Category Archives: State

Woodrow “Woody” Wilson Keeble was a warrior who wore a U.S. Army uniform.

Almost six decades after gallant actions in the Korean War and 26 years after his death, the U.S. Army master sergeant received the Congressional Medal of Honor. Keeble was a member of the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate and the first Dakota to receive the Medal of Honor, the highest military honor in the United States for valor in combat.

Keeble was born in Waubay on May 16, 1917. He attended what is now Circle of Nations boarding school at Wahpeton, N.D., and joined the North Dakota Army National Guard. His Guard unit was activated during World War II and he served in I Company of the North Dakota 164th Infantry Regiment. The 164th Infantry fought in the Pacific, most notably at Guadalcanal. Keeble developed a reputation for bravery and skill.

After the war, Keeble returned to Wahpeton, married and worked at the school he attended while growing up.

In 1951, Keeble returned to active duty when the 164th Infantry Regiment was reactivated for the Korean War. For his actions on Oct. 20, 1951, Keeble became a legend.

According to the U.S. Department of Defense, Keeble’s platoon met up with two platoons pinned down by enemy fire coming from three bunkers or pillboxes in a V-formation on a hill. The officers or platoon leaders were wounded or killed in action, so Keeble assumed command of the company. Keeble’s plan was to lead one platoon at a time up the hill to try to destroy the enemy. After the third failed attempt, Keeble decided to go up the hill alone.

But first, he had to eliminate soldiers in trenches in front of the bunkers. He did this and then took out a bunker with a grenade. He moved to the second bunker and destroyed it with another grenade.

The final bunker was at the top of the hill. Keeble lobbed a grenade through the back entrance. The enemy was eliminated.
Allied forces then advanced and secured the hill.

Keeble’s assault on the enemy took two to four hours under heavy fire. He was wounded multiple times with injuries to his chest, both arms and both legs.

After the war, Keeble returned to North Dakota. One lung was removed because of tuberculosis. This triggered a series of strokes that left him partially paralyzed and unable to speak. His wife died but he later remarried.

Keeble received many awards for his military service in World War II and Korea, including the Army’s second highest award, the Distinguished Service Cross.

Over the years, friends and family tried unsuccessfully to have Keeble awarded the Medal of Honor. Recommendations that Keeble receive the Medal of Honor were submitted twice, but each time, the paperwork was lost.

Keeble died in Sisseton on Jan. 28, 1982, at age 64.

The fight to have him receive the Medal of Honor lived on.

When it was determined that the recommendations had never arrived at headquarters, family and friends gathered recommendations from those who had fought with Keeble. U.S. Sens. John Thune and Tim Johnson of South Dakota and Byron Dorgan and Kent Conrad of North Dakota urged that Keeble be posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.

In 2007, the Department of Defense notified the four senators that a statute of limitations would prevent the Medal of Honor from being granted — there was a three-year-window from when the action took place to when the medal could be awarded.

The senators drafted legislation that would grant a waiver of the statute of limitations. This language was included in the funding bill for Iraq that was passed by Congress.

President George W. Bush awarded the medal on March 3, 2008. He said while the tribute came too late for Keeble to see the honor bestowed, his story can still be told and his memory honored.

On March 17, 2008, Gov. Mike Rounds officially proclaimed the date to be forever commemorated as Woodrow Wilson Keeble Day in South Dakota.

A Hall of Honor display honoring Keeble and eight other Medal of Honor recipients from South Dakota is located on the first floor of the west wing of the South Dakota Capitol, near the north entrance. Numerous regional sites also pay homage to Keeble’s memory.

This moment in South Dakota history is provided by the South Dakota Historical Society Foundation, the nonprofit fundraising partner of the South Dakota State Historical Society at the Cultural Heritage Center in Pierre. Find us on the web at www.sdhsf.org. Contact us at info@sdhsf.org to submit a story idea.

Climate models predict a near average first fall frost date for South Dakota as cooler weather moves across the state.

“With cool air moving into the region from Canada the first week in October, it is possible that temperatures will dip below freezing,” said Laura Edwards, SDSU Extension State Climatologist.

She explained that for most of the state, the average first frost is the last week in September or early October. “The long-term trends in this region have been tending towards later first fall frost dates. In the last several years, we have seen first frost frequently occur in October, but also as late as mid-November.”

The latest U.S. Climate Outlook for October, released by the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) September 20, shows the likelihood that southeastern South Dakota could be colder than average.

“Chances are very good that the early part of the month will be cooler than average, which may be enough to tilt the odds for the whole month, even if it turns warmer sometime later,” Edwards said. “The rest of the state has equal chances of colder, warmer or near average in the month ahead.”

A wetter than average growing season is one of the drivers of cooler temperatures, Edwards explained. “When soils are very wet, the air above it is often more humid than usual. Moist air and soil do not heat up as quickly as dry air, so temperatures remain more moderate in moist conditions.”

Looking ahead to October, the precipitation outlook is less certain.

Early in the month, Edwards said the models point to an active weather pattern that may continue with several small systems passing through. Later in the month, there is more uncertainty. “As a result, equal chances of overall wetter, drier or near average precipitation is projected across the north central states,” Edwards said.

However, October’s temperatures are not an indication of what South Dakotans should expect this winter, Edwards said, explaining that a weak El Niño could gradually impact our winter climate. “Historically, this has often meant warmer than average temperatures. The long-lead outlook for October through December is consistent with this pattern. It shows an increased likelihood of warmer than average temperatures for October through December and into 2019.”

The precipitation outlook for the remainder of the fall and early winter is also uncertain this year in our region. “There are no consistent signs of either wetter or drier conditions in computer-generated forecasts. Additionally, El Niño climate patterns have not been consistently tied to wetter or drier winters in the Northern Plains. As a result, the north central states currently have equal chances of these scenarios playing out at the end of this year,” Edwards said.

Climate impact on crops
Cool temperatures and wet conditions will make for a slow corn and soybean harvest season. Excess moisture could reduce quality of some crops. During this challenging time, when the grain market is low, mechanical grain drying may be required to ensure the highest quality seed possible after harvest.

However, for winter wheat growers, some moisture could be beneficial, as planting season is underway. Some of the drier areas in central and northern South Dakota need rainfall to help with germination, so a wetter pattern would be favorable.

At the request of the South Dakota Department of Veterans Affairs, Gov. Dennis Daugaard has proclaimed Friday, Sept. 21, 2018, as “POW/MIA Recognition Day,” calling on all South Dakotans to honor those men and women who fought bravely for our freedoms.

“While we are grateful to all of those who have served our nation, this day is designated to remember and recognize the sacrifices endured by those members of the Armed Forces of the United States who were held as prisoners of war or remain missing in action,” the Governor said. “The state of South Dakota continues to support efforts to account for every service member classified as Missing in Action.”

Larry Zimmerman, Secretary of the South Dakota Department of Veterans Affairs, encourages all South Dakotans to set aside time Sept. 21 to honor the POW/MIAs who fought to protect our freedoms and lost theirs, as well as remember those engaged in today’s struggle to guard our way of life for future generations.

“In their service to our country, former prisoners of war and those missing in action have sacrificed mightily to maintain the promise of liberty that we hold dear,” said Zimmerman. “POW/MIA day affords all of us a great opportunity to reaffirm our vow to never forget the courage of our nation’s staunchest defenders – our former POWs and MIAs. We owe them and their families our gratitude.”

The South Dakota Retailers Association (SDRA) has named Nathan Sanderson of Pierre as its next Executive Director. SDRA is one of South Dakota’s oldest and most-respected trade associations, representing nearly 4,000 members in more than 160 business categories.

Sanderson currently serves as Director of Policy and Operations for Governor Dennis Daugaard.

“It’s an honor to join SDRA and work with a truly exceptional board of directors and staff,” Sanderson said. “I’m looking forward to advocating for South Dakota’s retail businesses.”

As executive director, Sanderson will be responsible for directing SDRA operations and activities; overseeing budgeting, policies, programs, and services; and leading its legislative efforts on a state and national level.

“We’re excited to bring Nathan on as our new Executive Director,” said SDRA Board President Gary Cammack. “He’s a great fit for our team and will be a tremendous asset to our organization.”

A South Dakota native, Sanderson graduated from Lake Preston High School and holds a B.S. in Agriculture Education from South Dakota State University, a M.A. in American History from the University of Indianapolis, and a Ph.D. in History from the University of Nebraska. He will begin October 1.

On Sept. 4, the Rosebud Sioux Tribe held a swearing-In ceremony for recently elected president, Rodney M. Bordeaux; the re-elected vice president, Scott Herman; and 10 Council Representatives. In Previous years, President Bordeaux had also served three terms( 2005-07, 2007-09, 2009-12) and was quick at filling his seven critical staff positions.

President Bordeaux serves as Itancan, chairman of council and is the chief executive of the tribe. In his opening address, President Bordeaux stated that he will work closely with newly re-elected Vice President Herman and each of the council representatives. President Bordeaux said, “We have been charged with a great opportunity to work for our people and the dedication that it takes to do that will be challenging at times, but we can do this together”.

President Bordeaux also expressed his commitment to serving the Oyate. He pledged to increase communication between tribal government and the people, by using all available outlets from social media to traditional newsprint to keep the public informed. The President also plans to visit students at Saint Francis Indian School, Todd County and other schools, where he hopes to inspire a new generation of leaders.

Tina Spotted Calf-Martinez, who has been appointed as the executive assistant to the president, and had previously served as the Department chairwoman for the Lakota Studies Department at the Sinte Gleska University, said on her first day in the office that, “This office is designed to make a difference for our oyate by expecting accountability and being a great role model, along with a healthy approach” .

The president’s office also appointed: Mary Lambert, Administrative Assistant; Leanora Fast Dog, Administrative Assistant; John Spotted Tail, Community Liaison; Sarah Hart, Program Specialist; Nicole Marshall, Executive Administrative Assistant; and Madonna Sitting Bear, Economic Research & Development Specialist.

By Katie Hunhoff

Just imagine that we all dress alike for one autumn weekend in South Dakota. We cook big pots of chili and make ham sandwiches and taverns (or sloppy joes, if you prefer). We invite family and friends and retired baseball stars to go for long walks with us through the fields and weeds.

We bring our dogs and we take rides in the back of grandpa’s old pickup truck. We tell stories and enjoy the sunshine and blue skies of October in South Dakota.

Wouldn’t that be the perfect weekend?

Of course, I am describing the opening weekend of pheasant season. It would be a special occasion with or without six million pheasants. This year, there may actually be even more. Our wildlife experts predict there’s a 47 percent increase. But few of us are counting. This is the 100th consecutive “opening day” in South Dakota and the hunt is no longer all about the birds. It’s a festival of our grand outdoors.

To commemorate the centennial hunt, we devoted much of our September/October issue to stories. We didn’t have to do much hunting. Just about everybody has a pheasant tale.

Senator John Thune told us of the day he was hunting with a group that included Twins slugger Kent Hrbek. They knocked on a farmer’s door to ask permission to hunt, and as it turned out the man was then watching a replay of Hrbek hitting a home run in Game Six of the ’87 World Series.

“He wasn’t that pleased to meet me,” laughs Thune. “But Hrbek got it done for us.”

We learned that the Dunse family of Beadle County has been gathering on the family farm for decades, and it’s really special when all 10 grandsons arrive. They usually dine at the Presbyterian Church supper in nearby Bonilla.

Madison artist John Green remembered hunting with some out-of-staters who had seen horned rabbits at a gift shop before they went afield. Once they reached the corn, a jackrabbit jumped up. It had big ears but no horns so one of the novice hunters yelled, “Don’t shoot, it’s a doe!”

Watertown attorney Lee Schoenbeck wondered if it’s sacrilegious to secretly help the bishop bag a bird. Peggy Schiedel remembered when actor Cary Grant visited her family’s Faulkton farm. Yankton broadcaster Monte James told of guiding a group of Coca Cola executives from Atlanta who hardly knew how to hold the gun.

Rapid City journalist and sage Kevin Woster penned a story about his family’s tradition of meeting at cousin Donnie’s farm. Kevin noted that his brother Jim called everyone last year to warn that the bird numbers were down and to ask who might still be coming.

“Well, is there still going to be some sloppy joes in the tool shed before the hunt?” Kevin asked.

Jim thought so.

And are at least some of the Irish cousins and neighbors going to gather there in the shed and hang out for awhile and swap a few lies?”

Jim was sure they would gather.

“That’s all I need to know,” Kevin said.

One hundred years of South Dakota socialization will be celebrated in October. Toss in a few million pheasants and we’ve got a real party.

PIERRE, S.D. – At the request of the South Dakota Department of Veterans Affairs, Gov. Dennis Daugaard has proclaimed Thursday, Aug. 30 as Veterans Day at the South Dakota State Fair, calling on all South Dakotans to honor those men and women who fought bravely for our freedoms.

At 10:30 a.m. on Aug. 30, the South Dakota State Fair will host a “Salute to Veterans” program. The program will be held on the Northwest Energy Freedom Stage (Recreation Avenue). Susan Iron, Veterans Service Officer for Lincoln and Union Counties, will be the keynote speaker. Special music will be provided by Raptor, commercial musical ensemble of the United States Air Force Heartland of America Band.

“Whether in peace or at war, the important role of our veterans cannot be denied. They are men and women from all walks of life that have one thing in common — a love for this great country,” said Secretary Zimmerman. “No matter where or when veterans have served, they’ve always served with distinction and their service to this country is a bridge that was built on courage, dedication and patriotism.”

Representatives from the South Dakota Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Service Organizations, , as well as county veterans service officers will have informational booths in the Veterans Building on Flag Avenue throughout the week. Veterans are encouraged to stop by the booth and learn more about benefits and programs available to them as well.

To show appreciation for their service, the Fair will give all veterans and active military personnel free gate admission on Aug 30.

“Coughs and sneezes spread diseases as dangerous as poison gas shells.” This saying printed in newspapers of the time may have been as catchy as the disease it was warning against: the Spanish influenza.

The disease claimed more lives than bullets and shells during World War I, which was drawing to a close in the fall of 1918. An estimated 18 million people died in the Great War, according to the National Archives. The influenza epidemic killed an estimated 50 million to100 million people worldwide during a two-year period. One-fifth of the world’s population contracted the deadly virus.

According to the website Stanford.edu, the first wave of influenza appeared in the spring of 1918 at Fort Riley, Kan., where new recruits were trained before being sent to Europe to fight in the Great War. As soldiers fanned out to fight the Great War, the virus made its way around the globe. The disease became known as the Spanish influenza because the Spanish news media was the first to widely report the epidemic. The disease was also called grippe, the three-day fever and other names.

The war brought the virus back into the United States in the fall of 1918 for the second wave of the epidemic. It first arrived in Boston in September 1918 through the port, according to Stanford.edu. According to the National Archives, this time the disease was far more severe than it had been in the spring.

By September 1918, newspapers reported that the epidemic of Spanish influenza was sweeping Army and Navy camps in the United States. South Dakota residents were certainly not immune from the effects of the deadly disease as Spanish flu spread across the nation.

Delo Townsend was a young high school math teacher and principal at Langford in 1918. In an interview that appeared in the Sept. 9, 1976, Fort Pierre Times, she said, “Sometime in October, many people started getting sick with this pneumonia type illness – cough, aching bones and high temperatures. Schools had to close. When it got really bad, my school board decided to turn our high school into a hospital.” There were funerals every day, she said. Some took place outside to keep down the spread of the disease.

“Often hardly anybody dared attend the funerals,” Townsend said. According to an article in the Spring 1987 issue of “South Dakota History,” records of McKennan Hospital (now Avera McKennan Hospital) in Sioux Falls reported 173 cases of Spanish influenza in 1918-1919.

“The high death rate severely taxed mortuary facilities in Sioux Falls … Many local doctors were still in military service due to World War I and were unable to return home to minister to the sick. Entire families often fell ill, and the greatest number of stricken people stayed home, with the strongest helping the weakest through the crisis. Still, the hospital became so crowded that beds were set up in corridors and all other areas where space was available,” stated the article by Susan C. Peterson. Newspaper articles listed symptoms of the disease. They included high fever, headache, general soreness, sore throat, cough and inflamed mucous membranes. While the young and elderly are usually hit hardest by such diseases, those ages 20-40 were the hardest hit by the Spanish influenza.

Across South Dakota and the nation, public gatherings were forbidden. Schools, colleges, theaters, churches, pool halls and other public gathering places closed. Advice in the Oct. 23, 1918, Daily Huronite about how to avoid the Spanish influenza included keeping in good condition; getting as much fresh air as possible; avoiding people with colds; not staying in stores longer than necessary; breathing through a clean handkerchief when around people with colds or when in a crowd; and keeping off the main streets in order to avoid contact with people.

An anti-spitting ordinance was enforced in Rapid City to help stop the spread of the disease. People were arrested or fined for spitting on city sidewalks. By the end of 1918, 1,847 people in South Dakota had died of Spanish influenza, according to the South Dakota Department of Vital Statistics. The four counties with the most influenza deaths were Lawrence with 145, Brown with 118, Beadle with 98 and Minnehaha with 95. Some people with Spanish flu died from pneumonia. The total number of deaths from influenza and pneumonia in 1918 was 2,391.

In 1919, there were 700 deaths from influenza in South Dakota. The flu epidemic came to an end by the summer of 1919. An estimated 675,000 Americans had died during the epidemic.

This moment in South Dakota history is provided by the South Dakota Historical Society Foundation, the nonprofit fundraising partner of the South Dakota State Historical Society at the Cultural Heritage Center in Pierre. Find us on the web at www.sdhsf.org. Contact us at info@sdhsf.org to submit a story idea.

In the United States, Patriot Day and National Day of Service and Remembrance is observed on September 11 of each year in memory of the 2,996 people killed in the 2001 September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon near Washington, DC. Of the 2,996 lost that day, 343 were firefighters and 72 were law enforcement officers.

The U.S. Flag is flown at half-staff until sunset on all U.S. government buildings and establishments throughout the world. Individual American homes are also encouraged to display their American flag.

Additionally, a moment of silence is observed to correspond with the attacks, beginning at 8:46 AM Eastern Daylight Time. That is the time the first plane, American Airlines Flight 11, struck the North Tower of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. United Airlines Flight 175 struck the South Tower of the World Trade Center at 9:03 AM. American Airlines Flight 77 flew into the Pentagon at 9:37 AM. A fourth plane, United Airlines Flight 93, crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania at 10:03 AM after the passengers attempted to subdue the hijackers. Flight 93’s target was believed to have been either the US Capitol building or the White House.

Sponsored by the Winner VFW Auxiliary. Information obtained from Wikipedia

By Sherry DeBoer, Executive Director, S.D. Humanities Council

It is hard to imagine losing the editorial checks and balances that protect our First Amendment rights, our freedom of information.

These rights have been championed throughout history by traditional media outlets, some of whom stood against dictatorial attempts to censor public information. And while the First Amendment is not currently under direct attack, it is indirectly threatened by the potential extinction of traditional media, as digitization continues to divide both our attention spans and our already partisan nation. We must re-establish positive relationships with traditional media.

Bolstered by a grant from the Carnegie Mellon Institution, the South Dakota Humanities Council and the South Dakota Newspaper Association will host a series of “Democracy and the Informed Citizen” public forums this year focused on reinforcing public value for our media.

We must fight for our media the way our media has historically fought for us, such as when the Washington Post battled the Nixon administration to publish the Pentagon Papers in 1971.

At the time, Post Editor Ben Bradlee and publisher Katherine Graham worried about litigation and backlash from President Richard Nixon and the value of their recently offered public shares. But they ultimately reported the ugly truth of the Vietnam War.

The Post decided the public’s right to know what the government was hiding outweighed tangible risks to the paper’s existence. As revenue losses threaten traditional media, we must secure our news ecosystem and its ability to audaciously reveal such wrongdoings. “Democracy and the Informed Citizen” examines the state of news in 2018 and considers ways to move forward as an informed, cohesive democracy.

Traditional media faces an onslaught of new challenges in this frenzied smartphone era: a President who announces his own news via Twitter, accusations of “fake news,” competition from online outlets restrained by neither accountability nor industry standards.

Gaining credibility is no longer as easy as printing a newspaper or broadcasting a signal. Ironically, traditional media outlets are chastised as much as or more than their uncredentialed digital counterparts, some of which earn money by spreading intentional lies. As digital advertising revenue lines the pockets of online publications, newspapers, television and radio stations have no choice but to chase the same online clicks. Meanwhile, truth and accountability trail behind.

By asking “What’s True, What’s False, and What’s Important?” our forums lead us to perhaps the most salient question: how do we know which sources to trust?

During our kickoff event at the University of South Dakota in April, we asked Washington Post editor Martin Baron, a 14-time Pulitzer winner.

The veteran editor’s advice? Think critically.

“If… they’re trying to reinforce your point of view, you should be highly suspicious of those news sources, because …. their purpose is just to tell you that you’re right all the time.”

We’re promoting infoliteracy, a relatively new skill necessitated by our complex digital media era. An infoliterate citizen distinguishes real news from fake news by recognizing and dismissing biased sources.

In 1971, The Post faced factual disputes, as newspapers have since the invention of the printing press, but not the extra layer of mistrust created by “fake news,” which forces readers to sort stories fabricated by agenda-seekers and liars from those written by real reporters.

Graham’s courageous decision to publish led to a Supreme Court decision that the McNamara Report – and its stunning revelation that the government promoted a war it knew was unwinnable – was public property. It also boosted the paper’s reputation.

Democracy depends on us to support news reporting capable of challenging the institutions we depend upon and trust.

We must discern our sources of information.

Ruling in favor of The Post and the New York Times, Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart wrote: “In the absence of the governmental checks and balances present in other areas of our national life, the only effective restraint upon executive policy and power in the areas of national defense and international affairs may lie in an enlightened citizenry—in an informed and critical public opinion which alone can here protect the values of democratic government.”

We hope the 2018 initiative will encourage citizens to value media institutions that are willing to stake their names and reputations on their reporting, and to be part of the “informed and critical public opinion” that makes our democracy special.

Partnership Bringing Democracy Initiative Programming, Forums

As part of a special partnership created to promote the initiative, SDHC and the South Dakota Newspaper Association will host a series of public forums focusing on public trust and the media. The South Dakota forums will feature Pulitzer Prize-winning authors, current and former journalists, journalism professors and others.

In conjunction with this democracy-themed programming, groups around the state will read and discuss the 2018 One Book South Dakota, “Informing the News: The Need for Knowledge-Based Journalism” by Thomas E. Patterson.

SDHC will also host journalism and social media experts at the South Dakota Festival of Books in September led by Patterson, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists Timothy Egan and Jacqui Banaszynski, as well as digital storytelling expert Andy Boyle of Axios and Emmy-winning ABC News correspondent Linsey Davis, who files reports for World News, Good Morning America, 20/20 and Nightline.

We urge you to find and attend an event in your area, and to please support your local newspapers.