President Bush Honors a Hero

Yesterday President Bush Attended the Medal of Honor Ceremony for Woodrow Wilson Keeble. Keeble was a full-blooded Sioux Indian and a Master Sargeant during the Korean War. His paperwork for the Medal of Honor was somehow lost and he was unable to receive the medal during his lifetime. The President chose to offer the medal to the Master Sargeant's family yesterday. It is wonderful to see and hear stories of true heroism in an age that too often is sorely lacking in it! President Bush recounted the story yesterday, "After days of fighting, the officers in Woody's company had fallen. Woody assumed command of one platoon, then a second, and then a third, until one of the hills was taken, and the enemy fled in wild retreat. That first advance nearly killed him. By the end of the day, Woody had more than 83 grenade fragments in his body. He had bleeding wounds in his arms, chest, and thighs. And yet he still wanted to fight. So after a day with the medics, he defied the doctor's orders and returned to the battlefield. And that is where, on October 20, 1951, Master Sergeant Woodrow Wilson Keeble made history. The Communists still held a crucial hill and had pinned down U.S. forces with a furious assault. One soldier, President Bush recounted, "said the enemy lobbed so many grenades on American troops that they looked like a flock of blackbirds in the sky." Allied forces tried heavy artillery but it did not work. But, President Bush said, "Woody was back, and Woody was some kind of mad. He grabbed grenades and his weapon and climbed that crucial hill alone. Woody climbed hundreds of yards through dirt and rock, with his wounds aching, bullets flying, and grenades falling all around him. As Woody first started off, someone saw him and remarked: 'Either he's the bravest soldier I have ever met, or he's crazy.' Soldiers watched in awe as Woody single-handedly took out one machine gun nest, and then another. When Woody was through, all 16 enemy soldiers were dead, the hill was taken, and the Allies won the day." You can watch part of the ceremony from the CNN story here. Let's continue to pray for all of our troops who serve us so bravely. We pray also for all of our veterans and their families.