Our Opinion: A Real American Hero

Master Sergeant Woodrow S. Keeble was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor by the President on March 3. He was the 17th North Dakotan to receive this distinction.

HPR published a story entitled “Real American Hero” on Keeble on Jan. 11, 2007. James Chalmers authored it, with assistance from Merry Helm. Following are excerpts from that article:

“Woodrow Wilson Keeble was born and died on the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate Reservation. He spent a great deal of his childhood in a government run boarding school in Wahpeton, ND. He was a tremendous athlete, and at the time his National Guard unit was called up for WW II, he was being recruited by the Chicago White Sox. His cannon arm and reported 100 mph fastball would prove lethal to his enemies in battle…

“Keeble was attached to the 19th Infantry Regiment of the 24th Division when Operation Nomad began in mid-October 1951. The enemy, the Chinese Communist Forces, had built a series of tunnels and bunkers in and around heavily fortified mountaintops guarding their supply routes from the town of Kumsong, North Korea. The Army’s goal in this operation was to capture strategic ‘hills’ that were, in reality, steep mountains of slippery rubble and blasted tree trunks that gave little cover as the Americans fought their way upward, always upward.

“On October 15th, 1951, the 1st Platoon of George Company—led by M/Sgt. Keeble—joined the fight. That same day Keeble was wounded, treated and returned to combat. On the 17th he was wounded, treated, and again returned to fight.

“Woody Keeble persistently continued fighting despite his wounds, which included two bullets to his left arm, a full-body spray of shrapnel, a grenade to his face and a badly wrenched knee. His concern for his men always outweighed his concern for himself, and he had to be ordered to seek medical aid before he would quit fighting.

“On October 18th his actions earned him the Nation’s third highest award—the Silver Star. But it was for his actions on October 20, 1951, that Keeble’s men recommended him for the Medal of Honor.

“George Company had been in battle for nearly six days straight at this point. As leader of the 1st Platoon, Keeble had his men in support positions for the 2nd Platoon as George Company assaulted the final objective of Operation Nomad. The 2nd Platoon had nearly reached the peak when the enemy suddenly opened up on them from their strategically superior positions above. Unable to move forward, the entire company was pinned down by heavy machine gun fire from three machine-gun bunkers backed by rifle trenches. One of Keeble’s men says there were so many grenades raining down on them it looked like a flock of blackbirds flying over.

“As the situation deteriorated, Keeble left the relative safety of his covering position, crawled forward and took extraordinary action to save all four platoons of George Company. Through a hail of bullets and grenades, he maneuvered up the peak and whipped a grenade into the first bunker, killing three enemies machine-gunners.

“Continuing his one-man assault, Keeble then took out the 2nd bunker with a well-thrown grenade.

“The increasingly desperate enemy began throwing concussion and fragmentation grenades to take out this one man. As he went after the third bunker, Keeble was jarred by a concussion grenade that momentarily knocked him senseless. Dazed, he somehow found cover to regain his senses, and on his second attempt, he took out the last functioning enemy bunker, killing the enemies within with his rifle.

“Keeble then closed in on the enemy riflemen in the trenches above, motioning for his men to join him. By the time they reached him he had killed an additional seven enemy riflemen and had nearly captured the entire stronghold. In his attack, M/Sgt. Keeble was wounded in the chest, arms, his left thigh, and his right calf, knee and thigh...”