Posted on 07/21/2015 3:10:02 AM PDT by Hostage
There are heroes and then there are charlatans. To detect who is which requires one to observe over time the sincerity of the person. Here are described the acts of one true American hero:
STOCKDALE, JAMES B.
Rank and organization: Rear Admiral (then Captain), U.S. Navy. Place and date: Hoa Lo prison, Hanoi, North Vietnam, 4 September 1969. Entered service at: Abingdon, Ill. Born: 23 December 1923, Abingdon, Ill..
Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while senior naval officer in the Prisoner of War camps of North Vietnam. Recognized by his captors as the leader in the Prisoners' of War resistance to interrogation and in their refusal to participate in propaganda exploitation, Rear Adm. Stockdale was singled out for interrogation and attendant torture after he was detected in a covert communications attempt. Sensing the start of another purge, and aware that his earlier efforts at self-disfiguration to dissuade his captors from exploiting him for propaganda purposes had resulted in cruel and agonizing punishment, Rear Adm. Stockdale resolved to make himself a symbol of resistance regardless of personal sacrifice. He deliberately inflicted a near-mortal wound to his person in order to convince his captors of his willingness to give up his life rather than capitulate. He was subsequently discovered and revived by the North Vietnamese who, convinced of his indomitable spirit, abated in their employment of excessive harassment and torture toward all of the Prisoners of War. By his heroic action, at great peril to himself, he earned the everlasting gratitude of his fellow prisoners and of his country. Rear Adm. Stockdale's valiant leadership and extraordinary courage in a hostile environment sustain and enhance the finest traditions of the U.S. Naval Service.
And God Bless all true American heroes that have sacrificed themselves for others and for their country, the United States of America.
Amen
My father is buried in Arlington Cemetery.
He was my hero but he was never cited for heroism even though he died as a naval reserve aviator. I can live with that. He died doing his duty. There were hundreds at his funeral on a cold day in January 1967; the people that attended were a testament to his strength of character and his great integrity.
He was my hero but he was not a hero to our United States. I accept that. He was however brave and patriotic.
The word ‘hero’ gets used loosely in society among the many types of people and communities. But the US Military is careful to preserve its meaning by citing concrete ‘acts’ that attest to the heroism.
Here are military instructions for writing a citation of heroism:
Page 16 b(1)
The justification must be specific, factual, and provide concrete examples of exactly what the person did, how well he or she did it, what the impact or benefits were, and how he or she significantly exceeded expected duty performance.
http://www.dtic.mil/whs/directives/corres/pdf/134833vol1.pdf
...concrete examples of exactly what the person did ....
Heroism is an act or set of acts that together result in the saving of lives or in winning battles crucial to military victory.
Thirty years ago I had a senior coworker who I had been told was a soldier on a landing craft and stormed Normandy Beach. The landing craft’s door opened in direct view of enemy fire. I asked my coworker how he and his fellows felt when the craft’s door folded down and they moved forward to the beach under direct enemy fire. He said “We all accepted that we were already dead”. I remarked that he and all his fellows were ‘heroes’ and he responded sternly “No, we were following orders. nothing more”.
Years later I thought about what he said and I thought about my father’s early death in his plane crash, then it struck me that these were brave men, incredible spirits but there were only acts of duty, not of heroism. It did not sit well with me for a long time but I finally accepted it. There are those that do their duty faithfully and honorably and then there are those who are exceptional and perform ‘acts’ that save others without regard to themselves.
Unfortunately there are also charlatans who are full or deceit and who embellish their ‘acts’ so that they somehow benefit from a cult of hero worship.
What is a military hero to you?
"McCain Ordered To Refuse Early Release From The Hanoi Hilton (Hostage)"
From Admiral Stockdale's book p.254:
There was little concern in any American's mind about the possibility of the Vietnamese throwing anybody out to defame him; we now knew the Vietnamese well enough to be sure that any early releasee would have to buy his way out by groveling on his knees before the Communists, bad-mouthing America. I gave their new release program a name: FRP -- the "Fink Release Program," and that was the way it was to be known. I also issued an order that started on its way to the other cell blocks of Las Vegas and with subsequent movers to the camps elsewhere in the city and outside it: "No early release; we all go home together".
Thank you for your dad’s service.
My dad was an Air Force pilot. He served only four years.
He was not a hero in the sense you describe, but he was a good man.
Stockdale had a good example to follow. His cousin, Robert Dunlap, was awarded the MOH for his actions at Iwo Jima. Robert was a friend and neighbor and I had the privilege of meeting Stockdale at his funeral. Including Robert there were four MOH recipients there. I felt like I was on holy ground.
To me a Military hero is one who is employed by the military ,trained by the military, and deployed by the Military —who under circumstance beyond his /her- control Does what is right in the eyes of god-regardless of the risk—or the consequence. Hence Marcus Luttrel would be candidate as such a person. John McCain / john Kerry would much less so.Especially Kerry for his actions after her returned -before he was dropped from the rolls of Naval Officers. I never met a hero who put himself first.
Thank you for your comments on the difference between duty and heroism, the best thing I have read since this controversy began.
What you wrote is truly amazing given how rare the MOH is awarded. It helps explain more from where Admiral Stockdale derived his courage. Thanks for posting.
It’s difficult to say of someone who is brave, patriotic and has served their country with honor, to say “but you’re not a hero”. It’s just not done. But the military just doesn’t give out citations of heroic acts as a matter of routine. To be considered a ‘military hero’ takes a special accounting of concrete things the person had done.
My father gave his life for his country, he served honorably. He was my hero but he did nothing but his duty. He will not be remembered in the history books for acts of heroism because there were none. But it is clear to me, and to others that knew him, that had he been in a military situation that called for self-sacrifice to save others, he would have risen to the occasion and he would have been a ‘military’ hero. But as it was he was a hero to his colleagues, his family and friends, his community; just not a military hero although he would have been if the situation had presented itself.
More on Admiral Stockdale:
Rear Admiral James Bond Stockdale (December 23, 1923–July 5, 2005) was one of the most highly decorated officers in the history of the United States Navy. Stockdale led aerial attacks from the carrier USS Ticonderoga (CVA 14) during the 1964 Gulf of Tonkin Incident. On his next deployment, while Commander of Carrier Air Wing 16 aboard the carrier USS Oriskany (CVA 34), he was shot down over enemy territory on 9 September 1965. Stockdale was the highest ranking naval officer held as a prisoner of war in Vietnam. He was awarded 26 personal combat decorations, including the Medal of Honor and four Silver Stars. During the late 1970s, he served as President of the Naval War College.
Prisoner of war
On a mission over North Vietnam on September 9, 1965, Stockdale ejected from his A-4E Skyhawk, which had been disabled from anti-aircraft fire. Stockdale parachuted into a small village, where he was severely beaten and taken into custody.
He was held as a prisoner of war in the Hoa Lo prison for the next seven years. Locked in leg irons in a bath stall, he was routinely tortured and beaten. When told by his captors that he was to be paraded in public, Stockdale slit his scalp with a razor to purposely disfigure himself so that his captors could not use him as propaganda. When they covered his head with a hat, Stockdale beat himself with a stool until his face was swollen beyond recognition. He told them in no uncertain terms that they would never use him. When Stockdale heard that other prisoners were dying under the torture, he slit his wrists and told them that he preferred death to submission.
Little did Stockdale know that the actions of his wife, Mrs. Sybil Stockdale, had a tremendous impact on the North Vietnamese. Early in her husband’s captivity she organized The League of American Families of POWs and MIAs, with other wives of servicemen who were in similar circumstance. By 1968 she and her organization, which called for the President and the U.S. Congress to publicly acknowledge the mistreatment of the POW’s (something that they had never done even though they had evidence of gross mistreatment), was finally getting the attention of the American press and consequently the attention of the North Vietnamese. Mrs. Stockdale personally made these demands known at the Paris Peace Talks and private comments made to her by the head of the Vietnamese delegation there indicated concern that her organization might catch the attention of the American public, something the North Vietnamese knew could turn the tide against them. The result could not have been more fortunate for James Stockdale at the very time he slit his wrists.
Together with other captives such as George Thomas Coker, Stockdale was part of a group of about a dozen prisoners known as the “Alcatraz Gang”, separated from other captives and placed in solitary confinement for their leadership in resisting their captors.
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