PROF ILE
The War Chief Who Became a Peace Chief Serving as a U.S. Army scout during World War II, Joseph Medicine Crow was rounding a corner in a small French town when he collided with a strapping, young German soldier. Medicine Crow, who was wearing war paint beneath his uniform and had a yellow eagle feather concealed inside his helmet, was not a big man, but he didn’t shoot the enemy. Instead, he disarmed the German with a boot thrust. Throwing his own rifle aside, he overpowered the larger man in hand-to-hand combat. While Medicine Crow was choking him, the German’s eyes rolled back in his head and he gasped “Mama, Mama.” Recounting the tale many years later, Medicine Crow said the soldier’s plea brought him to his senses. “I let go of him and got my rifle back and he became my prisoner,” he told his son, Ronald Medicine Crow. “We sat down, away from all the shouting and fighting, and I shared a cigarette with him.” This exploit is a perfect illustration of not only Medicine Crow’s bravery, but also his profound humanity — a quality that brought him some of the world’s highest honors, as well as the respect of all who met him.
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d’Honneur — France’s highest order of merit — for his service in World War II. According to Crow tradition, a warrior must fulfill four
requirements to be named a war chief. Medicine Crow accomplished all four during WWII: leading a successful war party, touching an enemy
soldier without killing him, disarming an enemy soldier, and capturing an enemy’s horse. Indeed, among his war exploits, Medicine Crow
is credited with capturing 50 horses from a Nazi SS camp and successfully leading a team of soldiers to dynamite German artillery.
PHOTO COURTESY OF MEDICINE CROW ART
A LIFETIME OF HONORS One of USC Dornsife’s most distinguished alumni, Joseph Medicine Crow was a renowned Native American historian and writer, the last war chief of the Apsáalooke (Crow) Nation and its first member to earn a master’s degree. In 2009, President Barack Obama honored him with the nation’s highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, in recognition of his military service and contributions to Native American history. The previous year, he was awarded a Bronze Star and the Légion
