As I mentioned in yesterday's post, I went to a militaria show at Fort Leavenworth this weekend and had a great time, and accomplished some bloggish stuff, too.
Living here in Leavenworth, we have access to some truly significant militaria. Real living history militaria. We have LTC(R) Chuck Hagemeister and COL(R) Roger Donlon. Colonel Donlon recieved the first Medal of Honor for action in Vietnam. He was at the show this weekend, selling his book, but mostly just being there and talking to people and letting the public meet a real public treasure.
And see a Medal of Honor hanging around a Holder's neck, vice sitting in a display case. Like this:
I took the opportunity to chat with Colonel Donlon about the fact that there have been no Medals awarded to a living recipient since Vietnam. 7 Medals have been awarded for post-Vietnam actions. Just to recap those names, because if you read this space, you should probably know them - Master Sergeant Gary Gordon, Sergeant First Class Randall Shugart, Sergeant First Class Paul Smith, Corporal Jason Dunham, Lieutenant Michael Murphy, Master At Arms 2nd Class Michael Monsoor, and Private First Class Ross McGinnis.
After caveating that he has no more access to or influence upon the awards process than you or I do - he basically echoed my sentiment. He, too, reads every Distinguished Service Cross/ Navy Cross/ Air Force Cross citation, and he often asks himself, "Why wasn't this a Medal of Honor?"
And, he said, many of the other Holders he communicates with on a regular basis ask the same question - or worse, "What am I doing with a Medal of Honor when this kid got a DSC?"
So, again I pose the question to the DoD Leadership... "WTF, over?"
On an unrelated topic - Colonel Donlon still has copies of his book available - if anybody would like to get an autographed copy, I'd be happy to broker that with Colonel Donlon.
Living here in Leavenworth, we have access to some truly significant militaria. Real living history militaria. We have LTC(R) Chuck Hagemeister and COL(R) Roger Donlon. Colonel Donlon recieved the first Medal of Honor for action in Vietnam. He was at the show this weekend, selling his book, but mostly just being there and talking to people and letting the public meet a real public treasure.
And see a Medal of Honor hanging around a Holder's neck, vice sitting in a display case. Like this:
I took the opportunity to chat with Colonel Donlon about the fact that there have been no Medals awarded to a living recipient since Vietnam. 7 Medals have been awarded for post-Vietnam actions. Just to recap those names, because if you read this space, you should probably know them - Master Sergeant Gary Gordon, Sergeant First Class Randall Shugart, Sergeant First Class Paul Smith, Corporal Jason Dunham, Lieutenant Michael Murphy, Master At Arms 2nd Class Michael Monsoor, and Private First Class Ross McGinnis.
After caveating that he has no more access to or influence upon the awards process than you or I do - he basically echoed my sentiment. He, too, reads every Distinguished Service Cross/ Navy Cross/ Air Force Cross citation, and he often asks himself, "Why wasn't this a Medal of Honor?"
And, he said, many of the other Holders he communicates with on a regular basis ask the same question - or worse, "What am I doing with a Medal of Honor when this kid got a DSC?"
So, again I pose the question to the DoD Leadership... "WTF, over?"
On an unrelated topic - Colonel Donlon still has copies of his book available - if anybody would like to get an autographed copy, I'd be happy to broker that with Colonel Donlon.
A gentleman named Jackson will be at the Millington, NJ Library (he lives in Millington) in a couple of Sundays to give a little speach and answer questions. He's a Nam MOH and...Yes...I'm going to go shake his hand and chat him up a bit.
It's not every day a person gets to shake the hand of a living MOH.
The gentleman's name is Col Jack Jacobs. Millington library, Monday evening Feb 16.
I think I'm getting too old to type and remember at the same time. Is a challenge.
Born in Brooklyn and living in Queens near LaGuardia Airport as a child, Jacobs moved with his family to Woodbridge Township, New Jersey in the mid-1950s and was a 1962 graduate of Woodbridge High School.[1] He entered military service through Rutgers University ROTC, where he earned B.A. and M.A. degrees, and received the Medal of Honor in 1969 for exceptional heroism on the battlefields of Vietnam. He also holds three Bronze Stars, two Silver Stars, and two Purple Heart Medals. Jacobs was an advisor to a Vietnamese infantry battalion when it came under a devastating fire that disabled the commander. Although bleeding from severe head wounds, then 1st Lt. Jacobs took command, withdrew the unit to safety, and returned again and again under intense fire to rescue the wounded and perform life-saving first aid. He saved the lives of a U.S. advisor and 13 allied soldiers.
Jacobs served on the faculty of the United States Military Academy at West Point and the National War College in Washington, D.C. After retirement, he founded and was chief operating officer of Auto Finance Group. As a managing director of Bankers Trust Co., he led Global Investment Management to $2.2 billion in assets and later co-founded a similar business for Lehman Brothers. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and is the Vice Chairman of the Medal of Honor Foundation. He is also a military analyst for NBC/MSNBC.
Jacobs is married, has a grown daughter and two sons, and he lives in Far Hills, New Jersey. He has also been a resident of the Millington section of Long Hill Township, New Jersey.
What an honor though, John, to have been able to speak to the Colonel!
When I run into Chuck Hagemeister, it's usually in the PX...
Universally, they seem to be modest, humble, and feel somewhat unworthy of the honor they have received [although we know that they damn well EARNED it!]. Just regular guys, who were doing their job to the best of their ability when things got bad.
I have shaken the hands of three of these heroes, two now deceased. It is awesome to merely be in the presence of these heroes.
Our nation must never forget these men, and their deeds, and the deeds of those with whom they fought to protect our freedom.
Thank you, sirs!
He is very much alive and finally got his MoH in 2005.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tibor_Rubin
We've given out Medals of Honor to the following people not already mentioned in this post or the comments to it:
March 3rd, 2008 Woodrow Wilson Keeble (Korea)
February 26th, 2007 Bruce P. Crandall (Vietnam)
July 8th, 2002 Humbert R. Versace (Vietnam)
May 1st, 2002 Ben L. Salomon (WWII)
May 1st, 2002 Jon E. Swanson (Vietnam)
July 16, 2001 Ed W. Freeman (Vietnam)
January, 2001 Andrew Jackson Smith (Civil War)
January 16, 2001 Theodore Roosevelt (Spanish American War)
December 8th, 2000 William H. Pitsenbarger (Vietnam)
June 21st, 2000 20 World War II Veterans (Japanese-Americans denied the Medals due to their ancestry)
PRIVATE MIKIO HASEMOTO
PRIVATE SHIZUYA HAYASHI
PRIVATE FIRST CLASS KAORU MOTO
PRIVATE FIRST CLASS KIYOSHI K. MURANAGA
PRIVATE MASATO NAKAE
PRIVATE SHINYEI NAKAMINE
PRIVATE FIRST CLASS WILLIAM K. NAKAMURA
STAFF SERGEANT ALLAN M. OHATA
STAFF SERGEANT KAZUO OTANI
TECHNICAL SERGEANT TED T. TANOUYE
PRIVATE BARNEY F. HAJIRO
PRIVATE JOE HAYASHI
PRIVATE FIRST CLASS JOE M. NISHIMOTO
TECHNICAL SERGEANT YUKIO OKUTSU
PRIVATE FIRST CLASS FRANK H. ONO
PRIVATE GEORGE T. SAKATO
FIRST LIEUTENANT DANIEL K. INOUYE
SECOND LIEUTENANT RUDOLPH B. DAVILA
STAFF SERGEANT ROBERT T. KURODA
CAPTAIN FRANCIS B. WAI
February 8th, 2000 Alfred Rascon (Vietnam)
July 10th, 1998 Robert R. Ingram (Vietnam)
January 20th, 1998 James L. Day (WWII)
Links to those citations can be found by clicking here.
The survivors had this one saying, "Never Forget", he kept saying it. Then, he said, "He (you) gets it. This doesn't mean we become like the Nazis, but we (Israel) must defend ourselves." I showed him the picture of you at the top of this post. It was funny, he looked around to make sure his wife wife was out of the room, he called me by name. He then said, "This is a man (you) who has a big heart, he has big brass and not on his shoulders - BIG ONES!
This is a response to your comment 9 Feb 2009, 3:36PM. Both of us wish you the very best! You deserve to know!
Grumpy
Just in case any one else is confused, I was referring to Medals as awarded by war - not the actual date of receipt. I'll go tweak the post to make that a little clearer.
Chicago will host the 2009 Medal of Honor Convention, Sept 15-19, 2009.
Visit my photo album tribute:
http://news.webshots.com/album/141695570BONFYl
San Diego, California
http://news.webshots.com/photo/1365052852054062406jIvINm
TetVet68
San Diego, California
Grumpy
From the following website:
http://www.cmohs.org/medal/medal_history.htm
"On December 9, 1861 Iowa Senator James W. Grimes introduced S. No. 82 in the United States Senate, a bill designed to "promote the efficiency of the Navy" by authorizing the production and distribution of "medals of honor". On December 21st the bill was passed, authorizing 200 such medals be produced "which shall be bestowed upon such petty officers, seamen, landsmen and marines as shall distinguish themselves by their gallantry in action and other seamanlike qualities during the present war (Civil War)." President Lincoln signed the bill and the (Navy) Medal of Honor was born."
"Two months later on February 17, 1862 Massachusetts Senator Henry Wilson introduced a similar bill, this one to authorize "the President to distribute medals to privates in the Army of the United States who shall distinguish themselves in battle." Over the following months wording changed slightly as the bill made its way through Congress. When President Abraham Lincoln signed S.J.R. No. 82 on July 12, 1862, the Army Medal of Honor was born. It read in part:"
"Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the President of the United States be, and he is hereby, authorized to cause two thousand "medals of honor" to be prepared with suitable emblematic devices, and to direct that the same be presented, in the name of the Congress, to such non--commissioned officers and privates as shall most distinguish themselves by their gallantry in action, and other soldier-like qualities, during the present insurrection (Civil War)."
"With this simple and rather obscure act Congress created a unique award that would achieve prominence in American history like few others."
Simply put. There have been no *living* recipients of the Medal of Honor for OIF/OEF. Thus far, that is the only war for which that is true.
All Medals awarded to living recipients in the last 10 years have gone to Vietnam and WWII veterans. The issue isn't whether or not the Medal has been given to living persons in the last decade. It has.
But no awards have been made to a living recipient from the campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan, make the GWOT the first (thus far) totally posthumous war, from a Medal of Honor perspective. Korea comes in second, with 70% of the Medals awarded for Korea being posthumous awards.
But, all that said, Grumpy, you did get the big point - it shouldn't be the Medal of Posthumous Honor.
Josh - the lede of the citation answers your question. Here is Senator Inouye's citation:
from where i sit, i was following your line of thought exactly.
(not to try to re-open an earlier thread, but when the next I/R related post goes up, i will make my earlier comments even more explicit so as to eliminate some apparent misunderstanding of my thoughts on the topic. (because forcing someone to capture their thoughts on paper while still in the planning stages is ever so much important)).
Let yourself open the question to the many resources of our Nation's Military. Question, What is the impact of this policy for our LIVING Military Personnel stationed in theatre of operations?
As I understand you, you have the historical, traditional and doctrinal base to answer this impact question. Please remember, I don't expect an answer.
Thank you,
V/R Grumpy