Mitchell Red Cloud, jr. Wins the Medal of Honor

This is the U. S. Army citation for Corporal Mitchell Red Cloud, jr., who won the Medal of Honor for an action on Nov. 5, 1950.

"Rank and organization: Corporal, U S. Army, Company E, 19th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. Place and date: Near Chonghyon, Korea, 5 November 1950. Entered service at: Merrilan Wis. Born: 2 July 1924, Hatfield, Wis. G.O. No.: 26, 25 April 1951. Citation: Cpl. Red Cloud, Company E, distinguished himself by conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty in action against the enemy. From his position on the point of a ridge immediately in front of the company command post he was the first to detect the approach of the Chinese Communist forces and give the alarm as the enemy charged from a brush-covered area less than 100 feet from him. Springing up he delivered devastating pointblank automatic rifle fire into the advancing enemy. His accurate and intense fire checked this assault and gained time for the company to consolidate its defense. With utter fearlessness he maintained his firing position until severely wounded by enemy fire. Refusing assistance he pulled himself to his feet and wrapping his arm around a tree continued his deadly fire again, until he was fatally wounded. This heroic act stopped the enemy from overrunning his company's position and gained time for reorganization and evacuation of the wounded. Cpl. Red Cloud's dauntless courage and gallant self-sacrifice reflects the highest credit upon himself and upholds the esteemed traditions of the U.S. Army."¹

This is from a newspaper, the Clark County Press,²

April 1951: Corporal Mitchell Red Cloud was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor Tuesday, April 3, in the Pentagon at Washington D. C. Dying as a hero, he is the eighth soldier to be awarded the Medal of Honor for participation in the Korean campaign. The presentation of the medal was made to his mother, Mrs. Nellie Red Cloud. The ceremonies took place in the Pentagon at Washington D. C. The medal, presented to the mother, was made by Gen. Omar N. Bradley, chairman of the joint chiefs-of-staff.

The Red Cloud family comes from Hatfield. The family home is on the Winneshiek place, just south of the Clark Co line. Mitchell attended the Indian school at Neillsville; was one of Rev. Ben Stucki’s boys, and is remembered by him as clean and honorable, a splendid representative of his race and a worthy member of the upright family. 

Commentary. The following is taken from the Ho-Chunk Warrior page of the Ho-Chunk Nation Website. "Mitchell Red Cloud, Jr. enlisted in the Marines in 1942 when he was seventeen years old. Following his World War II service, Red Cloud enlisted in the Army. By 1950, the Korean conflict had begun and Mitchell Red Cloud, Jr., then a Corporal, was sent to Korea. On November 5, 1950 Corporal Red Cloud met his death. Prior to that time, Red Cloud had received three Purple Hearts.

Corporal Red Cloud posthumously received the Medal of Honor on April 4, 1951 with his mother Nellie Winneshiek Red Cloud accepting the award from General Omar Bradley.

Red Cloud is remembered for his valor with a Wisconsin Historical Marker, located on Highway 54, a few miles east of Black River Falls, with a large monument at the Decorah Cemetery located at the Indian Mission nearby, and through the christening of a naval transport ship in 1999, the Red Cloud."

Stories: about famous Hocąk warriors and warleaders: How Little Priest went out as a Soldier, Little Priest's Game, The Masaxe War (Hogimasąga), Wazųka, Great Walker's Warpath (Great Walker), Great Walker's Medicine (Great Walker, Smoke Walker, Dog Head, Small Snake), Šųgepaga (Dog Head), The Warbundle Maker (Dog Head), Black Otter’s Sacrifice to a Thunder, Black Otter's Warpath (Dog Head, Black Otter), The Shawnee Prophet — What He Told the Hocągara (Smoke Walker, Dog Head, Small Snake), Big Thunder Teaches Cap’ósgaga the Warpath (Big Thunder, Cap’ósgaga), The Osage Massacre (Big Thunder, Cap’ósgaga), The Fox-Hocąk War (Cap’ósgaga), The Origin of Big Canoe's Name, White Thunder's Warpath, Four Legs, The Man who Fought against Forty (Mącosepka), Yellow Thunder and the Lore of Lost Canyon, The Hills of La Crosse (Yellow Thunder), The Blessings of the Buffalo Spirits, Fighting Retreat, The War of Indian Tribes against White Soldiers (Šųgépaga, Black Otter), How Jarrot Got His Name, Jerrot's Temperance Pledge — A Poem, Jarrot's Aborted Raid, Jarrot and His Friends Saved from Starvation, They Owe a Bullet (Pawnee Shooter).

Notes

¹ "Korean War Medal Of Honor Recipient, RED CLOUD, MITCHELL, JR," Ho-Chunk History Page, in the Ho-Chunk Nation Website.
² Clark County, Wisconsin > Indians > Newspaper Clips > April 1951. Viewed: 3.4.2017.