Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee

PlayBill:

Screen actor Aidan Quinn, who played Stanley Kowalski in the 1988 revival of A Streetcar Named Desire, stars in the new HBO Films production "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee."

Based on Dee Alexander Brown's book of the same name, the film will make its debut on the cable network May 27 at 9 PM ET. Joining Quinn in the cast are Broadway's J. K. Simmons (Laughter on the 23rd Floor, Guys and Dolls, Peter Pan) and Colm Feore (Julius Caesar) as well as Adam Beach, August Schellenberg, Eric Schweig, Wes Studi, Gordon Tootoosis, Fred Thompson and Anna Paquin.

Check out the whole thing.  See also this New York Times story.  Dee Brown's book made a big impact when it was published in 1971, quickly becoming a national bestseller.  It still remains in print today and in fifteen different languages.  Historians have assessed his book as "polemical and thinly researched," but it was "immensely popular" and made a big impact on a society awash in self-criticism over Vietnam, the civil rights movement, and the environment [1].  I'm working on a paper about the intellectual origins of Brown's book and the impact it had, and this film seems to be another part of the book's aftermath and how it still influences our view of the nineteenth century American West.  HBO is good at creating westerns, such as the Deadwood series, as historically flawed as it may be, so I'm looking forward to see how they portray Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee.

[1] Rodman W. Paul and Michael P. Malone, "Tradition and Challenge in Western Historiography," Western Historical Quarterly vol. 16, no. 1 (January 1985), 41.  See also Francis Paul Prucha, review of Dee Brown, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West, American Historical Review vol. 77 no. 2 (April 1972): 589-590.

Woodrow Keeble

Senator John Thune, following similar moves from Senator Tim Johnson and former Senator Tom Daschle, is calling on the Defense Department to award Master Sergeant Woodrow Keeble with the Medal of Honor.  Argus Leader excerpt:

Sen. John Thune is co-sponsoring legislation that would clear the way for Keeble to receive the long-overdue honor and recognition.

That legislation would authorize President Bush to posthumously award the medal to Keeble, a member of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate Tribe. He would be the first Dakota Sioux to receive the Medal of Honor.

"He went beyond the call of duty not for a medal but for the mission he believed in and the country he loved. Master Sgt. Keeble's legacy is a great source of pride for his family, his fellow Dakota Sioux and all Americans," Thune said.

In recent years Sen. Tim Johnson and former Sen. Tom Daschle made the case, too.

Knowledge of the history of Keeble's situation leaves no doubt about the merit.

After serving in the Army in World War II, he re-enlisted for the Korean War. In 1951, Keeble was among those attacked by Chinese troops near Kumsong. He suffered wounds to the chest, arms, left thigh, right calf and knee as he led three platoons in an attack and relieved a platoon pinned down by machine gunfire. He took out three machine gun emplacements and drove Chinese soldiers from two trenches.

He was decorated with the Distinguished Service Cross, the Silver Star, the Bronze Star First Oak Leaf Cluster and the Purple Heart with the Oak Leaf Cluster. Although temporary company leader Joe Sagami, a first sergeant, twice recommended that Keeble receive the Medal of Honor, he never received it.

South Dakota History

Be sure to read a fascinating article in the South Dakota History journal written by Jon Lauck, John E. Miller and Edward Hogan entitled "Historical Musings: The Contours of South Dakota Political Culture."