Senators urge Pentagon to ease deadline of Wounded Knee medals review

Two senators urged Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Thursday to accept documentation and testimonies from the public during the Pentagon’s review of Medals of Honor that were awarded to U.S. troops for their actions at Wounded Knee.

Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Michael Rounds, R-S.D., members of the Senate Armed Services Committee, wrote to Austin and Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, who’s helping to run the review.

The Pentagon announced July 24 that it would create a special panel to determine whether to retain or rescind the medals. The panel is expected to submit a report to Austin by Oct. 15 with recommendations for each recipient. Austin will then take those recommendations to President Joe Biden.

According to the Defense Department, 20 Medals of Honor were awarded to U.S. troops for their actions at Wounded Knee in 1890, when soldiers killed and injured between 350 and 375 Lakota men, women and children.

Austin ordered the U.S. Army to hand over all historical documentation about the massacre, including personnel files for the awardees, by July 26. Warren and Rounds argue in their letter that the deadline was too early for Native American tribes, families of victims, historians and academic institutions to share information that should be considered.

In a letter, they asked that the panel accept information from the public on a rolling basis.

“Stakeholders … possess a wealth of information that is critical for the panel’s consideration,” Warren and Rounds wrote. “Much of that information may take more than just a matter of days to gather. Additionally, many critical stakeholders may not have the resources to operate on an overly compressed timeline.”

The killings, referred to as the Wounded Knee Massacre, occurred Dec. 29, 1890, near Wounded Knee Creek in South Dakota. It was part of a larger effort by the U.S. government to repress Native American tribes of the Great Plains and eradicate a religious movement known as Ghost Dance.

Reports about the Ghost Dance movement prompted the U.S. Army to guard reservations. On Dec. 29, 1890, troops from the 7th Cavalry were confiscating weapons from Lakota people when a struggle with a reportedly deaf man sparked a chaotic one-sided firefight. When the smoke cleared, dozens of cavalry troopers were wounded or killed by friendly fire — likely from their artillery — and hundreds of Lakota were dead.

A Pentagon memorandum issued last month lists 20 troops who were awarded the Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest military honor, for their actions that day. One citation says a recipient showed distinguished conduct “in a battle with hostile Indians.” Another says one man “voluntarily led a party into a ravine to dislodge Sioux Indians concealed therein.”

A few citations said troops had rescued their fellow soldiers, and some said only that the men exhibited “extraordinary gallantry.”

Congress officially apologized for the massacre around its 100th anniversary in 1990, but it did not rescind the medals then. In 2022, Congress encouraged the Pentagon to review the awards.

The panel reviewing the Medals of Honor will comprise five experts, including two from the Department of the Interior, the Pentagon memo states. When reviewing the awards, panelists will consider the context at the time and use the military’s 1890 standards for awarding the Medal of Honor, rather than today’s standards.

Panelists will determine whether any of the soldiers did anything disqualifying them from the award, which includes intentionally directing an attack against someone who surrendered in good faith, murdering or raping a prisoner or engaging in any other act “demonstrating immorality,” Austin’s memo reads.

In their letter, Warren and Rounds applauded the review and described it as “long overdue.” They asked Austin and Haaland for transparency throughout the process.

“We … hope this collaborative process includes DOD and DOI providing easy, mutual access to the records each agency receives,” the senators wrote. “We are greatly interested in seeing a review process that is informed by stakeholders’ documentation and testimonies.”

The Pentagon noted in July that this isn’t the first time Medals of Honor have come under scrutiny. In 1916, Congress ordered the Army to review all Medals of Honor awarded since the Civil War. At that time, a panel of five retired generals decided to rescind 911 of the awards. Six of those medals were later reinstated.

This story was produced in partnership with Military Veterans in Journalism. Please send tips to [email protected].