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Bush signs off on 1st Sioux Medal of Honor

BISMARCK, N.D. — President Bush has signed a bill awarding a posthumous Medal of Honor to Woodrow Wilson Keeble, a member of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux Tribe who fought in World War II and the Korean War.

The signing Friday means Defense Secretary Robert Gates can now act on the medal.

Keeble, who was known as Chief, is credited with saving his fellow soldiers’ lives in 1951 during the Korean War while he was wounded.

He was given more than 30 citations, including four Purple Hearts and the Army’s second-highest commendation, the Distinguished Service Cross. He died in 1982.

Pentagon officials told Congress earlier that a statute of limitation prevented the president from awarding the medal to Keeble unless Bush was specifically authorized by Congress.

Sens. Byron Dorgan and Kent Conrad, D-N.D., Tim Johnson, D-S.D., and John Thune, R-S.D., introduced the bill. It was approved late Thursday night.

The National Congress of American Indians passed a resolution in 2005 supporting the medal for Keeble, who would be the first Sioux Indian to receive the Medal of Honor. The South Dakota Legislature passed a similar resolution in 2006.