pacino and Noor Alfallah Stand After She Files for Physical Custody of Their 3-Month-Old Baby
- Archaeologists discover 1,000-year-old mummy in one of South America's biggest cities
- Australia and China open their first high-level dialogue in 3 years in a sign of a slight thaw
Recommendation
-
Justice Department sues to block UnitedHealth Group’s $3.3 billion purchase of Amedisys
-
Marina owner convicted in fatal 2008 boat crash settles new environmental protection case
-
City's schools prepare for thousands of migrant students
-
Eric Church, Miranda Lambert and Morgan Wallen to headline Stagecoach 2024
-
Congress heard more testimony about UFOs: Here are the biggest revelations
-
Do COVID-19 tests still work after they expire? Here's how to tell.
-
San Antonio police say couple safe after kidnapping; 2 charged, 1 suspect at large
-
Historic flooding event in Greece dumps more than 2 feet of rain in just a few hours