SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — South Dakota U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds says he does not support revoking the Medals of Honor given to the U.S. soldiers who participated in the Wounded Knee massacre.
Rounds said Thursday he believes that what happened at Wounded Knee was a massacre, not a battle. But the Republican senator said at this point, “we’re now guessing” about what individual soldiers did.
The Argus Leader reports Rounds said he talked with living recipients of Medals of Honor while making his decision.
Medals of Honor were given to 20 soldiers from the 7th Cavalry Regiment for participating in the Dec. 29, 1890, massacre on South Dakota’s Pine Ridge Indian Reservation near Wounded Knee Creek. An estimated 250 Native Americans were killed, many of whom were women and children.
Native American groups have called for years for the Medals of Honor to be rescinded.
