Question about Congressional Medal of Honor
- Thread starter Rembrandt
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gyp_c2
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many...
Pilot of B-17 during WWII...damn, can't remember his name and I just saw a History channel version of it too...Bombardier bought one posthumously in same battle with 17 Jap aircraft...whew...
Pilot of B-17 during WWII...damn, can't remember his name and I just saw a History channel version of it too...Bombardier bought one posthumously in same battle with 17 Jap aircraft...whew...
CannibalCrowley
Member
A Chaplain who earned the MoH without firing a shot: Vincent Capodanno.
Kid from my hometown:
David Ouellette. My dad used to fix his teeth:
http://www.ussouellet.com/about/dgo.cfm
David Ouellette. My dad used to fix his teeth:
http://www.ussouellet.com/about/dgo.cfm
Leatherneck
Member
An officer I worked for during his 50th year of active duty was awarded the Medal of Honor for getting MacArthur out of the Phillipines in his PT Boat.Read about him herehttp://www.spawar.navy.mil/fleet/insurv/htmlbios/bulkeley.htm
TC
TC
gyp_c2 said:
The pilot was Jay Zeamer and the bombardier was Joseph Sarnoski. The rest of the crew were awarded Distinguished Service Crosses. They were flying a solo recon mission to photograph the Bougainville area before the Allies invaded.
The Grand Inquisitor
Member
I'd seriously consider getting together a few range friends and buying some Ninja books from Paladin press and make an old fashion Calvary raid on the place.
Also, when you get the medal back you need to go and pee on whichever relative gave away perhaps the most important medal a government can give.
:banghead:
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Rembrandt
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I'm curious....do the highest awards of other nations rise to the same level as the Medal of Honor?....is it fair to say the comparison is apples-to-apples, or apples-to-oranges. Seem to recall Alvin York, Audie Murphy, Patton, and others were awarded a high French comendation.
The Grand Inquisitor
Member
Is there really a way to judge the highest military award from nation to nation?
the CMOH isn't any more worthy than the Great Soviet Medal or the Victoria's Cross--they're equally high honors.
the CMOH isn't any more worthy than the Great Soviet Medal or the Victoria's Cross--they're equally high honors.
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Rembrandt
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The Grand Inquisitor said:
Granted they all share the distinction of being each nations highest honor, seems there are certain requirements that must be met before it can be considered. In reading some of the links it looks like the MOH requirements have changed since it's inception.
Brian Williams
Moderator Emeritus
The Medal of Honor is the highest award for valor in action against an enemy force which can be bestowed upon an individual serving in the Armed Services of the United States. Generally presented to its recipient by the President of the United States of America in the name of Congress, it is often called the Congressional Medal of Honor.
Only one woman has been given the Medal of Honor.
The President of the United States
in the name of The Congress
takes pleasure in presenting the
Medal of Honor
to
WALKER, DR. MARY E.
Rank and organization: Contract Acting Assistant Surgeon (civilian), U. S. Army. Places and dates: Battle of Bull Run, July 21, 1861; Patent Office Hospital, Washington, D.C., October 1861; Chattanooga, Tenn., following Battle of Chickomauga, September 1863; Prisoner of War, April 10, 1864-August 12, 1864, Richmond, Va.; Battle of Atlanta, September 1864. Entered service at: Louisville, Ky. Born: 26 November 1832, Oswego County, N.Y.
Citation:
Whereas it appears from official reports that Dr. Mary E. Walker, a graduate of medicine, "has rendered valuable service to the Government, and her efforts have been earnest and untiring in a variety of ways," and that she was assigned to duty and served as an assistant surgeon in charge of female prisoners at Louisville, Ky., upon the recommendation of Major-Generals Sherman and Thomas, and faithfully served as contract surgeon in the service of the United States, and has devoted herself with much patriotic zeal to the sick and wounded soldiers, both in the field and hospitals, to the detriment of her own health, and has also endured hardships as a prisoner of war four months in a Southern prison while acting as contract surgeon; and Whereas by reason of her not being a commissioned officer in the military service, a brevet or honorary rank cannot, under existing laws, be conferred upon her; and
Whereas in the opinion of the President an honorable recognition of her services and sufferings should be made:
It is ordered, That a testimonial thereof shall be hereby made and given to the said Dr. Mary E. Walker, and that the usual medal of honor for meritorious services be given her.
Given under my hand in the city of Washington, D.C., this 11th day of November, A.D. 1865.
Andrew Johnson,
President
Only one woman has been given the Medal of Honor.
The President of the United States
in the name of The Congress
takes pleasure in presenting the
Medal of Honor
to
WALKER, DR. MARY E.
Rank and organization: Contract Acting Assistant Surgeon (civilian), U. S. Army. Places and dates: Battle of Bull Run, July 21, 1861; Patent Office Hospital, Washington, D.C., October 1861; Chattanooga, Tenn., following Battle of Chickomauga, September 1863; Prisoner of War, April 10, 1864-August 12, 1864, Richmond, Va.; Battle of Atlanta, September 1864. Entered service at: Louisville, Ky. Born: 26 November 1832, Oswego County, N.Y.
Citation:
Whereas it appears from official reports that Dr. Mary E. Walker, a graduate of medicine, "has rendered valuable service to the Government, and her efforts have been earnest and untiring in a variety of ways," and that she was assigned to duty and served as an assistant surgeon in charge of female prisoners at Louisville, Ky., upon the recommendation of Major-Generals Sherman and Thomas, and faithfully served as contract surgeon in the service of the United States, and has devoted herself with much patriotic zeal to the sick and wounded soldiers, both in the field and hospitals, to the detriment of her own health, and has also endured hardships as a prisoner of war four months in a Southern prison while acting as contract surgeon; and Whereas by reason of her not being a commissioned officer in the military service, a brevet or honorary rank cannot, under existing laws, be conferred upon her; and
Whereas in the opinion of the President an honorable recognition of her services and sufferings should be made:
It is ordered, That a testimonial thereof shall be hereby made and given to the said Dr. Mary E. Walker, and that the usual medal of honor for meritorious services be given her.
Given under my hand in the city of Washington, D.C., this 11th day of November, A.D. 1865.
Andrew Johnson,
President
TimboKhan
Member
It has been my great privilege to shake the hands of three different Medal of Honor recipients. One thing that I learned from one of them relates to this:
As a rule, they don't like to be called "winners" and they don't like it (although they put up with it) when people say they were awarded the medal. Why? Because most of these guys are pretty private, don't feel the least bit heroic, and carry around a certain amount of emotional scarring that is almost guaranteed when one does the sorts of things MoH reciepients do, under the conditions that they do them in. Just a little tidbit that I picked up.
Now for a story. I live in Greeley, Colorado. About 10 miles north of me is a very small little town named Ault. In Ault, there is a park and in that park there is a statue of a soldier. That statue commemorates a soldier named Joe P. Martinez, and he was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor posthumously. If your interested, you can read the citation here: http://www.cmohs.org/medal/history_links/j_martinez.htm
The story is a little deeper than that. I don't claim to be a expert on all things Joe Martinez, but I do know a few things, injustices by any measure, that his family had to go through then and to a certain degree still goes through now. Martinez is obviously a Mexican name. Ault, back when Joe lived there was a primarily German farming community. Joe was a Catholic, and when his body was returned to the town, the people of the town refused to let him be buried in the town cemetary. As a result, Joe is buried somewhere out in the middle of nowhere (I honestly don't know where), which is, in my opinion, a grave injustice. Further, Joe's family was poor. In a bid to make some money, they attempted to sell Joe's story to a comic book company with the hopes that they would run a "combat" comic book starring Joe. While no company is obligated to run something they don't want, Joe's family was specifically told that the comic would not be produced because no one would buy a book with a Mexican hero. I admit that trying to make money off of a dead son is a bit of an ethical dilemma, but the fact remains that a simple "no" would have sufficed. Despite being the first hispanic person to recieve the MoH in Colorado, a statue honoring Joe was only erected in Ault about 10 years ago (and thats my memory, if you happen to know different, by all means say it). There is another statue dedicated to him at the capitol that was erected in 1988. The United States did honor Joe early on by naming a Korean war-era troop transport after him, the USS Pvt. Joe P. Martinez.
Look, I am not trying to say Ault is a bad town: The town and the people are both very nice, and when Joe died, times were quite a bit different than they are now. What I am trying to point out is that when we honor our military heroes, and especially those that made the ultimate sacrifice for country and comrade, race, creed, religion and color should not ever play a role. I am not naive. I know that there are people with deeply held beliefs that run contrary to my own out there, and part of the beauty of this country is that we are allowed to have those beliefs, even when, in my opinion, they are ugly and ignorant. Think about Joe Martinez. Think about how he sacrificed all, for a country that was at the time unwilling to let him be buried as the hero he was, and in a community who, for all of it's good people, only recognizes him now. If you can think about that and still let color and race get in the way of your feelings, well, I can only say that your not a person I would ever want to associate myself with, in any way.
Courage doesn't have a color.
As a rule, they don't like to be called "winners" and they don't like it (although they put up with it) when people say they were awarded the medal. Why? Because most of these guys are pretty private, don't feel the least bit heroic, and carry around a certain amount of emotional scarring that is almost guaranteed when one does the sorts of things MoH reciepients do, under the conditions that they do them in. Just a little tidbit that I picked up.
Now for a story. I live in Greeley, Colorado. About 10 miles north of me is a very small little town named Ault. In Ault, there is a park and in that park there is a statue of a soldier. That statue commemorates a soldier named Joe P. Martinez, and he was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor posthumously. If your interested, you can read the citation here: http://www.cmohs.org/medal/history_links/j_martinez.htm
The story is a little deeper than that. I don't claim to be a expert on all things Joe Martinez, but I do know a few things, injustices by any measure, that his family had to go through then and to a certain degree still goes through now. Martinez is obviously a Mexican name. Ault, back when Joe lived there was a primarily German farming community. Joe was a Catholic, and when his body was returned to the town, the people of the town refused to let him be buried in the town cemetary. As a result, Joe is buried somewhere out in the middle of nowhere (I honestly don't know where), which is, in my opinion, a grave injustice. Further, Joe's family was poor. In a bid to make some money, they attempted to sell Joe's story to a comic book company with the hopes that they would run a "combat" comic book starring Joe. While no company is obligated to run something they don't want, Joe's family was specifically told that the comic would not be produced because no one would buy a book with a Mexican hero. I admit that trying to make money off of a dead son is a bit of an ethical dilemma, but the fact remains that a simple "no" would have sufficed. Despite being the first hispanic person to recieve the MoH in Colorado, a statue honoring Joe was only erected in Ault about 10 years ago (and thats my memory, if you happen to know different, by all means say it). There is another statue dedicated to him at the capitol that was erected in 1988. The United States did honor Joe early on by naming a Korean war-era troop transport after him, the USS Pvt. Joe P. Martinez.
Look, I am not trying to say Ault is a bad town: The town and the people are both very nice, and when Joe died, times were quite a bit different than they are now. What I am trying to point out is that when we honor our military heroes, and especially those that made the ultimate sacrifice for country and comrade, race, creed, religion and color should not ever play a role. I am not naive. I know that there are people with deeply held beliefs that run contrary to my own out there, and part of the beauty of this country is that we are allowed to have those beliefs, even when, in my opinion, they are ugly and ignorant. Think about Joe Martinez. Think about how he sacrificed all, for a country that was at the time unwilling to let him be buried as the hero he was, and in a community who, for all of it's good people, only recognizes him now. If you can think about that and still let color and race get in the way of your feelings, well, I can only say that your not a person I would ever want to associate myself with, in any way.
Courage doesn't have a color.
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