Overview

• Announcing the move in a video on X, the defense secretary said roughly 20 Medals of Honor awarded to 7th Cavalry soldiers from 1890 will remain in place.
• The review was ordered by then–Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in July 2024, conducted by a five-member panel, and reportedly concluded in October that no medals should be revoked.
• Historians widely describe Wounded Knee as a massacre, with federal estimates of 250–375 Lakota killed, many of them women and children, and about 25 U.S. soldiers killed, many likely by friendly fire.
• Hegseth praised the recipients as “brave soldiers” and said their “place in our nation’s history is no longer up for debate,” drawing sharp criticism from Native advocates, veterans and scholars.
• Democrats in Congress have reintroduced the Remove the Stain Act to strip the medals, while the announcement aligns with broader administration efforts to restore Confederate-linked honors and reframe historical commemorations.