Korean War veteran from Hoopa attends Medal of Honor ceremony 04/10/2008
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On some nights, Army veteran Lawrence Orcutt has a nightmare about
running across a bare hill. The enemy is shooting at him and he's
carrying ammunition and grenades to a man he called "The Chief."
As he runs back toward his platoon, he crosses a river and falls into
it.
Orcutt's real life memory of this moment during the Korean War has
lodged itself in his life, very much like the grenade shrapnel that is
still in his arm.
"I used to just sit there and deal with my memories myself,"
Orcutt said. A Hoopa resident and a member of the Yurok tribe, Orcutt
recently begun getting treatment with Veteran's Affairs.
Although the memories are apart of his post-tramatic stress, they are
also apart of a moment in history. The man Orcutt was bringing grenades
to was Master Sgt. Woodrow W. Keeble, the first full-bloodied Sioux
Indian to be awarded the Medal of Honor. Keeble was awarded the honor
for his role in the victory at the hill Orcutt still dreams about.
On his own, Keeble took out two enemy machine-gun encampments with
grenades and killed 16 enemy soldiers, saving the lives of the men with
him that day near Sangsan-ni, Korea.
"He was a good man," Orcutt said about Keeble, who Orcutt and
other men called "Woody," or "Chief."
"It was a pretty long raid," he said. "He went right in and
took care of everything."
Orcutt and his wife, Barbara, were two of 250 people invited to witness
the ceremony in Washington D.C. last month. They watched with veterans,
politicians and other Medal of Honor recipients as President George Bush
awarded the medal posthumously to Keeble, who died in 1982. Keeble's
stepson Russel Hawkins accepted the honor on Keeble's behalf.

The story of Keeble's medal spans more than half a century. The
application papers for the honor were lost twice since they were
submitted about 60 years ago. In recent years, efforts began anew and
affidavits from witnesses in his platoon, including Orcutt's, were
collected. Finally on March 3, the medal was awarded, much to the
pleasure of Keeble's family and the men who served with him.
Orcutt and his wife were still teeming with excitement when they talked
about the trip.
"It was sure interesting, " said Orcutt, who has numerous honors
himself, including a Purple Heart. He and his wife talk about their
visits to the White House, the Pentagon and the big buses they traveled
around town in.
"They had these two buses, big fancy new ones," Orcutt said.
"We all got in, they had police cars escorting us ... we even ran
the red lights."
Orcutt said he may have been the only person in attendance who was also
on the hill that day in October 1951. Many of the men he served with and
kept in touch with have already passed away.
His son, Kevin Orcutt, said the experience seems to help his father vent
his emotions.
"Some of the things that he's been going through in getting his vet
benefits has really stirred up those feelings in him," Kevin Orcutt
said. Lawrence Orcutt has been getting treatment for his post-tramatic
stress and for his hearing loss as well. The trip has added to the
recovery process.
"It makes me feel a little better, especially toward Woody, but I
still have my nightmares," Lawrence Orcutt said, adding that he is
glad he started getting help for the stress.
"It catches up with you," he said. "I think if I didn't, I
wouldn't be alive."