Silver Star
The Silver Star is the third highest military combat award given to a member of the U.S. Armed Forces and is awarded for gallantry in action while engaged in combat against an enemy force. 661 Silver Stars were awarded to members of the U.S. Army for actions of valor during World War I. These American Indians received a Silver Star for their actions in France: Robert Allen (Klamath), Peter Oliver Barnaby (Flathead), William J. Bluesky (Chippewa), Otis Wilson Leader (Choctaw), Joseph Oklahombi (Choctaw), Huckleberry B. Shell (Cherokee), and Angus Oliver Teeple (Bay Mills Chippewa).
Private Joseph Oklahombi (Choctaw) was awarded a Silver Star for his actions at St. Etienne on October 8, 1918. These same actions earned him a Croix de Guerre.
Corporal Angus Teeple (Bay Mills Chippewa) received a Silver Star for his valor in France. “Corporal Teeple distinguished himself by gallantry in action while serving with Company M, 125th Infantry Regiment, 32d Division, American Expeditionary Forces, in action near Sergy, France, 31 July 1918, in crawling forward under heavy machine gun and artillery fire and bringing in a wounded comrade.”
