Hegseth says Wounded Knee soldiers will keep their Medals of Honor
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth upheld a 2024 review panel's recommendation for 20 soldiers to retain Medals of Honor despite controversy over the 1890 Wounded Knee Massacre.
- On Sept. 25, 2025, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in a social media post that the 20 soldiers will keep their Medals of Honor, stating 'This decision is now final, and their place in our nation's history is no longer up for debate.'
- A review ordered by then-Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in 2024 followed a Congressional recommendation in the 2022 defense bill, and the Biden administration review panel in October 2024 recommended keeping the medals unchanged.
- The Wounded Knee incident involved U.S. 7th Cavalry troops and large Lakota casualties; after the fighting, 20 Medals of Honor were awarded for efforts including dislodging Sioux and rescuing troops.
- Oglala Sioux Tribe President Frank Star Comes Out condemned the decision, saying more than 300 unarmed Lakota were massacred at Wounded Knee, while Sen. Elizabeth Warren , Jeff Merkley , and Rep. Jill Tokuda reintroduced the Remove the Stain Act to rescind the medals.
- Hegseth framed the move as correcting prior inaction by his predecessor, saying, 'Despite this clear recommendation, former Secretary Lloyd Austin for whatever reason, I think we know he was more interested in being politically correct than historically correct, chose not to make a final decision.
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South Dakota Catholic leaders speak out against Wounded Knee soldiers keeping their medals
A South Dakota Catholic bishop and local Jesuit priests are criticizing U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth for deciding that American soldiers who participated in the 1890 Battle of Wounded Knee, also known as the Wounded Knee Massacre of around 300 Lakota Native Americans, would retain their Medals of Honor. #SouthDakota #RomanCatholicChurch #PeteHegseth #BattleofWoundedKnee #UnitedStatesDepartmentofWar
Culpeper Star-Exponent
News & RecordWounded Knee soldiers will keep medals
WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that he decided that the 20 soldiers who received the Medal of Honor for their actions in 1890 at Wounded Knee will keep their awards in a video posted to social media Thursday…
Native Americans condemn Pentagon move to preserve Wounded Knee medals
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The National Congress of American Indians strongly condemned on Saturday U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's decision to allow soldiers to keep medals awarded for their roles at the 1890 Battle of Wounded Knee, an event which ma...
State Pen stabbing, Wounded Knee, Tik Tok deal
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — Here are this morning’s top stories for KELOLAND On the Go. General Marty Jackley is calling this week stabbings involving 6 inmates of the South Dakota State penitentiary coordinated attack. UPDATE: Jackley confirms 6 stabbed at State Pen A South Dakota lawmaker is responding to the Trump Administration's decision allowing 19 soldiers to keep their Medals of Honor for their actions at Wounded Knee. Secretary of …
Heather Cox Richardson: Hegseth Wounded Knee Order Perpetuates Sordid Politicking of Medals of Honor
Heather Cox Richardson wrote a profound history of the partisan politics that led to the 1890 Wounded Knee Massacre. The esteemed historian and political commentator draws on her 2010 book to offer this deep context to frame Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s decision to protect the Medals of Honor issued to the Seventh Cavalry soldiers who slaughtered hundreds of Lakota in that massacre as a Republican incompetent honoring Republican incompetence…
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