Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said on Sept. 25 that 20 U.S. Army soldiers who received the Medal of Honor for their actions in the 1890 Battle of Wounded Knee will retain their awards.
The decision came in response to the findings of a review launched in 2024 by Hegseth’s predecessor, Lloyd Austin, under the Biden administration. The review examined Medal of Honor citations—the nation’s highest award for valor—to decide whether each soldier’s conduct warranted the citation.
Austen’s July 2024 memo said that the review panel would consider whether any of the awards were given in violation of the Medal of Honor standards in place at the time they were awarded….