Hegseth is doubling down on honoring the massacre as an act of valor

We can push Congress to finally deliver justice.

Pamela: In 1890, U.S. troops descended on the Lakota people at Wounded Knee on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. What followed was not a "battle" — it was a massacre. An estimated 250 people were slaughtered. More than half were women and children. Many were killed as they fled, gunned down long after officers had ordered soldiers to stop shooting.[1]

Shamefully, 19 soldiers involved in this atrocity were awarded the nation's highest honor for valor, the Medal of Honor. Congress and then-Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin worked together to review whether to rescind those medals, in light of the soldiers' horrific actions. Now, Trump's Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth just doubled down on honoring the perpetrators of the massacre.

"We're making it clear [the soldiers] deserve those medals. This decision is now final, and their place in our nation's history is no longer up for debate."[2]

Unfortunately for Hegseth, that's not entirely up to him. Congress has the power to act where the Pentagon refuses — by legislating the rescission of medals awarded to soldiers involved in the Wounded Knee massacre.

We're going to push them to do just that by passing the Remove the Stain Act introduced by Senator Elizabeth Warren (S.1915) and Representative Jill Tokuda (H.R.3609). With enough people speaking out, we can push Congress to take this decision out of Hegseth's hands and finally deliver justice.

This Indigenous Peoples' Day, we're rejecting the notion that mass murder can be honored as valor. Join us by telling Congress to rescind the Wounded Knee Medals of Honor.

ACT NOW

Let's be clear: honoring those who carried out the massacre at Wounded Knee is an ongoing injustice against Indigenous communities.

Indigenous leaders have been working for decades to get recognition and justice for the atrocity at Wounded Knee — including efforts to preserve the site of the massacre and to revoke the medals. "This is one of America's darkest days and the medals must be revoked," Cheyenne River Sioux Tribal Chairman Ryman LeBeau said. "There is no honor in murder."[1]

In 1990, Congress formally apologized to the families of those murdered at Wounded Knee, but stopped short of revoking the medals.

Earlier this year, the Remove the Stain Act was introduced in both chambers of Congress, legislation to rescind the medals and remove the soldiers' names from the military's Medal of Honor Roll. Since Hegseth's alarming announcement, champions like Sen. Warren have vowed to keep up the fight.

The truth is, public pressure is the only surefire way we'll force lawmakers to act against a rogue Defense Secretary who just told us his decision is "final."

If we stay silent, we risk normalizing Hegseth's dangerous message — that it is acceptable to call massacres, mass-killings, and other horrific acts of violence acts of valor. That's why we're counting on you to join us in speaking out today, Pamela.

Click here to tell Congress: Rescind the Wounded Knee Medals of Honor by passing the Remove the Stain Act.

The struggle for justice for Wounded Knee is about more than history — it's also about the future. It's about whether we allow our government to perpetuate lies that justify violence against Indigenous people and other marginalized communities. It's about whether the U.S. tells future generations of Native Americans that the erasure of their ancestors — their lives, their culture, their dignity — is something to be celebrated.

Today, that means refusing to accept a decision that insists that soldiers who committed mass murder "deserve" the country's highest military honor. It's up to us to keep up the pressure. That's how change happens: when people everywhere stand together and say 'not in our name.'

Thank you for working for peace,
The Win Without War team

1. Associated Press, "Hegseth's decision on Wounded Knee medals sparks outrage in Native American communities"
2. The Guardian, "Hegseth says Wounded Knee massacre soldiers will keep Medals of Honor"

 

 

 

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