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| -Signs, Portents, and the Weather- |
| "Posthumous-Only" Policy for Medal of Honor - Past Recipients have picked up on it... |
| 2009-02-10 |
| H/T The Donovan via Blackfive 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. 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?" If the MoH recipient grapevine's starting to talk about this, I'm guessing it's a safe bet that the Medal of Honor Society will get involved in an official way. It's all well and good for the DoD and the services to want to avoid "cheapening" the MoH, but it's unconscionable to make it a posthumous-only award. |
| Posted by:Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) |
| #11 The LT Cols and Colonels of the Clinton administration are the generals who are out there today. surely the "best and the brightest", right, Mike? |
| Posted by: Frank G 2009-02-10 19:10 |
| #10 Ahem. I pointed this posthumous MOH policy back at least two years ago, as a serious problem. I had been personally sensitized to the issue when MOH recipient, WWII USMC Fighter Ace Joe Foss was detained at Sky Harbor airport, enroute to speak at West Point, because his MOH had pointy metal edges and the Homeland Security personnel had never seen a MOH. Today, there is only 1 living MOH recipient for every 3,000,000 Americans, with fewer every year. And for the rest of their lives, they are the caretakers of that medal. It is more important than anything else they can ever do. While there is no military requirement that even general officers salute the MOH, none would dare to not do so. Military personnel would gladly travel hundreds of miles just to meet a recipient of the MOH, and to see the decoration displayed. The MOH honors not only the recipient, but their family, their community, their State and their nation itself. For the American people to be denied the chance to meet not just a hero, but a symbol of greatness that transcends him as a person, is intolerable. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2009-02-10 19:00 |
| #9 Miss TW - You are absolutely correct in that President Bush would never have tolerated something like that if he was aware of it - but the officers who vet and ultimately approve CMOH nominations came up under Clinton and his ilk. The LT Cols and Colonels of the Clinton administration are the generals who are out there today. Mike |
| Posted by: Mike Kozlowski 2009-02-10 18:53 |
| #8 When I took over as awards officer with the 44th TFS in Okinawa, I replaced the long standing officer that had served while the unit was still stationed in the 'Nam. His work had thickened everyones jackets but he was especially proud of having gotten two Air Medals awarded to Lt. Boris "T" Vamp. "Boris" was the squadron mascot, a fruit bat, purchased at a night market in Saigon. The awards were proudly displayed over his (or her) cage until I left Okinawa in 1977. Sadly, the watering down of the awards process has been going on for a long time. So even more honor is required of those special few awarded the MOH. |
| Posted by: Total War 2009-02-10 14:46 |
| #7 Same goes for the Army/Marine Corps award criteria. Actions that would get a soldier a Bronze Star, might get a Marine, performing the same actions, a Navy Achievement Medal. Army has given out 30,000 + Bronze Stars for OIF. (More than the entire Korean War). |
| Posted by: Boss Cravilet8390 2009-02-10 12:19 |
| #6 It may not sound like Reagan or Bush, but it does sound like a CYA careerist DOD that doesn't want the congressional leadership to have to deal with high profile critics. Remember, for many, for what reason I don't know, it is the Congressional Medal of Honor. I'm pretty sure I have a book of some dramatized exploits using that term in the title from my childhood. Also prevents Michael Phelps moments. Read Pappy Boyington's bio some time. Can you imagine DOD dealing with that today? |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2009-02-10 09:54 |
| #5 If society has no value, then there is no reason to give anyone a Medal of Honor. I think that's part of the problem. Americans are becoming ashamed of their country. Every day Zero says our country is going off the cliff. It's getting hard to have hope. |
| Posted by: Daffy Omurt6938 2009-02-10 08:21 |
| #4 Actions which would have generated Medals of Honor in WWII or Korea now only are found worthy of Silver Stars, or even Bronze Stars. Making it even less consistent, awards like JFKerry's Bronze Star devalue those awards from the bottom so there is NO clear and unique way to honor living heros. |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2009-02-10 07:35 |
| #3 That doesn't sound like former President George W. Bush or former President Reagan, Mike, especially given that he did not respond to the various military-against-the-war types during his time as Commander in Chief. On the other hand, it does sound like former presidents Carter and Clinton. But more importantly, who puts up the names for Medal of Honor recipients: politicians or the military brass? |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2009-02-10 07:03 |
| #2 I ran across a very good discussion on this the other day, and the bottom line was that no politician wants a living MOH recipient to show up and speak out against his/her policy. People may not like the military or those who serve, but they by God KNOW what that medal means, and they listen to those who wear it. Can't have that now, can we? Mike |
| Posted by: Mike Kozlowski 2009-02-10 06:07 |
| #1 Due to the current catastrophe we can no longer afford the monetary stipend associated with such medals which have historically excluded mediocre and unextraordinary service, the disadvantaged, disenfranchized, and the undeserving. Besides, all honor belongs to The One. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2009-02-10 06:02 |