Word Celebrity Blog

Master Sergeant Woodrow W. Keeble



American War Hero Receives
Posthumous Medal of Honor





















U.S. President George W. Bush attends a ceremony to present the Medal of Honor posthumously to US Army Master Sergent Woodrow Wilson Keeble, a hero of the Korean war, with Keeble's stepson Russ Hawkins (L) on March 3, 2008 in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC. The Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration awarded by the US government. Woodrow Keeble is the first full-blooded Sioux Indian to receive the honor.


























President Bush bows his head during a prayer Monday, March 3, 2008 in the East Room of the White House, standing before two chairs in honor of U.S. Army Master Sgt. Woodrow Wilson Keeble, left, and his wife, Blossom, moments before presenting members of the Keeble family with the Medal of Honor, posthumously, in honor of Master Sgt. Keeble’s gallantry during his service in the Korean War.



















President George W. Bush applauds after presenting the Medal of Honor posthumously to family members of U.S. Army Master Sgt. Woodrow Wilson Keeble, Monday, March 3, 2008 in the East Room of the White House, in honor of Master Sgt. Keeble’s gallantry during his service in the Korean War. Kurt Bluedog, left, Keeble’s great nephew, and Russ Hawkins, a step-son, accepted the award honoring Keeble.

Sgt. Keeble was a veteran of both World War II and the Korean War, was honored during the presentation ceremony at the White House for risking his life to save his fellow soldiers during the final allied offensive in Korea.

When war broke out in Korea, Woodrow Keeble was a 34-year-old master sergeant serving with the 24th Division’s 1st Platoon, Company G, 19th Infantry Regiment. He had joined the North Dakota National Guard in 1942 and already had earned the first of his four Purple Hearts and his first Bronze Star for actions on Guadalcanal during WWII.


























Sgt. Keeble volunteered to go to Korea, saying that “somebody had to teach those kids how to fight,”  President Bush said. “And that’s what he did,” serving as a mentor, teacher and legend to his soldiers, he said.

His division was serving in central Korea in October 1951, when it was called to take a series of mountains protecting a major enemy supply in the town of Kumsong. Operation Nomad-Polar was the last major United Nations offensive of the war.

U.S. casualties mounted as the enemy soldiers barraged them. The North Koreans were fortified by three pillboxes containing machine guns during the ferocious fighting over a six-day span. Sgt. Keeble’s officers had all fallen. He continued the assault with three platoons under his leadership.

Despite extensive injuries to himself, with 83 grenade fragments in his body, Sgt.Keeble defied the medics and took charge of the three platoons. On Oct. 20, 1951, he charged the hill solo. Armed only with grenades and his Browning automatic rifle, he shimmied across the ridge, singlehandedly eliminating one pillbox after another as he dodged a barrage of enemy fire.

“As Woody first started off, someone saw him and remarked, ‘Either he’s the bravest soldier I have ever met, or he’s crazy,’” President Bush remarked. “When Woody was through, all 16 enemy soldiers were dead, the hill was taken, and the Allies had won the day.”

Only after Sgt. Keeble had taken out all three pillboxes and killed the machine gunners did he order his troops to advance and secure the hill.

“Woody Keeble’s act of heroism saved many American lives and earned him a permanent place in his fellow soldiers’ hearts,” the president said.

"His actions set an example, not just for his own soldiers, but for the ages", Bush said. “If we honor his life and take lessons from his good and noble service, then Master Sergeant Woody Keeble will serve his country once again,” he said.


























Sgt Woodrow Wilson Keeble, a veteran of World War 2 and the Korean War was recommended TWICE for the Congressional Medal of Honor. The second time his entire surviving command signed a petition recommending he be awarded the honor.

It seemed the recommendation fell on deaf ears.

Sgt Keeble's postwar story was a sad one for many years. After working as a teacher he contracted Tuberculosis which precipitated several strokes resulting in his loosing the ability to speak. He then suffered the loss of his wife shortly thereafter. Sgt Keeble had to raise his children in poverty while disabled. His indomitable spirit served him well in civilian life as it had in Guadalcanal and Korea for he eventually got back on his feet. He successfully raised his children and remarried. His second wife was an impressive individual in her own right (the First Lakota woman to earn a PHD) and began the process of appealing his CMO award.

Although every surviving member of his unit signed a letter at the time recommending Keeble for the Medal of Honor, the paperwork was lost twice, and he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross instead. Sgt. Keeble was honorably discharged from the Army in 1953, always maintaining his Army ties and championing veterans and their causes. Woodrow

Keeble’s family took up the battle to upgrade his award to the Medal of Honor.

It turned out that the recommendation had not been rejected....it had been lost during the war when American forces were overrun. In 1972 the convoluted process was begun to get the award reinstated, but given the byzantine mess of Army and Congressional regulations it was not until 2008 that President Bush awarded his family with the Medal he so gallantly earned. Sgt. Keeble hsd died in 1984.

President Bush apologized for the long-overdue presentation of the award and thanked those who had pressed for it. “I want to thank you for carrying Woody’s banner to the Pentagon and to the halls of Congress,” he told them. “You did the right thing.”

“We are just proud to be a part of this for Woody,” Hawkins said in a statement released by the Army when the White House announced in February that Keeble would receive the award. “He is deserving of this, for what he did in the armed services in defense of this country.”

Russell Hawkins, Keeble’s stepson, accepted the award on his behalf, almost six decades after his gallant actions and 26 years after his death.






















Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates (right) meets with family representatives of Army Master Sgt. Woodrow Keeble in his Pentagon office.  Representing Sgt. Keeble's family are his stepson Russ Hawkins (left) and his great nephew Ken Bluedog (center).
 



























Master Sergeant Woodrow W. Keeble
United States Army


Citation:

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty:Master Sergeant Woodrow W. Keeble distinguished himself by acts of gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty in action with an armed enemy near Sangsan-ni, Korea, on October 20, 1951. On that day, Master Sergeant Keeble was an acting platoon leader for the support platoon in Company G, 19th Infantry, in the attack on Hill 765, a steep and rugged position that was well defended by the enemy. Leading the support platoon, Master Sergeant Keeble saw that the attacking elements had become pinned down on the slope by heavy enemy fire from three well-fortified and strategically placed enemy positions. With complete disregard for his personal safety, Master Sergeant Keeble dashed forward and joined the pinned-down platoon. Then, hugging the ground, Master Sergeant Keeble crawled forward alone until he was in close proximity to one of the hostile machine-gun emplacements. Ignoring the heavy fire that the crew trained on him,

Master Sergeant Keeble activated a grenade and threw it with great accuracy, successfully destroying the position. Continuing his one-man assault, he moved to the second enemy position and destroyed it with another grenade. Despite the fact that the enemy troops were now directing their firepower against him and unleashing a shower of grenades in a frantic attempt to stop his advance, he moved forward against the third hostile emplacement, and skillfully neutralized the remaining enemy position. As his comrades moved forward to join him, Master Sergeant Keeble continued to direct accurate fire against nearby trenches, inflicting heavy casualties on the enemy. Inspired by his courage, Company G successfully moved forward and seized its important objective. The extraordinary courage, selfless service, and devotion to duty displayed that day by Master Sergeant Keeble was an inspiration to all around him and reflected great credit upon himself, his unit, and the United States Army.


























Family members of U.S. Army Master Sgt. Woodrow Wilson Keeble  attend the presentation of the Medal of Honor, posthumously, in honor of Master Sgt. Keeble’s gallantry during his service in the Korean War, presented by President George W. Bush , in the East Room of the White House.

Russell Hawkins called the presentation a victory not just for his family, who had pressed to see him honored, but also for the Sisseton-Wahpeton tribe and North and South Dakota. “We are all extremely proud that Woody is finally receiving this honor,” Hawkins said. “He epitomized our cultural values of humility, compassion, bravery, strength and honor.”





















Master Sergeant Woodrow W. Keeble is buried at Arlington National Cemetary.



The Sioux Belief System - Wakan Tanka (Great Spirit)

The extraordinary was called the Wakan Tanka, and included all that was mysterious, powerful, or sacred. The words Wakan Tanka translate as "all that is holy and mysterious."  The Wakan Tanka had always existed and would always be. It had created the universe, and yet, at the same time, was the universe. The Sun, the Moon, the Stars, the Earth, the very rocks, and the human soul were all manifestations of the Wakan Tanka.

Death and the afterlife held no special terror for the Sioux.  In battle, Sioux warriors courted death openly.  They believed that death in battle was preferable to dying of old age or disease.  The Sioux believed in the immortal nature of the human soul, which, having come from the Wakan Tanka at birth, returned to the Wakan Tanka at death.  The spirits of dead loved ones were therefore one with the Wakan Tanka and everywhere and in everything, though a part lingered near the grave for the consolation of friends and relatives.

Today, many of the descendants of Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse have abandoned the Christianity of the mission schools and churches and have returned to the religion of their ancestors.