Whenever he went into battle, he wore his war paint (two red stripes on his arms) beneath his uniform and a sacred yellow painted eagle feather, provided by a "sundance" medicine man, beneath his helmet.
Medicine Crow completed all four tasks required to become a war chief: touching an enemy without killing him (counting coup), taking an enemy's weapon, leading a successful war party, and stealing an enemy's horse.
He touched a living enemy soldier and disarmed him after turning a corner and finding himself face to face with a young German soldier:
"The collision knocked the German's weapon to the ground. Mr. Crow lowered his own weapon and the two fought hand-to-hand. In the end Mr. Crow got the best of the German, grabbing him by the neck and choking him. He was going to kill the German soldier on the spot when the man screamed out 'momma.' Mr. Crow then let him go,"
He also led a successful war party and stole fifty horses owned by the Nazi SS from a German camp singing a traditional Crow honor song as he rode off.
Medicine Crow is the last member of the Crow tribe to become a war chief.
After serving in the Army, Medicine Crow returned to the Crow Agency. In 1948, he was appointed tribal historian and anthropologist. He served as a board member or officer on the Crow Central Education Commission almost continuously since its inception in 1972. In 1999, he addressed the United Nations,
Medicine Crow received the Presidential Medal of Freedom (the highest civilian honor awarded in the United States) from President Barack Obama on August 12, 2009. During the White House ceremony, Obama referred to Medicine Crow as "bacheitche," or a "good man," in the Crow language.
Medicine Crow continued to write and lecture at universities and public institutions until his death, at the age of 102, on April 3, 2016.
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