Living soldier is nominated for Medal of Honor

[strollingbones]

The Pentagon has recommended that the White House consider awarding the Medal of Honor to a living soldier for the first time since the Vietnam War, according to U.S. officials.

The soldier, whose nomination must be reviewed by the White House, ran through a wall of enemy fire in Afghanistan's Korengal Valley in fall 2007 in an attempt to push back Taliban fighters who were close to overrunning his squad. U.S. military officials said his actions saved the lives of about half a dozen men.


Living soldier nominated for Medal of Honor - U.S. news - Washington Post - msnbc.com

i wonder how many heros we just dont hear about?

 

[Toome]

If the article is referring to Roy Benavidez as the last living soldier to receive the Medal of Honor from the Vietnam War, this is the Green Beret who had single-handedly fought off NVA troops while he rescued his pinned-down Special Forces team. Benavidez evacuated the team to a helicopter, but that helicopter was shot down, so he evacuated them to a second helicopter, including the crew from the first helicopter, fighting off NVA troops along the way, including hand-to-hand combat with an enemy soldier after sustaining several gunshot wounds, including fragments from a grenade blast. After he finally put the last survivor on the aircraft, he passed out from exhaustion and was believed to have been dead. It wasn't until the helicopter landed safely back at home station that he surprised everyone by sitting up suddenly upon landing.

Just wanted to point out that if the article was referring to Benavidez, then "living" is a technical term.

Benavidez died of complications from diabetes in 1989.

 

[strollingbones]

no this about an soldier serving or who served in afghanistan...sorry you couldnt be bother to read the link

 

[Colin]

The Pentagon has recommended that the White House consider awarding the Medal of Honor to a living soldier for the first time since the Vietnam War, according to U.S. officials.

The soldier, whose nomination must be reviewed by the White House, ran through a wall of enemy fire in Afghanistan's Korengal Valley in fall 2007 in an attempt to push back Taliban fighters who were close to overrunning his squad. U.S. military officials said his actions saved the lives of about half a dozen men.


Living soldier nominated for Medal of Honor - U.S. news - Washington Post - msnbc.com

i wonder how many heros we just dont hear about?

They're ALL heroes!

 

[Toome]

no this about an soldier serving or who served in afghanistan...sorry you couldnt be bother to read the link

I did read the link. It said that the unidentified soldier currently being considered is the first living recipient since Vietnam. Roy Benavidez was the last living Vietnam era soldier to receive the Medal of Honor. I was merely pointing out that Benavidez nearly died, in fact, he was thought to be dead.

Point here is that it is extremely rare for the Medal of Honor to be awarded to a living person. I personally met a Medal of Honor recipient from the Vietnam era. He was a Navy Corpsman who evacuated wounded personnel from an on-going firefight. Threw himself on a live grenade in the effort, when it failed to explode, he threw it away (and then it exploded) and he continued to administer first aid to the wounded.

I'm looking forward to reading the citation on the soldier currently being considered.

Sorry you couldn't bother to be better informed about the rarity of the Medal of Honor. It ain't like in the movies. This is one medal that doesn't get handed out like candy.

rltw

 

[strollingbones]

i know how rare it is for a living person to get the medal of honor.

i know that capt. wm mcgonale received on for his valor on the uss liberty

here is a complete list of the men who have earned the medal of honor.

List of Medal of Honor recipients - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia