Posted on 10/04/2009 8:57:24 AM PDT by Saije
It took 43 years, but Marine Pfc. Daniel Hernandez finally got his medal...
"His immediate and fearless actions, while himself painfully wounded, undoubtedly saved many lives," said Marine Lt. Jim Lupori, reading from the Silver Star medal citation that, because of lost paperwork, was never awarded to Hernandez by the secretary of the Navy after he left Vietnam in the late 1960s.
The four-decade wait only made the honor more meaningful to Hernandez, 63, as several hundred relatives, friends and fellow veterans gathered for a ceremony in his honor at the Hollenbeck Youth Center. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger... and a host of other state and city leaders attended.
They came in support of a man they had known for decades as...president of the Hollenbeck Youth Center, which provides after-school programs to keep children away from gangs and drugs.
Few knew Hernandez also was a war hero.
"There's a difference between action heroes in movies and action heroes in real life," said Schwarzenegger, who has long collaborated with Hernandez on youth issues. "Danny is a real action hero."
Hernandez was 20 when he served as a machine gunner with M Company, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division. The company, which was among the hardest hit during the Vietnam War, lost 17 men on March 5, 1966, during Operation Utah in Quang Ngai province.
That day, the citation notes, Hernandez dived through enemy fire to pick up a wounded Marine and carry him to safety. A bullet grazed his back. Still, he refused to be evacuated, and, moments later, when he saw an enemy soldier firing at a group of wounded Marines, he ran through oncoming bullets to kill the soldier and save his comrades. Another bullet later grazed his head, sending him to a hospital in Guam.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
"There's a difference between action heroes in movies and action heroes in real life," said Schwarzenegger." Ya think?
“There’s a difference between action heroes in movies and action heroes in real life,”
uhh.....the word “Senate” belongs in there, too....
bump
to a better-man-than-me
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