Pete Hesgseth says Wounded Knee vets deserve to | Political News

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced Thursday that the 20 troopers who participated in the Battle of Wounded Knee and obtained medals of honor could be allowed to keep them.

In a video uploaded to the Defense Secretary’s X account, Hegseth announced his choice. “Under the previous administration, a review panel was convened to determine whether soldiers awarded the Medal of Honor for their actions at the Battle of Wounded Knee should keep their medals,” Hegseth said.

“Now, upon deliberation, that panel concluded that these brave soldiers should, in fact, rightfully keep their medals from actions in 1890,” he added. “The report was concluded in October of 2024.“

“Yet, 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,” added Hegseth. “Such careless inaction has allowed for their distinguished recognition to remain in limbo until now.”

“Under my direction, we’re making it without hesitation that the soldiers who fought in the Battle of Wounded Knee in 1890 will keep their medals, and we’re making it clear that they deserve those medals,” continued Hegeth. “This decision is now final, and their place in our nation’s history is no longer up for debate.”

“We salute their memory, we honor their service, and we will never forget what they did,” the Secretary of Defense acknowledged. Hegseth’s choice was posted with the caption: “Under my direction, the soldiers who fought at the Battle of Wounded Knee will keep their medals.”

“This decision is final. Their place in history is settled,” the assertion added. Several people didn’t take kindly to Hegseth’s proclamation.

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“If you are willing to defend the slaughter of innocent civilians in the past, you are perfectly capable of ordering that in the present,” one individual said. “You are a danger to this country and don’t deserve your position.”

“Wounded knee was a complete slaughter of innocents, and it shouldn’t be celebrated,” a second individual added. “As a matter of fact it should be condemned and it’s not an unpatriotic stance whatsoever to state that murdering and obliterating women/children is a reprehensible act.”

Other people defended Hegseth’s alternative. “They were soldiers of the U.S. Army. You don’t have to agree with their mission but respect their service. This isn’t difficult,” one individual said.

“Good,” a second individual commented. “We don’t revoke medals on the whims of changing times. It’s dishonorable to attempt it because those who earned them and those who awarded them aren’t able to defend themselves.”

“Good decision. The Battle of Wounded Knee was a clear situation of self-defense in an ongoing conflict with subversive and dangerous non-American combatants,” a third individual commented. “It’s also very important to uphold the traditional interpretation of this event as we gear up for prolonged conflict with current non-American groupings within the American border. We need to re-Americanize this continent. And that starts with being proud of our heritage.”

In 1890, the U.S. Army allegedly slaughtered roughly 150–300 people of the Lakota tribe in the world of Wounded Knee Creek in South Dakota. It was reported by Britannica that the slaughter was the climax of the military’s efforts to repress the Plain people as the nation continued to broaden west.