Oldest Living Medal Of Honor Recipient Dies

Nicholas Oresco

The following article tells the story of Nicholas Oresco who died this week at the age of 96.

Note the part of the article that says Oresco had no living relatives, so fellow veterans came to be with him during his last days.

You can read his Medal of Honor citation HERE.

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OLDEST LIVING MEDAL OF HONOR RECIPIENT — A WORLD WAR II VET WHO SAID POIGNANT PRAYER BEFORE BATTLE OF THE BULGE HEROICS — HAS DIED

The Blaze

October 5, 2013

The oldest living Medal of Honor recipient has died.

Nicholas Oresko, 96, an Army master sergeant who was badly wounded as he single-handedly took out two enemy bunkers during the Battle of the Bulge in 1945, died Friday night at Englewood Hospital and Medical Center, hospital officials announced Saturday.

READ MORE

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Men like Oresco are taking the Honor Flight every day to visit the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C. But the Obama administration has closed all war memorials due to the budget debate.

In all previous similar government shutdowns, these open memorials have never been shut down.

Then again, there has never been an administration as callous, partisan, and just plain dictator-like as the Obama "regime"....

Posted by:

Charles M. Grist

www.MyLastWar.com

Korean War Chaplain Awarded Posthumous Medal Of Honor

The story of Catholic Chaplain Emil Kapaun is unbelievably inspiring. Please read about this remarkable American soldier below.

What is equally unbelievable is how long it took for Captain Kapaun to be honored.

It is also reported that the Vatican is considering sainthood.

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ARMY CHAPLAIN GIVEN POSTHUMOUS MEDAL OF HONOR

Fox News

April 11, 2013

President Barack Obama awarded the Medal of Honor Thursday to an Army chaplain from Kansas who risked his life dodging gunfire to provide medical and spiritual aid to wounded soldiers before dying in captivity more than 60 years ago during the Korean War.

"I can't imagine a better example for all of us, whether in uniform or not in uniform, a better example to follow," Obama said after presenting the nation's highest military award for valor to a nephew of Capt. Emil Kapaun during a ceremony in the White House East Room.

READ MORE

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Posted by:

Charles M. Grist

www.MyLastWar.com

Army Staff Sergeant To Receive The Medal Of Honor

Staff Sergeant Clinton Romesha

The White House has announced that Staff Sergeant Clinton Romesha, 31, will be awarded the Medal of Honor for “acts of gallantry” during a battle for Combat Outpost Keating in Afghanistan on October 3, 2009.

A large enemy force of some three hundred fighters attacked the base with rocket-propelled grenades, machine guns, mortars and rifles. During the battle, which lasted a full day, Romesha inspired other soldiers with his courage, personal example and leadership.

He killed several enemy troops, was wounded, and still developed a plan to secure major parts of the base. Romesha exposed himself to enemy fire and continued to eliminate enemy positions. He also directed air support that resulted in the destruction of a large enemy force, and he led other soldiers forward to recover wounded and dead American troops. A total of eight Americans were killed.

According to journalist Jake Tapper in his book “The Outpost,” Romesha is “an intense guy, short and wiry.” Tapper said that Romesha was the son of a Mormon church leader.

Charles M. Grist

Author of the award-winning book My Last War: A Vietnam Veteran’s Tour in Iraq

The Extraordinary Story of Medal Of Honor Recipient Roy Benavidez

Master Sergeant Roy P. Benavidez

The following video was sent to me by a fellow Vietnam veteran. I knew about Green Beret medic Roy Benavidez, but I never knew the details of his unbelievable valor in combat. Benavidez died in 1998.

Please take a couple of minutes to learn about a real American hero. This guy makes Rambo look like a Boy Scout:



Direct link to video:  

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=RZ7968BbMnU&vq=medium

I hope you will share this with your friends.

Charles M. Grist
Author of the award-winning book My Last War: A Vietnam Veteran's Tour in Iraq

Marine Veteran Dakota Meyer Receives The Medal Of Honor

Dakota Meyer in Afghanistan

Read the story of Dakota Meyer at this link: http://www.militarytimes.com/news/2011/09/marine-dakota-meyer-prepares-to-receive-medal-of-honor-090611w/ .

We are blessed to have such young men serving America. He will receive the Medal of Honor from President Obama today.

Charles M. Grist
www.MyLastWar.com

Army Ranger Will ReceiveThe Medal Of Honor

SFC Leroy Arthur Petry of the 2nd Ranger Battalion

From the Army News Service:

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WASHINGTON (Army News Service, May 31, 2011) -- An Army Ranger who lost his right hand and suffered shrapnel wounds after throwing an armed grenade away from his fellow Soldiers will be the second living Medal of Honor Recipient from the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

On July 12, 2011, President Barack Obama will award Sgt. 1st Class Leroy Arthur Petry, with the Medal of Honor for conspicuous gallantry. Petry will receive the Medal of Honor for his courageous actions during combat operations against an armed enemy in Paktya, Afghanistan, May 26, 2008.

Petry now serves as part of Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 75th Ranger Regiment at Fort Benning, Ga.

"It's very humbling to know that the guys thought that much of me and my actions that day, to nominate me for that," said Petry, on learning he had been nominated for the medal.

At the time of his actions in Afghanistan, Petry was assigned to Company D, 2nd Bn., 75th Ranger Regiment at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash. Petry's actions came as part of a rare daylight raid to capture a high-value target.

On the day of the actions that would earn Petry the Medal of Honor, he was to locate himself with the platoon headquarters in the target building once it was secured. Once there, he was to serve as the senior noncommissioned officer at the site for the remainder of the operation.

Recognizing one of the assault squads needed assistance clearing their assigned building, Petry relayed to the platoon leader that he was moving to that squad to provide additional supervision and guidance during the clearance of the building.

Once the residential portion of the building had been cleared, Petry took a fellow member of the assault squad, Pvt. 1st Class Lucas Robinson, to clear the outer courtyard. Petry knew that area had not been cleared during the initial clearance.

Petry and Robinson, both Rangers, moved into an area of the compound that contained at least three enemy fighters who were prepared to engage friendly forces from opposite ends of the outer courtyard.

The two Soldiers entered the courtyard. To their front was an opening followed by a chicken coop. As the two crossed the open area, an enemy insurgent fired on them. Petry was wounded by one round, which went through both of his legs. Robinson was also hit in his side plate by a separate round.

While wounded and under enemy fire, Petry led Robinson to the cover of the chicken coop. The enemy continued to deliver fire at the two Soldiers.

As the senior Soldier, Petry assessed the situation and reported that contact was made and that there were two wounded Rangers in the courtyard of the primary target building.

Upon hearing the report of two wounded Rangers, Sgt. Daniel Higgins, a team leader, moved to the outer courtyard. As Higgins was moving to Petry and Robinson's position, Petry threw a thermobaric grenade in the vicinity of the enemy position.

Shortly after that grenade exploded -- which created a lull in the enemy fire -- Higgins arrived at the chicken coop and assessed the wounds of the two Soldiers.

While Higgins evaluated their wounds, an insurgent threw a grenade over the chicken coop at the three Rangers. The grenade landed about 10 meters from the three Rangers, knocked them to the ground, and wounded Higgins and Robinson. Shortly after the grenade exploded, Staff Sgt. James Roberts and Spc. Christopher Gathercole entered the courtyard, and moved toward the chicken coop.

With three Soldiers taking cover in the chicken coop, an enemy fighter threw another grenade at them. This time, the grenade landed just a few feet from Higgins and Robinson.

Recognizing the threat that the enemy grenade posed to his fellow Rangers, Petry -- despite his own wounds and with complete disregard for his personal safety -- consciously and deliberately risked his life to move to and secure the live enemy grenade and consciously throw the grenade away from his fellow Rangers, according to battlefield reports.

As Petry released the grenade in the direction of the enemy, preventing the serious injury or death of Higgins and Robinson, it detonated and catastrophically amputated his right hand.

With a clear mind, Petry assessed his wound and placed a tourniquet on his right arm. Once this was complete, he reported that he was still in contact with the enemy and that he had been wounded again.

After the blast that amputated Petry's hand, Roberts began to engage the enemy behind the chicken coop with small arms fire and a grenade. His actions suppressed the insurgents behind the chicken coop. Shortly after, another enemy on the east end of the courtyard began firing, fatally wounding Gathercole.

Higgins and Robinson returned fire and killed the enemy.

Moments later, Sgt. 1st Class Jerod Staidle, the platoon sergeant, and Spc. Gary Depriest, the platoon medic, arrived in the outer courtyard. After directing Depriest to treat Gathercole, Staidle moved to Petry' s position. Staidle and Higgins then assisted Petry as he moved to the casualty collection point.

Higgins later wrote in a statement, "if not for Staff Sergeant Petry's actions, we would have been seriously wounded or killed."

Petry is the ninth servicemember to have been named a recipient of the Medal of Honor for actions in Afghanistan and Iraq. Of prior recipients, all but Petry and Staff Sgt. Salvatore Giunta were awarded the honor posthumously.

Included among those recipients are Spc. Ross A. McGinnis, Sgt. 1st Class Paul R. Smith, Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael A. Monsoor, and Marine Corps Cpl. Jason L. Dunham, all for actions in Iraq. Staff Sgt. Salvatore Giunta, Staff Sgt. Robert Miller, Sgt. 1st Class Jared C. Monti and Navy Lt. Michael P. Murphy were awarded the Medal of Honor for actions in Afghanistan.

Petry currently serves as a liaison officer for the United States Special Operations Command Care Coalition-Northwest Region, and provides oversight to wounded warriors, ill and injured servicemembers and their families.

He enlisted in the United States Army from his hometown of Santa Fe, N.M. in September 1999. After completion of One Station Unit Training, the Basic Airborne Course and the Ranger Assessment and Selection Program -- all at Fort Benning, Ga. -- Petry was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment.

Petry has served as a grenadier, squad automatic rifleman, fire team leader, squad leader, operations sergeant, and weapons squad leader.

He has deployed eight times in support of the War on Terror, with two tours to Iraq and six tours to Afghanistan.

Petry and his wife Ashley have four children, Brittany, Austin, Reagan and Landon.

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Well done, Ranger...

Charles M. Grist

www.MyLastWar.com

Posthumous Medals of Honor Awarded to Korean War Veterans

From Fox News:

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President Obama To Award Two Posthumous Medals of Honor to Korean War Veterans

by Sarah Courtney

Fox News

April 15, 2011

Nearly 60 years after they heroically served in the Korean War, President Obama will honor two soldiers at the White House next month with the highest military decoration awarded by the United States government.

Private First Class Anthony T. Kaho'ohanohano, and Private First Class Henry Svehla, who both served in the U.S. Army, will receive the Medal of Honor posthumously in a ceremony attended by their families May 2nd.

Kaho'ohanohano selflessly held-off enemy forces solo while his company changed position. After running out of ammunition and grenades, he fought face to face with enemy combatants until his death. In a statement the White House said, "His heroic stand so inspired his comrades that they launched a counterattack that completely repulsed the enemy."

Private Svehla charged into battle while serving in the Republic of Korea, causing many casualties to the advancing enemy. Of his heroic actions, the White House said in a statement, "When an enemy grenade landed among a group of his comrades, without hesitation and undoubtedly aware of the extreme danger, he threw himself on the grenade."

Siblings of Kaho'ohanohano and Svehla will attend the White House and join President Obama in honoring their brothers' service and sacrifice.

Most recently, President Obama awarded Staff Sergeant Salvatore Giunta the Medal of Honor.  He became the first living service member from the Iraq or Afghanistan wars to receive the high award.

The qualifications for medal of honor recipients include bravery above and beyond those of one's comrades as well as risk to one's own life. "There must be incontestable proof of the performance of the meritorious conduct, and each recommendation for the award must be considered on the standard of extraordinary merit," says the White House. For those reasons, most recipients of the highest honor are awarded posthumously.

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Army Staff Sergeant Awarded Posthumous Medal of Honor

SSG Robert Miller Awarded Medal of Honor

From the Orlando Sentinel:

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Fallen hero receives Medal of Honor

By Mark K. Matthews, Orlando Sentinel Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON -- Calling his sacrifice the "true meaning of heroism," President Barack Obama on Wednesday presented the Medal of Honor to the Oviedo family of Army Staff Sgt. Robert J. Miller, who died in January 2008 protecting a patrol of American and Afghan soldiers.

"It has been said that courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point," said Obama, addressing a solemn crowd in the East Room of the White House. "For Rob Miller, the testing point came nearly three years ago, deep in a snowy Afghan valley. The courage he displayed that day reflects every virtue that defined his life."

On hand to accept the military's highest award for valor were his parents, Phil and Maureen Miller, who stood stoically as the decoration was presented and their son's heroism was recounted. Afterward, they stepped outside to read a brief statement on a chilly Washington afternoon.

"We want everyone to know he loved what he was doing. He was good at what he was doing. And he believed he was working for a good cause," Maureen Miller said.

Added her husband: "As a child, Rob was full of energy and constantly on the go, and he enjoyed learning new things. He showed all of us what America's youth is capable of doing when given the opportunity."

Their son is buried in Central Florida; his family moved to Oviedo soon after Robert Miller graduated from high school in Illinois, where he grew up.

Miller, who died at 24 on his second tour in Afghanistan, is only the third service member from that conflict to receive the Medal of Honor. The Green Beret earned the distinction when his team of eight U.S. Special Forces and about 15 Afghan troops, with Miller on point, was caught in a ferocious ambush by insurgents in northwest Afghanistan.

His side outnumbered by 6-to-1 or more, Miller held his ground against a barrage of automatic fire -- calling out positions and helping his fellow soldiers find cover. Then, making himself a target to more than 100 enemies, Miller charged the insurgents in a rush that ultimately cost the life.

"Rob made a decision. He called for his team to fall back. And then he did something extraordinary. Rob moved in the other direction -- toward the enemy, drawing their guns away from his team and bringing the fire of all those insurgents down upon himself," Obama said.

The military credits Miller with killing at least 10 insurgents and wounding dozens more, as well as saving his team. His brothers-in-arms were on hand at the White House ceremony and stood silently and unsmiling when Obama recognized their efforts and fallen comrade.

"One of his teammates surely spoke for all of them when he said of Rob, 'I would not be alive today if not for his ultimate sacrifice,'" said Obama, who then addressed his parents.

"Today and in the years to come, may you find some comfort in knowing that Rob gave his life doing what he loved -- protecting his friends and defending his country."

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Our condolences to his family, friends, and fellow warriors. America is blessed to have such sons....

Charles M. Grist
http://www.mylastwar.com/

Airman Receives Medal of Honor - 42 Years Later

From the Philadelphia Enquirer via Military.com:

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Airman Killed in Laos to Get Medal of Honor

September 04, 2010; Philadelphia Inquirer
 
Richard Etchberger died in Laos in 1968, saving fellow Americans at a top-secret radar station overrun by North Vietnamese commandos.
 
Etchberger, who grew up north of Reading, Pa., was nominated that year for the Medal of Honor. But there was a problem: The United States was not supposed to have troops in Laos. President Lyndon B. Johnson declined to award the medal.
 
On July 7 of this year, Etchberger's son, Cory, received a phone call. "Will you please hold for the president?" a woman asked.
 
President Obama then told Cory Etchberger that his father would finally receive the Medal of Honor.
 
"It's been a long time coming," Obama told Etchberger, 51, of Schwenksville, Montgomery County.
 
Cory Etchberger, who recounted the conversation with Obama, was 9 when his father died at Lima Site 85, which directed bombing missions into North Vietnam and Laos.
 
Richard Etchberger, a chief master sergeant in the Air Force, was selected to work at the radar station and was converted into a civilian employee of Lockheed so his presence in Laos would not technically violate that country's neutrality.
 
The radar station directed 507 strike missions against North Vietnamese targets from November 1967 until March 11, 1968, when enemy soldiers engaged the facility in a fierce battle, according to the Air Force.
 
Under withering fire, Etchberger loaded wounded comrades into slings to be raised into a rescue helicopter before coming aboard himself. He was mortally wounded by an armor-piercing bullet that had ripped through the chopper. He was 27.
 
Etchberger was posthumously awarded the Air Force Cross in a secret Pentagon ceremony. His family, except for his parents, who were sworn to secrecy, was not told what really happened.
 
The mission was declassified years later, but Etchberger was not eligible for the Medal of Honor because of a time limit. In 2008, Congress approved a waiver.
 
His family will attend a White House medal ceremony on Sept. 21.
 
This article is from Military.com.

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Charles M. Grist
http://www.mylastwar.com/

A Legendary Special Forces Warrior Dies - Medal of Honor Recipient Col. Robert Howard

COLONEL (RET.) ROBERT L. HOWARD
Died December 23, 2009

FROM THE U.S. ARMY SPECIAL FORCES COMMAND PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICE
FORT BRAGG, NC 28310

Colonel Robert L. Howard was born on July 11, 1939 in Opelika, Ala. He entered military service on July 20, 1956 in Montgomery, Ala., following in the footsteps of his father and four uncles who had served with airborne units in World War II. He was medically retired on Sept. 30, 1992. He lived his last few years in San Antonio, Texas. While serving with 5th Special Forces Group, he received a direct appointment from master sergeant to first lieutenant in December 1969. His 36 years of military service included more than 33 years on airborne status.

He participated in two movies concerning airborne and special operations missions, both featuring John Wayne. He made a parachute jump on the filming of The Longest Day and as an airborne instructor in The Green Berets.

Military assignments include duty with the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions; 2nd Ranger Battalion; 3rd, 5th, and 6th Special Forces Group; 5th Infantry Division; 7th Corps, XVIII Airborne Corps. He served in the Eighth United States Army and Combined Forces Command. Service in Vietnam included serving with 1st Bn., 327th Airborne Infantry, 1st Brigade, 101st Airborne Division and Special Forces. He was the post commander of Kelly Barracks, Stuttgart, Germany, executive officer of the 2nd Ranger Battalion, and the Mountain Ranger Camp. Howard served a total of five tours in Vietnam. As an NCO, Howard served as a demolitions sergeant. While with Special Forces, he served the majority of his time with Military Assistance Command, Vietnam – Studies and Observations Group, based out of Kontum. During his 58 months of combat, he was wounded fourteen times. Between 1968 and 1969, he was put in for three Medals of Honor. The first nomination was downgraded to Distinguished Service Cross and third to a Silver Star.

President Nixon presented the Medal of Honor to him on March 2, 1971.

Colonel Howard was a distinguished honor graduate of the Ranger Course, Pathfinder Course, and Parachute Rigger School. He received the Outstanding Infantryman's Trophy as Outstanding Infantry Officer of Class 1979-1980 at the Command and General Staff College. He graduated from the National War College, Class 1987-1988.

His military service also contributed to exceptional civilian recognition for service to his nation. He received the Outstanding Youngman of America award 1970; nominated as one of ten Outstanding Youngmen in America in 1971 and 1972; inducted into the Military Hall of Fame, Hoover Institute, Stanford University in 1980; inducted into the Military Hall of Fame, Veterans of Foreign Wars, State of Alabama in 1973; and was promoted to Colonel for Life in 1976 by Alabama State Governor George Wallace and the Alabama State Militia.

His awards and decorations include the Medal of Honor; Distinguished Service Cross; Silver Star; Defense Superior Service Medal; Legion of Merit (three awards); Bronze Star for Valor (three awards); Purple Heart (eight awards); Meritorious Service Medal (two awards); Air Medal for Valor (two awards); Joint Service Commendation Medal; Army Commendation Medal for Valor (three awards); Joint Service Achievement Medal; Army Good Conduct Medal (four awards); National Defense Service Medal; Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal; Vietnam Service Medal; Armed Forces Reserve Medal; NCO Professional Development Ribbon; Army Service Ribbon; Overseas Service Ribbon; Vietnamese Gallantry Cross with Gold, Silver and Bronze Stars; and the Vietnam Wound Medal.

He was also authorized to wear the Army Presidential Unit Citation; Navy Valorous Unit Citation; Army Meritorious Unit Citation; Vietnamese Gallantry Unit Citation with Palm; Vietnam Armed Forces Honor Medal (two awards); Vietnam Civil Action Medal (two awards); Republic of Korea Order of National Security Merit (Samil Medal); Combat Infantryman’s Badge; Expert Infantryman’s Badge; Army Aircrew Badge; Master Parachutist Badge; Pathfinder Badge; Air Assault Badge; Vietnamese Ranger Badge; Special Forces Tab and Army Ranger Tab.

After retirement from military service in 1992, Colonel Bob Howard was employed by the Department of Veterans Affairs. He retired in January 2006 after 52 years of government service.

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Our condolences to Colonel Howard's family, friends, and fellow warriors.

Charles M. Grist
www.MyLastWar.com

The Future in Afghanistan from General Petraeus

The following article from Parade Magazine is written by Colonel Jack Jacobs, my company commander when I was in Infantry Officer Candidate School in 1969. He was an extraordinary young man as a captain then; he has become an expert commentator for NBC and has written his own book about his military experiences. As you will see at the end of the article, Jacobs was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions in Vietnam. He received this award just before our class graduated from OCS.

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He oversees U.S. forces in 20 countries—including Iraq and Afghanistan -
General Petraeus Gives A War Briefing

by Col. Jack Jacobs

published: 11/29/2009 in Parade Magazine

He looks like a wiry, weather-beaten cowboy, a coiled spring with a leather face. He talks quietly, in measured phrases. With a neutral accent you can’t quite place, his speech has a comforting cadence. Still, you can almost feel the dynamic tension in his brain as he pauses from time to time to choose his words carefully.

He is U.S. Army Gen. David Petraeus, the boss of Central Command. He is responsible for everything that happens—or fails to happen—in an area of operations that spans 20 countries in Southwest and Central Asia, including two where American troops face danger and death every day: Iraq and Afghanistan.

As President Barack Obama recently studied his national-security team’s recommendations on how to prosecute the war in Afghanistan, I spoke with Petraeus at his headquarters at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Fla.

Thirty-five years ago, I was an Army captain on the faculty at West Point, and Petraeus was a young cadet there. I remember him well. He was soft-spoken, but his eyes betrayed an intense, almost burning, spirit. I asked him why he became a soldier in the first place, and he said, “I lived not far from West Point and became familiar with its people. They had discipline and were dedicated, and I wanted to be just like them.”

Petraeus graduated among the top 5% of his class and chose to join the infantry. He became a paratrooper and a Ranger and was promoted rapidly. The Army sent him to graduate school, and he earned a Ph.D. from Princeton. In 2000, he was promoted to brigadier general. His subsequent rise from one star to four was extraordinarily swift.

Some critics say that Petraeus has always been voraciously ambitious, with his sights set on the highest rank and responsibility, but the general himself said, surprisingly, “Even at West Point I was never committed to a long career in the Army and instead fell in love with it incrementally.” Whatever his thirst for authority, he is now in charge of campaigns whose outcomes will affect America’s security for decades to come.

Petraeus made no bones about the problems he sees in Afghanistan, where operations are under the command of Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal, who reports to Petraeus and was two years behind him at West Point. “Security has deteriorated in the course of the last two years,” Petraeus said, and he agreed with the assessment of his boss, Adm. Michael Mullen, who is Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, that the situation in Afghanistan is now perilous.

Petraeus acknowledges that after eight years of war against a determined and elusive enemy, many Americans, including some members of Congress, question whether the war in Afghanistan remains worth fighting. Petraeus himself, however, has no such doubts, even as he predicts that the campaign there could last another decade—or even longer.

After quickly ousting the Taliban and its al-Qaeda comrades in 2001, the general explained, the U.S. became preoccupied with Iraq. Afghanistan was ignored, and the enemy returned. Permitting Afghanistan once again to become a homeland for Islamic terrorists and revolutionaries—as it is currently on the verge of becoming—creates too much danger for a large portion of the world, Petraeus said. Like McChrystal, he believes that the U.S. must fight both the terrorists of al-Qaeda and the insurgents of the Taliban—and that doing so successfully will require more troops.

The decision to reduce U.S. forces in Iraq from the current 120,000 to about 50,000 by August will allow some troops to be shifted to Afghanistan, where about 68,000 Americans already serve. But what kind of forces does the U.S. need there?

“Afghanistan is not Iraq,” Petraeus said. “Iraq has had strong central government for a long time. Afghanistan has not.” His view on the nature of power in Afghanistan—namely, that village and tribal traditions are what matter—results in a strategy far less dependent on massive force and more on helping local leaders provide for, and protect, their people. From such a perspective, conventional units like infantry brigades are less useful than special-operations forces—small, nimble, clandestine outfits that can eliminate pockets of terrorists in the most inaccessible places and train local militias to defend themselves.

I asked whether the U.S. has enough unconventional troops to implement such a strategy effectively. “You’re right,” the general replied. “We don’t have sufficient people who are trained in counterinsurgency and counterterrorism. But Secretary [of Defense Robert] Gates has directed an expansion of these forces. It’s a growth industry, and we will get what we require.”

The war in Afghanistan is complicated by the nature of the enemy. Its fighters don’t wear uniforms that identify them as Taliban or al-Qaeda. “There is a wide spectrum of enemy,” Petraeus said. “There are a few true believers, but there are many others who support the enemy only because they feel threatened or intimidated and are just trying to survive.”

Any strategy the U.S. puts in place in Afghanistan will be affected by the problems of its neighbor, Pakistan, a nation that is politically fragmented, culturally divided, unable to control large swaths of territory within its own borders—and armed with nuclear weapons.

“I used to think that Iran was the most dangerous place on earth,” I told Petraeus, “but now I’m not so sure. It’s probably Pakistan.”

He reflected silently for a long moment. “To be sure,” he said finally, “Pakistan is dangerous. But something happened about six months ago that may improve security in the region for a long time to come. The Pakistani military, government, and clergy joined hands and dedicated themselves to the elimination of security threats inside Pakistan.”

After the U.S. invasion in 2001, Petraeus went on, the Taliban fled Afghanistan for the lawless tribal territories of neighboring Pakistan. There, its fighters lived largely undisturbed. Eventually, they began to operate openly and with ease. In April, they captured Buner, a district of 500,000 people only 60 miles from Islamabad, Pakistan’s capital. Though ultimately routed from the area, the Taliban’s resurgence was a wake-up call to Pakistan’s fractured leadership.

At the time of my conversation with Petraeus, Pakistan’s army was on the offensive in South Waziristan, a border province insurgents use as a staging area for attacks on Americans in Afghanistan. Thus far, the results on the battlefield had been good, but the Taliban was retaliating with deadly suicide bombings designed to weaken Pakistan’s resolve.

“The Pakistanis should be commended for their courage,” Petraeus said. Yet his statement begged the question of how long Pakistan’s fortitude can persist in the face of increasing carnage. Weakness in Pakistan will make Petraeus’ job in Afghanistan extremely difficult, perhaps even impossible.

Once the President settles on a strategy for Afghanistan, I asked, what will America need, besides more troops and good intelligence? “Time,” Petraeus replied, “and, as General McChrystal observed, lots of humility.”

Petraeus was deeply moved by an occasion in July 2008 when he presided over the simultaneous re-enlistment of hundreds of U.S. troops. Many had already served three tours in combat and were facing yet another separation from family and friends. “I don’t think I will ever forget the strength of their commitment to service and sacrifice,” he said.

I have met many generals and admirals. Many have often been outspoken, opinionated, and occasionally impolitic, especially in difficult circumstances. David Petraeus seems different. While all professed a love of their nation, Petraeus echoed my own experience and that of many other combat veterans.

“We fight to defend the country, and we fight to accomplish the mission,” he said. “But most of all, especially when combat is most difficult and dangerous, we fight for each other.”

Col. Jack Jacobs (U.S. Army, ret.) is the author of “If Not Now, When?: Duty and Sacrifice in America’s Time of Need” and the on-camera military analyst for NBC. He received the Medal of Honor in 1969 for bravery in combat in Vietnam.

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If you put a man in charge because you have faith in his leadership abilities, then LET HIM LEAD. General Petraeus has stated his plan for Afghanistan. Considering his success in Iraq, he should be given the chance to carry out his strategy in Afghanistan as well.

Charles M. Grist
www.MyLastWar.com

Lewis Millett Dies at 88 - Awarded the Medal of Honor

We have lost another great American warrior. The Washington Post tells the story of Medal of Honor winner Lewis L. Millett, who died on November 14.

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Lewis L. Millett, 88
Daring soldier was awarded Medal of Honor

By Adam Bernstein
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Lewis L. Millett, 88, a career Army officer who was briefly and somewhat misleadingly court-martialed for desertion during World War II and went on to receive the Medal of Honor for leading a bayonet charge during the Korean War, died Nov. 14 at a veterans hospital in Loma Linda, Calif. He had congestive heart failure.

Col. Millett, who sported a red handlebar mustache, cut an audacious and unconventional path during his 35 years of military service. He led daring attacks in two wars and was instrumental in starting a reconnaissance commando school to train small units for covert operations in Vietnam.

He also was an Army deserter. He later said he had been so eager to "help fight fascism and Hitler" that he left an Air Corps gunnery school in mid-1941 -- months before the U.S. entry into World War II -- to enlist with the Canadian army and go overseas. He manned an antiaircraft gun during the London blitz before rejoining the U.S. Army, which had by that time declared war and apparently was not being overly meticulous in its background checks.

As an antitank gunner in Tunisia, he earned the Silver Star after he jumped into a burning ammunition-filled halftrack, drove it away from allied soldiers and leapt to safety just before the vehicle exploded. Not long after, he shot down a German Messerschmitt Me-109 fighter that was strafing Allied troops. Col. Millett, who was firing from machine guns mounted on a halftrack, hit the pilot through the windshield.

He had fought his way through Italy, participating in the campaigns at Salerno and Anzio, when his paperwork caught up with him. A superior officer told him that he was being court-martialed for his desertion to Canada and that his punishment was $52. He also received a battlefield promotion for fearlessness in combat.

His letters back home were unfiltered epithets aimed at the chain of command. "Letters were censored in World War II, and the next thing I knew I was standing before the battery commander," he told the journal Military History. "He told me that the War Department had ordered three times that I be court-martialed. They finally did it to prevent someone from really throwing the book at me later. Then a few weeks later they made me a second lieutenant! I must be the only Regular Army colonel who has ever been court-martialed and convicted of desertion."

During the Korean War, he received the military's highest awards for valor, including the Medal of Honor and the Distinguished Service Cross, for two bayonet charges he led as a company commander in February 1951.

"We had acquired some Chinese documents stating that Americans were afraid of hand-to-hand fighting and cold steel," he told Military History. "When I read that, I thought, 'I'll show you, you sons of bitches!' "

He was awarded the Medal of Honor for leading a charge up Hill 180 near Soam-Ni on Feb. 7. When one of his platoons was pinned down by heavy fire, he placed himself at the head of two other platoons and ordered the men to charge up the hill.

According to his Medal of Honor citation, he bayoneted several enemy soldiers and lobbed grenades in their direction while rallying his men to fight. Grenade fragments pierced Col. Millett's shin, but he refused medical evacuation.

"Despite vicious opposing fire, the whirlwind hand-to-hand assault carried to the crest of the hill," the Medal of Honor citation read. "His dauntless leadership and personal courage so inspired his men that they stormed into the hostile position and used their bayonets with such lethal effect that the enemy fled in wild disorder."

Charles H. Cureton, director of Army museums at the U.S. Army Center of Military History, said that Col. Millett's intimidating, close-combat bayonet charge was "very unusual. By the time you get to the Second World War, the range of lethality of weapons is such that a bayonet charge is very hazardous."

Lewis Lee Millett was born Dec. 15, 1920, in Mechanic Falls, Maine, and grew up with his mother in South Dartmouth, Mass., after his parents divorced. After his Korean War service, he went through Ranger training at Fort Benning, Ga., and was assigned to the 101st Airborne Division as an intelligence officer. He later was sent to Vietnam as a military adviser to a controversial intelligence program called Phoenix, which killed thousands of suspected Viet Cong and their sympathizers in an effort to destroy the Viet Cong infrastructure in towns and villages.

He said he retired in 1973 because he was convinced that the United States had "quit" in Vietnam. He championed the return of U.S. prisoners of war from Vietnam and then worked as a deputy sheriff in Trenton, Tenn., before settling in the San Jacinto Mountains resort village of Idyllwild, Calif., across the street from an American Legion post.

His first marriage, to the former Virginia Young, ended in divorce. His second wife, Winona Williams Millett, died in 1993. Survivors include three children from his second marriage, L. Lee Millett Jr. and Timothy Millett, both of Idyllwild, and Elizabeth Millett of Nevada; three sisters; a brother; and four grandchildren.

A son from his second marriage, Army Staff Sgt. John Millett, died in the 1985 airplane crash in Gander, Newfoundland, that killed more than 240 U.S. service members returning from a peacekeeping mission in the Middle East.

Reflecting on his career, Col. Millett once told an interviewer: "I believe in freedom, I believe deeply in it. I've fought in three wars, and volunteered for all of them, because I believed as a free man, that it was my duty to help those under the attack of tyranny. Just as simple as that."

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An inspiring story about a man who was a legend among his fellow warriors. Our condolences to Colonel Millett's family and friends.

Charles M. Grist
www.MyLastWar.com

Medal of Honor Long Overdue for Heroic Hawaiian

The Medal of Honor will likely finally be awarded to this heroic Hawaiian warrior. His story is inspiring in every way. Where do we find such men?

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Medal of Honor Likely for Isle Man

October 28, 2009
Knight Ridder/Tribune

A Maui man who gave his life in a one-man stand during the Korean War against "overwhelming numbers" of enemy troops so fellow Soldiers could survive," is expected to be approved today for the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest military award.

The addition of Army Pfc. Anthony T. Kahoohanohano's name to the Medal of Honor roll represents a decadelong effort by his family and Hawaii lawmakers to upgrade the Distinguished Service Cross he received and to give him the recognition they say he deserves.

Kahoohanohano, who was with Company H, 2nd Battalion, 17th Infantry Regiment, of the 7th Infantry Division, was in charge of a machine gun squad supporting a company of Soldiers as a much larger enemy force advanced in the vicinity of Chup'a-ri, Korea, on Sept. 1, 1951.

Fight to the Death

According to his posthumously awarded Distinguished Service Cross citation, as the men fell back, Kahoohanohano -- although already wounded in the shoulder -- ordered his squad to a more defensible position while he gathered grenades and returned alone to the machine gun post.

As enemy troops tried to overrun Kahoohanohano's position, the 21-year-old from Wailuku fought back with bullets, grenades and then his hands, according to the citation.

"Private Kahoohanohano fought fiercely and courageously, delivering deadly accurate fire into the ranks of the onrushing enemy" until he was killed, the citation states.

A counterattack was launched, and the U.S. troops found 11 dead enemy Soldiers in front of Kahoohanohano's position, and two in the gun emplacement itself who had been beaten to death with an entrenching tool.

The Distinguished Service Cross was presented to the Soldier's family on Maui in 1952.

The Medal of Honor award is expected to be approved today with President Obama's signing of the 2010 National Defense Authorization Act in the White House Rose Garden.

The upgrade of Kahoohanohano's recognition for valor represents a 10-year quest by the family started by Abel Kahoohanohano Sr., one of Anthony's brothers, and taken up by Abel's son, George Kahoohanohano, after his father died.

A 10-year Effort

A recommendation for a Medal of Honor was made by the late U.S. Rep. Patsy Mink in 2001 but the request was denied by the Army. U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, then took up the cause.

George Kahoohanohano said his uncle's actions "more than earned the Medal of Honor."

Then-Army Secretary Pete Geren wrote to Akaka in March saying that after giving the request "careful, personal consideration, I have determined that the Medal of Honor is the appropriate award to recognize Private First Class Kahoohanohano's heroic actions."

All six Kahoohanohano brothers served in the military -- four in the active duty Army, one in the Marines and another in the National Guard.

Madeline Kahoohanohano remembered Anthony, her brother-in-law, as a fearless man of his word. The son of a police officer, he was a football and basketball standout at St. Anthony's School for Boys.

"He didn't seem to be afraid of anyone," Madeline Kahoohanohano said. "He always was a toughie. He always used to stand up -- even for his younger brothers. He would step up and protect his younger brothers."

From Knight Ridder/Tribune

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Charles M. Grist
www.MyLastWar.com

Soldier Receives Posthumous Medal of Honor for Actions in Afghanistan

The Army News Service is reporting on the first soldier to receive the Medal of Honor for actions during Operation Enduring Freedom, SFC Jared Monti (above photo):

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First Soldier to receive Medal of Honor for valor in Afghanistan

WASHINGTON (Army News Service, July 24, 2009) -- Sgt. 1st Class Jared Monti, who was killed in Afghanistan June 21, 2006, will receive the Medal of Honor for his valor in combat, the White House has announced.

President Barack Obama is scheduled to award Monti's Medal of Honor Sept. 17, to his parents in a White House ceremony. His father Paul Monti currently lives in Raynham, Mass., where his son was born and raised.

Monti, 30, was assigned to 3rd Squadron, 71st Cavalry, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, when he was killed in Gowardesh, Afghanistan, in a battle with enemy forces using small arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades. He displayed immeasurable courage and uncommon valor, according to the White House release, which goes on to say he sacrificed his own life in an effort to save his comrade.

Monti was born Sept. 20, 1975, and graduated from Bridgewater-Raynham High School. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in March 1993. He attended Basic Training and Advanced Individual Training at Fort Sill, Okla.

His previous military decorations include: the Bronze Star, Purple Heart, five Army Commendation Medals, four Army Achievement Medals, three Good Conduct Medals, and three National Defense Service Medals.

He was posthumously promoted to sergeant first class.

Monti will become the sixth servicemember to receive the Medal of Honor during operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and the first Soldier to receive the nation's highest award for valor in Afghanistan.

Navy Lt. Michael Murphy is the only other servicemember to receive the Medal of Honor for actions in Afghanistan.

The Army's Sgt. 1st Class Paul Smith and Spc. Ross McGinnis have received the Medal of Honor for actions in Iraq.

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Charles M. Grist
www.TheCobraTeam.com
www.AmericanRanger.blogspot.com

Navy Launches USS Jason Dunham in Honor of Heroic Marine

The Navy is honoring the first Marine to win the Medal of Honor since Vietnam. The following article from the Associated Press tells the story:

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Navy's newest destroyer to carry name of Marine who died protecting his comrades in Iraq

DAVID SHARP
Associated Press Writer

BATH, Maine (AP) — Marines flushing out Iraqi insurgents after an ambush came upon a column of vehicles. A van with a father and son. A pickup truck. A tractor. A BMW with a couple of sheiks. And a Toyota Land Cruiser with four young men, all of them insurgents.

As Marines began searching the vehicles, the driver of the Land Cruiser jumped out and attacked Cpl. Jason Dunham. The two men tumbled onto the dirt road. Two Marines ran up to assist but Dunham cried out, "No, no, no, watch his hand!"

A grenade exploded, rocking the narrow street.

Dunham, 22, of Scio, N.Y., mortally wounded as he saved his comrades that day, will be honored Saturday at the christening of the Navy's newest destroyer, the USS Jason Dunham. The young corporal who threw his Kevlar helmet and his body onto the grenade became the first Marine since the Vietnam War to receive the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest military honor.

His mother, Deb Dunham, said she can't think of a greater tribute.

"It keeps his name alive and his memory alive. And that, as a parent, is what's important, so that people don't forget what our men and women are doing with the fight for freedom in Iraq and Afghanistan. There is a cost to pay," Deb Dunham said.

Deb Dunham, who'll christen the ship with champagne at Bath Iron Works, will be joined by her husband Dan and their other three children.

Dunham's company commander, Maj. Trent Gibson, and other Marines who served with him in Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines, will attend.

First Sgt. John Ferguson, who heard Dunham's last words before the grenade blast, saw the insurgent and the three Marines sprawled on the ground when the dust settled that April 14, 2004.

"I thought for sure all four were dead," he said. Amazingly, though, Lance Cpl. William Hampton and Pfc. Kelly Miller, both suffering burns and shrapnel wounds, rose to their feet. Dunham never regained consciousness and died eight days later.

While Dunham's name will always be synonymous with his actions on April 14, 2004, his parents remember a young man who wasn't perfect, growing up in the small town in western New York. He excelled at sports but wasn't the best student. He often forgot to take the trash out, they said.

But he always had a tendency to look out for others.

"Jason had the biggest heart on this planet. He was always looking out for everybody else and their welfare. When they were sad, he would make them laugh. He was that way all through his childhood growing up, and in the Marine Corps also," Dan Dunham said.

He was an unlikely choice for squad leader because he hadn't seen combat. But Ferguson, who selected him, liked what he saw: "He didn't brag or boast about his abilities. He never yelled. In fact, the whole time I knew him he only yelled once or twice. He led by example."

Dunham took his role as squad leader seriously. He extended his enlistment so he could serve a full combat tour with his fellow Marines, and he vowed to make sure his squad made it home alive.

The rest of them did.

The Iraqi insurgency was gaining momentum when Dunham's unit arrived in Iraq's dangerous Anbar Province and set up shop in 2004 near the Syrian border.

Kilo Company lost its first Marine on April 9 in an ambush, so the troops were already on edge five days later when they heard explosions while on patrol in Karabilah. The battalion commander's convoy had been ambushed, so Dunham's unit set off to engage the enemy.

His squad came across a line of vehicles fleeing and decided to search them.

The old Land Cruiser was of particular interest because it had four young men in it. Miller got there first, and three Iraqis hopped out and fled, Gibson said.

Then the driver jumped out and attempted to choke Dunham. Dunham drove his knee into the man, and they fought on the ground. Miller struck the man with a telescoping baton and tried to put him in a choke hold, to no avail. Hampton, too, charged to the scene. No one but Dunham saw the grenade before the blast. Afterward, the suicide bomber got to his feet and was shot dead.

Later, Gibson, the company commander, returned to the bloody scene and found pieces of Dunham's helmet. He also found the pin from a grenade on the ground, next to the attacker's body. Another hand grenade and weapons including rocket-propelled grenade launchers were discovered in the Land Cruiser.

Dunham's response was not by the book. Marines are taught to hit the deck, facing away, to minimize shrapnel wounds from a grenade, Gibson said.

But Dunham had his own ideas. He'd told fellow Marines he thought the best approach would be to cover the grenade with the helmet and bullet-proof body armor, they said. In fact, he even demonstrated the technique. Little did he know that he'd employ the technique two weeks later.

"Dunham had thought about it quite a bit. He decided that you could cover it with your helmet to help diffuse the blast," Gibson said.

Dunham, whose Medal of Honor was announced in 2006, is one of four soldiers to receive the medal for actions in Iraq.

Gibson said Dunham's example serves as an inspiration to Marines.

"More than just being written up for a medal, it's really what kind of example he set in sacrificing himself, in committing himself so completely to the protection of his Marines," Gibson said.

The USS Jason Dunham will go to sea with several mementoes donated by his family, including his dress blue uniform and a baseball bat. The warship carries the motto: "Semper Fidelis, Semper Fortis," which is Latin for "Always Faithful, Always Strong."

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The motto above says it all...

Charles M. Grist
www.TheCobraTeam.com
www.AmericanRanger.blogspot.com

Colonel Bud Day - Ex-POW & Recipient of the Medal of Honor - On Torture

A lesson in "torture" from Colonel Bud Day. This was sent to me by a fellow Vietnam veteran:

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The prelude to the comments below, from Colonel Bud Day, Medal of Honor recipient - prisoner of war survivor:

"I didn't expect to be reminded of my treatment some 36 years ago on this holiday weekend but our politicians find it worthy to ignore what some have tried to recount to them, who have actually been there."

I was shot down over North Vietnam in 1967...a squadron commander.

After I returned in 1973, I published two books that dealt a lot with "real torture" in Hanoi. Our make believe president is branding our country as a bunch of torturers when he has no idea what torture is.

As for me..put thru a mock execution because I would not respond...pistol whipped on the head...same event. Couple of days later...hung by my feet all day. I escaped and got recaptured a couple of weeks later...I got shot and recaptured. Shot was okay...what happened after was not.

They marched me to Vinh...put me in the rope trick, trick...almost pulled my arms out of the sockets. Beat me on the head with a little wooden rod until my eyes were swelled shut, and my unshot, unbroken hand a pulp.

Next day hung me by the arms...rebroke my right wrist...wiped out the nerves in my arms that control the hands..rolled my fingers up into a ball. Only left the slightest movement of my left forefinger. So I started answering with some incredible lies.

Sent me to Hanoi strapped to a barrel of gas in the back of a truck.

Hanoi...on my knees...rope trick again. Beaten by a big fool.

Into leg irons on a bed in Heartbreak Hotel.

Much kneeling--hands up at Zoo.

Really bad beating for refusing to condemn Lyndon Johnson.

Several more kneeling events. I could see my knee bone thru kneeling holes.

There was an escape from the annex to the Zoo. I was the Senior Officer of a large building because of escape...they started a mass torture of all commanders.

I think it was July 7, 1969...they started beating me with a car fan belt. In first two days I took over 300 strokes...then stopped counting because I never thought I would live thru it.

They continued day-night torture to get me to confess to a non-existent part in the escape. This went on for at least 3 days. On my knees...fan belting...cut open my scrotum with fan belt stroke...opened up both knee holes again. My fanny looked like hamburger...I could not lie on my back.

They tortured me into admitting that I was in on the escape...and that my two room-mates knew about it.

The next day I denied the lie.

They commenced torturing me again with 3, 6, or 9 strokes of the fan belt every day from about July 11 or 12th...to 14 October 1969. I continued to refuse to lie about my roommates again.

Now, the point of this is that our make-believe president has declared to the world that we ( U.S. ) are a bunch of torturers. Thus it will be okay to torture us next time when they catch us...because that is what the U.S. does.

Our make-believe president is a know nothing fool who thinks that pouring a little water on some one's face, or hanging a pair of womens pants over an Arabs head is TORTURE. He is a meathead.

I just talked to MOH holder Leo Thorsness who was also in my squad in jail...as was John McCain...and we agree that McCain does not speak for the POW group when he claims that Al Gharib was torture...or that "water boarding" is torture.

Our president and those fools around him who keep bad mouthing our great country are a disgrace to the United States. Please pass this info on to Sean Hannity. He is free to use it to point out the stupidity of the claims that water boarding...which has no after effect...is torture. If it got the Arab to cough up the story about how he planned the attack on the twin towers in NYC...hurrah for the guy who poured the water.

BUD DAY, MOH

George Everett "Bud" Day (born February 24, 1925) is a retired U.S. Air Force Colonel and Command Pilot who served during the Vietnam War. He is often cited as being the most decorated U.S. service member since General Douglas MacArthur, having received some seventy decorations, a majority for actions in combat. Day is a recipient of the Medal of Honor.

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It's always nice to hear someone tell it like it is; especially when that person has "been there, done that".

By the way, the same people who did this to Bud Day are still in charge in Hanoi, Vietnam. Yet there are those who want to be "pals" with these animals. I still can't understand why any war veteran would want to visit Vietnam and break bread with such scumbags.

Charles M. Grist
www.TheCobraTeam.com
www.AmericanRanger.blogspot.com

Medal of Honor Recipient Finally Buried in Arlington

Here is an inspiring story about one of America's heroes:

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Washington Post
November 13, 2008
Pg. B1

A Hero's Long Journey To Arlington

For Family, Burial Ends an 'Injustice'

By Mark Berman, Washington Post Staff Writer

Army Sgt. Cornelius H. Charlton was two months shy of his 22nd birthday when his platoon tried to take a hill near Chipo-Ri, South Korea. The platoon leader was wounded, so Charlton took command.

He rallied his men, who had suffered heavy casualties, and led the next assault, only to be pushed back again. Despite a severe chest wound, he refused medical attention and led another charge. He alone eliminated the remaining enemy emplacement, though he had been hit again by a grenade. His wounds led to his death June 2, 1951.

The next year, Charlton was awarded the Medal of Honor, reserved for the "bravest of the brave," and he was supposed to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery. But it didn't happen.

Until yesterday.

No one knows exactly why it took 57 years for Charlton to receive his hero's burial in the nation's cemetery. But yesterday, all that mattered was that more than 150 friends, relatives and others gathered for the long-awaited ceremony.

Charlton is the only black Medal of Honor recipient from the Korean War buried at Arlington; there are 15 other black Medal of Honor recipients buried there. Medal of Honor winners automatically qualify for burial at Arlington.

"This was a historical moment, not only for the family but also for myself," said Bob Gumbs, a veteran and one of the many people who worked to get Charlton buried at Arlington. "It's really a culmination of a series of events. . . . It's the culmination of a long effort."

Charlton's niece, Zenobia Penn, said she grew up hearing stories about her uncle "Connie," the good guy, the nice guy. But the conversation would inevitably shift to "the injustice of him not being buried in Arlington Cemetery," said Penn, 57, of New London, Conn.

According to family history, relatives had received Charlton's medal and were in a caravan, on their way to Arlington Cemetery, with a horse-drawn buggy carrying the flag-covered coffin, Penn said.

"As they were approaching Arlington Cemetery, they were stopped by some folks in pickup trucks with shotguns, pointing at them and telling them he wasn't going to be buried there," Penn said. "They were just racists. They weren't military. They weren't Arlington representatives. They were just racists. They didn't want to celebrate -- it wasn't time yet for the South to celebrate a black military hero."

Penn's grandparents buried Charlton in Pocahontas, Va., just across the border from West Virginia. In 1989, the Congressional Medal of Honor Society and the American Legion made arrangements for him to be buried at the American Legion cemetery in Beckley, W.Va., where he remained until this week.

Charlton was honored in other ways. The Navy christened the USNS Charlton in 1999. There is a Charlton Memorial Bridge in West Virginia and a Charlton Gardens in New York.

Charlton Gardens is in the Bronx, where Charlton lived before enlisting. New York City named the property in his honor the year after he died. The city Department of Parks and Recreation Web site says Charlton "was barred from burial in Arlington National Cemetery because he was African-American."

Arlington Superintendent John Metzler said credentials, not skin color, are what matter at Arlington. He said no soldier has been barred because of race. "We have always buried soldiers and race was never a question," Metzler said.

Arlington historian Tom Sherlock said African Americans were buried at the cemetery within days of its opening May 13, 1864. Members of what were then called the "United States Colored Troops" were buried in Section 27, right over the hill from Section 40, where Charlton was buried yesterday.

The separate-sections policy ended after President Harry S. Truman desegregated the armed forces with Executive Order 9981 on July 25, 1948.

Sherlock said he doesn't doubt that the family might have encountered hostility on the way to the cemetery in the 1950s. But yesterday's burial was a "victory over whatever nonsense they heard," he said. "This brave soldier is here in Arlington, where he belonged all along, and we're honored to have his remains here."

Cemetery officials said they had not heard of any similar incidents.

The family's decision to resume the push for an Arlington burial stemmed from a racist incident Penn's 6-year-old granddaughter suffered at school this year.

"I made a conscious decision to research Uncle Connie, to do the best I could and compile everything the best I could," Penn said, "so she was aware of her history, of black history -- to be proud of being a black female, despite the shade of her skin."

Penn learned for the first time about the Bronx park named after her uncle. She discovered that a group of primarily black veterans had formed the Friends of Charlton Gardens and had raised $1.5 million to renovate the park and rededicated it in 2005. Unbeknown to her, they had been looking for Charlton's family for years. She reached out to them and met them on Memorial Day.

Penn contacted her congressman, Rep. Joe Courtney (D-Conn.), for help.

It wound up being remarkably simple. Ed Burke, Courtney's military and veterans affairs field representative, said that he helped the family obtain certification that Charlton had been awarded the Medal of Honor and that Arlington accepted it. In September, the family was given the date when Charlton would be buried for the third and final time.

"It was bigger than anything I ever expected," Penn said. "We only just wanted to right the wrong. We had no idea this was going to keep going into something as monumental as this."

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In combat, all men are brothers. I have seen white men cry over their dead black comrades and black soldiers weep for their lost white buddies.

This honor was long overdue and all soldiers should be grateful it finally happened.

Charles M. Grist
www.AmericanRanger.blogspot.com

Heroic Marine Denied the Medal of Honor

It is wrong to deny the Medal of Honor to a man who multiple witnesses said pulled an insurgent grenade under his body and gave his life to save his buddies.

If sacrificing your life under these circumstances warranted the Navy Cross, then that award certainly should be upgraded to the Medal of Honor.

This appalling injustice must be corrected and this brave Marine honored appropriately. Here is the Associated Press article about Sergeant Rafael Peralta:

* * * *

Hero Marine Won't Get Medal of Honor

By CHELSEA J. CARTER
AP

SAN DIEGO (Sept. 18) - A Marine sergeant singled out by President Bush for throwing his body on a grenade to save his comrades in Iraq will receive the prestigious Navy Cross rather than the nation's highest military award, military officials said.

The family of Sgt. Rafael Peralta, who was posthumously nominated for the nation's highest military honor, told the North County Times of Escondido, Calif., they were disappointed he was not receiving the Medal of Honor.

"I don't understand why if the president has been talking about him," his mother, Rosa Peralta, told the newspaper, which was the first to report the bestowing of the Navy Cross.

Rosa Peralta said she was informed during a meeting with Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Richard Natonski that a committee could not agree on awarding the Medal of Honor to her son, who Marine Corps officials say was first wounded by friendly fire. She said the general mentioned the friendly fire aspect as part of her son's death during the discussion.

Marine Corps spokesman Mike Alvarez confirmed the meeting, saying only that it was a personal briefing between Natonski and Rosa Peralta to inform her that the secretary of the Navy would award the Navy Cross posthumously for extraordinary heroism.

The Navy Cross is the second highest honor for combat heroism a Marine can receive.

The secretary of the Navy's public affairs office in Washington, D.C., did not immediately return an after-hours telephone call Wednesday seeking comment.

Headquarters Marine Corps spokesman Maj. David Nevers told The Associated Press that the Navy Cross for Peralta "is not bestowed lightly."

Nevers said only 23 sailors and Marines out of the thousands who have served in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan have received the Navy Cross.

"The awarding of a medals of valor is a methodical process and carefully conducted to ensure the sacrifice and service of our Marines and sailors is appropriately honored," he said.

Peralta was shot several times in the face and body during a house-to-house search in Fallujah on Nov. 15, 2004, during some of the fiercest fighting of the war.

According to a report by a Marine combat photographer who witnessed the act, Peralta lay wounded on the floor of a house and grabbed a grenade that had been lobbed by an insurgent. He absorbed the blast with his body, dying instantly.

In 2005, Natonski, then-commanding general of the 1st Marine Division, ordered an investigation to determine the source of a bullet fragment recovered from Peralta's body.

"Following multiple and exhaustive reviews, the evidence supports the finding that Peralta was likely hit by 'friendly fire,'" the Marine Corps said Wednesday in a press release. "This finding had no bearing on the decision to award the Navy Cross medal."

Bush cited Peralta's heroism in a Memorial Day speech in 2005, saying the Marine "understood that America faces dangerous enemies, and he knew the sacrifices required to defeat them."

Peralta, who was assigned to Hawaii's 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, moved to San Diego from Tijuana as a teenager. He was 25.

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Please contact your Congressional representatives and urge them to award the Medal of Honor to this great American warrior.

Charles M. Grist
www.AmericanRanger.blogspot.com

Medal of Honor Awarded to Specialist Ross McGinnis

The family of Specialist Ross McGinnis received the Congressional Medal of Honor in ceremonies at the White House today. For details about this heroic young man, read the following Army Times article from May 27:

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Army Times
May 27, 2008
By Staff Writer Michelle Tan

Spc. Ross McGinnis, who was killed Dec. 4, 2006, in Iraq when he smothered a grenade with his body, will receive the Medal of Honor, the White House announced Friday.

McGinnis, 19, will be honored during a ceremony June 2 at the White House. The Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest award for valor, will be presented to McGinnis’ family. McGinnis also will be honored at the Pentagon on June 3, and a new marker for his grave at Arlington National Cemetery will be unveiled June 4.

The award for McGinnis, first reported by Army Times, will be the second given to a soldier for actions while serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Sgt. 1st Class Paul Ray Smith, who was killed April 4, 2003, fighting off insurgents in a fierce firefight south of Baghdad, was awarded the Medal of Honor two years after he died.

McGinnis, then a private first class assigned to 1st Platoon, C Company, 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, is credited with saving the lives of four fellow soldiers.

McGinnis was manning the turret in the last Humvee of a six-vehicle patrol in Adhamiyah in northeast Baghdad on Dec. 4, 2006, when an insurgent threw a grenade from the roof of a nearby building.

“Grenade!” yelled McGinnis, who was manning the vehicle's M2 .50-caliber machine gun.

McGinnis, facing backward because he was in the rear vehicle, tried to deflect the grenade, but it fell into the Humvee and lodged between the radios.

When he stood up to get ready to jump out of the vehicle, as he had been trained to do, McGinnis realized the other four soldiers in the Humvee did not know where the grenade had landed and did not have enough time to escape.

McGinnis, a native of Knox, Pa., threw his back against the radio mount, where the grenade was lodged, and smothered the explosive with his body.

McGinnis was posthumously promoted to specialist, and he was awarded the Silver Star, the nation’s third-highest award for valor, while the Medal of Honor nomination was pending.

The grenade exploded, hitting McGinnis on his sides and lower back, under his vest. He was killed instantly. The other four men survived.

In addition to Smith and McGinnis, two other service members have been awarded the Medal of Honor for actions in Iraq: Marine Cpl. Jason Dunham and Master-at-Arms 2nd Class (SEAL) Michael Monsoor. Only one Medal of Honor has been awarded for actions in Afghanistan, to Lt. Michael Murphy, a Navy SEAL.

Each of those awards was presented posthumously.

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SFC Chuck Grist
www.AmericanRanger.blogspot.com

Navy Seal Awarded Posthumous Medal of Honor

It was reported today that Lt. Michael P. Murphy of Long Island, New York, was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for heroism in combat in Afghanistan. The 29-year-old officer was in charge of a reconnaissance mission when his unit was attacked by the Taliban.

The Seals were outnumbered and under heavy fire. Murphy was wounded, but he still managed to use a radio to call for help. He then continued the fight. Because of his valor, a wounded Seal was rescued and the bodies of Murphy and his fellow warriors were recovered.

Murphy’s parents will receive the Medal on October 22 at the White House. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family, friends and fellow Seals.

SFC Chuck Grist
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