A bill to designate a clinic in Montana in honor of the late
Joe Medicine Crow, a celebrated veteran from the
Crow Tribe, is moving forward in the 115th Congress.
The
Senate passed
S.1282 by unanimous consent last Wednesday. Supporters said the bill recognizes the achievements of Medicine Crow, whose actions during World War II earned him a designation as a war chief among his people.
"While fighting against the German forces he led a war party, stole an enemy horse, disarmed an enemy and touched an enemy without killing him,"
Sen. Jon Tester (D-Montana) and
Sen. Steve Daines (R-Montana) said in a
press release.
Prior to his military service, Medicine Crow had become the first citizen of his tribe to obtain a master's degree. He was working towards his Ph.D. before the war and eventually received honorary doctorates from three institutions. Up until his passing in April 2016 at the age of 102, he served as a cultural ambassador for the Crow people.
"Historian, educator, and patriot -- a good man, a bacheitche in Crow -- Dr. Medicine Crow's life reflects not only the warrior spirit of the Crow people, but America's highest ideals," then-president
Barack Obama said in bestowing the
Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor, upon the late veteran in August 2009.
S.1282, if it becomes law, designates the
VA clinic on Spring Creek Lane in Billings, Montana, as the Dr. Joseph Medicine Crow Department of Veterans Affairs Clinic. The bill also recognizes the veterans' Crow name, which was Dakaak Baako.
S.1282 awaits consideration in the
House.
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