Overview

• Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced in a video that the roughly 20 Medals of Honor tied to the 1890 Wounded Knee incident will not be rescinded and called the matter settled.
• Hegseth said a five-member review board convened in 2024 under Lloyd Austin recommended retaining each award, though the department has not published the panel’s report.
• Historical accounts describe U.S. 7th Cavalry troops killing an estimated 250 to 375 Lakota, many of them women and children, with about two dozen U.S. soldiers also killed, often by friendly fire.
• Native advocates, some historians and several lawmakers condemned the decision, while sponsors have reintroduced the Remove the Stain legislation to strip the medals.
• The move aligns with broader efforts by the Trump administration and Hegseth to reinterpret military memorials and naming decisions, which has drawn sustained political and public criticism.