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WASHINGTON (AP) — The Protection Division will evaluation the Medals of Honor that got to twenty U.S. troopers for his or her actions within the 1890 battle at Wounded Knee to ensure their conduct deserves such an honorable award.
Protection Secretary Lloyd Austin ordered the evaluation by a particular panel of specialists after session with the White Home and the Division of the Inside. Congress beneficial such a evaluation within the 2022 protection invoice, reflecting a push by some lawmakers to rescind the awards for individuals who participated within the bloodbath on South Dakota’s Pine Ridge Indian Reservation close to Wounded Knee Creek.
An estimated 250 Native People, together with ladies and kids, have been killed within the battle and a minimum of one other 100 have been wounded.
Medals of Honor got to twenty troopers from the seventh Cavalry Regiment, and their awards cite a variety of actions together with bravery, efforts to rescue fellow troops and actions to “dislodge Sioux Indians” who have been hid in a ravine.
Native American teams, advocates, state lawmakers from South Dakota and numerous Congress members have referred to as for officers to revoke the awards. Congress apologized in 1990 to the descendants of these killed at Wounded Knee however didn’t revoke the medals.
In a memo signed final week, Austin mentioned the panel will evaluation every award “to make sure no soldier was acknowledged for conduct that didn’t benefit recognition” and if their conduct demonstrated any disqualifying actions. These may embody rape or homicide of a prisoner or attacking a non-combatant or somebody who had surrendered.
Austin mentioned Military Secretary Christine Wormuth should present the historic data and documentation for the awards for every soldier to the panel by Friday. The panel should present a written report no later than Oct. 15, recommending that every award be both revoked or retained.
The requirements for awarding the Medal of Honor have developed over time, however the evaluation will consider the 20 troopers’ actions based mostly on the foundations in place on the time. Austin mentioned the panel of 5 specialists can take into account the context of the general incident to evaluate every soldier’s actions.
The dispute continues a protracted historical past of contentious relations between the tribes in South Dakota and the federal government courting to the 1800s. The Wounded Knee bloodbath was the deadliest, as federal troops shot and killed Lakota males, ladies and kids throughout a marketing campaign to cease a spiritual observe often called the Ghost Dance.
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