The Ramblings of a Crusty Old Sailor - Honoring Master Sergeant Woodrow Wilson Keeble

Master Sergeant Woodrow Wilson Keeble Hero of Guadalcanal

An athletic man, Master Sergeant Keeble was being recruited by the Chicago White Sox when he was called to duty in WWII. Woodrow Wilson Keeble was a U.S. Army National Guard combat veteran of both World War II and the Korean War. He was a full-blooded member of the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate of the Lake Traverse North Dakota.

In World War II, Keeble served with I Company of the famed North Dakota 164th Infantry Regiment. The 164th Infantry landed on Guadalcanal on October 13, 1942, to help the First Marine Division, which had suffered heavy losses while clearing the South Pacific island of Japanese.

Keeble's regiment of Dakotans was the first United States Army unit to conduct an offensive operation against the enemy in any theater. Despite its ad hoc formation, the Americal Division fought well at Guadalcanal, the 164th Infantry taking on a key role in the defeat of a major Japanese offensive in October 1942. Uniquely, the North Dakotans performed so heroically on Guadalcanal in support of the Marines that they received a Navy Presidential Unit Citation.

After the war Keeble continued his military career serving in the Korean War for which he was recognize with the Medal of Honor. For actions in combat, Keeble received the Distinguished Service Cross, the Silver Star, the Bronze Star two Purple Hearts and the Combat Infantryman Badge. Keeble became the first full-blooded Sioux Indian to receive the Medal of Honor during a White House ceremony, March 3, 2008.

After the Korean War, Master Sergeant Keeble returned to North Dakota and worked at the Wahpeton Indian School. Woodrow passed away on January 28, 1982 at the age of 64.

The Woodrow Wilson Keeble Memorial Health Care Center in Sisseton, South Dakota stands in his honor.