Later this month,
The Salt Lake Tribune will publish its Utahn of the Year, and they would like to know how their choice compares with yours. This is their list of candidates:
In alphabetical order:
1. Matt Aune and Derek Jones, whose altercation with LDS Church security guards after they kissed on the Main Street Plaza, stoked the debate over church advocacy against gay rights.
2. Carlos Boozer, Utah Jazz power forward, whether fans like it or not.
3. Dave Checketts, sports entrepreneur whose Real Salt Lake clinched the Major League Soccer title.
4. Tim DeChristopher, monkey wrencher whose bogus bids halted a BLM lease sale. 5. Max Hall, Brigham Young University quarterback with a few choice words for rival University of Utah and its fans
6. Gary Herbert, little known Utah lieutenant governor suddenly elevated to the state's top spot
7. Jon Huntsman Jr., popular Utah governor who President Obama named U.S. ambassador to China
8. Rick Koerber, self-described "Latter-day capitalist" accused of fraud in a scheme that cost investors $100 million.
9. Mia Love, Saratoga Springs mayor-elect and the first black woman to be elected to the position in Utah
10. Nick Rimando, RSL goalie who stopped three shots in the shootout that made his team the MLS champion.
11. Elizabeth Smart, kidnapping victim who confronted her accused kidnapper in court with class and maturity.
12. Brett Tolman, outgoing U.S. attorney for Utah leading high profile prosecutions against Brian David Mitchell, Tim DeChristopher and alleged artifact thieves.
13. George Wahlen, Medal of Honor recipient who died in June.
You might guess which one I suggest - but you have to vote TODAY!!! As the Washington Post noted in their obituary of Major Whalen, when he passed away this last June: He was injured in the eye by mortar shell shrapnel, but he refused to be evacuated and remained to help the wounded. He “defied the continuous pounding of heavy mortars and deadly fire of enemy rifles to care for the wounded, working rapidly in an area swept by constant fire and treating 14 casualties before returning to his own platoon,” read his citation for the Medal of Honor, the military’s highest award for valor. Less than a month later, after shrapnel broke one of his legs, Maj. Wahlen continued to provide medical aid on the battlefield. “I bandaged myself up, took a shot of morphine and crawled over and started helping a Marine that had both his legs blown off,” he later told the Salt Lake Tribune. He said of his decision to stay and help: “When you’ve been with these guys, they’re like family. You don’t want to let them down.”
What you further need to know - After World War II, and his discharge from the Navy, George Wahlen joined the Army and then he followed his “family” to Korean and Vietnam before he finally retired from active service. But he didn't go far from home and family - he went to work for the Department of Veteran Affairs. George Wahlen spent a lifetime of caring for the troops, active duty or no longer serving, in peace and war, until he finally met a foe he couldn't beat, and he died of cancer in the VA Medical Center that bears his name. All the other candidates are worthy in their way. Some for positive reasons, some for rather less positive reasons (and for some, the positive and negative is flexible, based on where you stand on certain issues) but George Wahlen stands out from the perspective of a life of service and dedication, and a quiet courage.
I say vote for George.
WAHLEN, GEORGE EDWARD
Rank and organization: Pharmacist's Mate Second Class, U.S. Navy, serving with 2d Battalion, 26th Marines, 5th Marine Division. Place and date: Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands group, 3 March 1945. Entered service at: Utah. Born: 8 August 1924, Ogden, Utah. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving with the 2d Battalion, 26th Marines, 5th Marine Division, during action against enemy Japanese forces on Iwo Jima in the Volcano group on 3 March 1945. Painfully wounded in the bitter action on 26 February, Wahlen remained on the battlefield, advancing well forward of the frontlines to aid a wounded marine and carrying him back to safety despite a terrific concentration of fire. Tireless in his ministrations, he consistently disregarded all danger to attend his fighting comrades as they fell under the devastating rain of shrapnel and bullets, and rendered prompt assistance to various elements of his combat group as required. When an adjacent platoon suffered heavy casualties, he defied the continuous pounding of heavy mortars and deadly fire of enemy rifles to care for the wounded, working rapidly in an area swept by constant fire and treating 14 casualties before returning to his own platoon. Wounded again on 2 March, he gallantly refused evacuation, moving out with his company the following day in a furious assault across 600 yards of open terrain and repeatedly rendering medical aid while exposed to the blasting fury of powerful Japanese guns. Stouthearted and indomitable, he persevered in his determined efforts as his unit waged fierce battle and, unable to walk after sustaining a third agonizing wound, resolutely crawled 50 yards to administer first aid to still another fallen fighter. By his dauntless fortitude and valor, Wahlen served as a constant inspiration and contributed vitally to the high morale of his company during critical phases of this strategically important engagement. His heroic spirit of self-sacrifice in the face of overwhelming enemy fire upheld the highest traditions of the U.S. Naval Service.
Done.
To even include MOH recipient George E. Wahlen in the same list of riff-raff as overpaid athletes, egotistical politicians, a con-artist, an environmental wacko, some gay "rights" activists, and a famous kidnap victim shows the contempt for the military that seethes in the fevered minds of the left, and the old news media.
Why anyone wastes money paying for worthless newpapers is a mystery to me.
That newspaper is unworthy of the freedom of press that they enjoy, and like most of the leftist cheerleaders for Obama, their circulation and advertising are plummeting.
%#$&*@!+% Newspaper!
8. Rick Koerber, self-described "Latter-day capitalist" accused of fraud in a scheme that cost investors $100 million.
Like TIME Magazine, I guess the person ain't always a good person.
The rest of them? Pfft. Not worth the ink to print their names. As to the Trib being a leftist rag, I concur.