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Royce Williams was a real-life "Top Gun" 10 years before Tom Cruise was even born. On a cold November day in 1952, Williams shot down four Soviet fighter jets -- and became a legend no one would hear about for more than 50 years. The now 97-year-old former naval aviator was presented with the Navy Cross, the service's second-highest military honor at a ceremony Friday in California. Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro said on Friday that among the many proposals he has reviewed to upgrade sailors' awards, Williams' case "stood out above all others. It was very clear to me...

Cook 3rd Class Doris Miller is an American hero, the first Black sailor to earn the Navy Cross. On Dec. 7, 1941, under fire, he helped move the mortally wounded commander of the battleship West Virginia to safety and then manned a machine gun -- a weapon he was barred from training with because of his race -- to fire at attacking aircraft. A sign at the Pearl Harbor National Memorial visitors center says Miller died on the USS Liscombe Bay in 1944 at the Battle of Leyte Gulf. Miller actually died the year before, 1943, on the USS Liscome...

You may never have heard of the Hansen brothers, but twins Paul and Leslie own the distinction of being the only twins to earn the Navy Cross. In fact, they fought side-by-side when they accomplished the feat. On 26 December 1943 the First Marine Division poured onto the beaches of Cape Gloucester, New Britain. As the Marines worked their way into the jungle, the amtraks (amphibious tractors) of the 1st Amphibian Tractor Battalion ferried in their ammunition and equipment. One of the first amtraks ashore was commanded by 23-year-old Philadelphia native Sgt. Robert J. Oswald Jr., with Pfc. Paul Hansen...

Former Alabama Sen. Jeremiah A. Denton Jr., a prisoner of war for more than seven years in North Vietnam, died on Friday in Virginia Beach. Mr. Denton was 89 years old. His son, Jim Denton, told The Washington Post, which first reported the news, that his father died of a heart ailment. Mr. Denton, a retired U.S. Rear Admiral, was shot down over the city of Thanh Hoa in Vietnam in 1965 and captured while leading a bombing mission. He later wrote a book about his experiences. Mr. Denton grabbed national attention in 1966 when he was forced to give...

In a unique battlefield commendation, a Marine Corps member of Delta Force has been awarded the nation’s second highest military honor for coming to the defense of Americans last year at a CIA annex in Benghazi, Libya. Delta Force, a counterterrorism unit in the secretive Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), has been thought of as a strictly Army outfit. But it does take on qualified “operators,” as they are called, from other services. The Washington Times has reported that two Delta Force members were among a seven-person rescue team sent from the U.S. Embassy in Tripoli to Benghazi on the...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 11, 2011 – Nearly 45 years after he saved almost an entire company of fellow Marines in Vietnam, a Marine Corps veteran was formally recognized today for his actions.Navy Secretary Ray Mabus presented Ned E. Seath with the Navy Cross -- the second-highest award a Marine can receive for valor -- in a ceremony at the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Quantico, Va. Then a lance corporal, Seath was serving as a machine gun team leader with the 3rd Marine Division’s Company K, 3rd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, when he halted an assault of North Vietnamese...

  Our Troops Rock!  Thank you for all you do!   For the freedom you enjoyed yesterday... Thank the Veterans who served in The United States Armed Forces.   Looking forward to tomorrow's freedom? Support The United States Armed Forces Today!     ~ Hall of Heroes ~ John Basilone (Info found here here)             John Basilone (November 4, 1916 – February 19, 1945) was a United States Marine Gunnery Sergeant who received the Medal of Honor for his actions at the Battle of Guadalcanal during World War II. He was the only enlisted Marine in...

RIVERSIDE, CALIF. -- A Palm Springs man who surprised former classmates at his high school reunion in Martinez when he showed up in a Marine Corps uniform has pleaded guilty to wearing military medals that he never earned. Steven Douglas Burton, 39, entered his guilty plea Monday in U.S. District Court in Riverside to a misdemeanor count of unauthorized wearing of military medals or decorations, averting a trial that had been scheduled for January. He will face as much as a year in prison and up to a $100,000 fine when he is sentenced March 1. He remains free on...

Adm. Jeremiah A. Denton Jr. is a true American hero. The former senator, retired admiral and naval aviator spent almost eight years as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam, half of that time in solitary confinement. When forced by his captors to do a television interview in 1966, he blinked the word "torture" in Morse code. He's the kind of man Washington leaders might want to listen to more carefully than the average purveyor of foreign-policy wisdom.

In the heat of an ambush in Afghanistan's most lawless province, a 19-year-old Nebraskan jumped in front of a grenade to shield other Marines in his platoon. Richard Weinmaster was critically wounded by the blast. But the bloodied Cozad native stayed in the fight, firing his machine gun at the enemy position until he collapsed from his wounds. Looking back at the July 8, 2008, engagement, Weinmaster says he was “just doing my job.'' But his bosses in the Marine Corps — and the Secretary of the Navy — felt otherwise. Advertising On Thursday, they awarded the now 20-year-old Weinmaster...

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Just a little more on the book ``Lone Survivor'' by Marcus Luttrell, Navy SEAL. He continues to describe what the military is up against. It gets very discouraging for them to pick up a paper and read about our politicians degrading the military. We all remember the Haditha Marines who were accused of murder. Jack Murtha jumped out front (with Kennedy, Kerry and Reid close behind), and with absolutely no facts, declared them guilty. It got even worse. He called our troops rapists, murderers and uncontrolled criminals. Predictably, the lapdog media loved it and aggressively ran with it. Remember, there...

On July 21 Gustafson was manning the turret of the lead vehicle, a mine resistant ambush protected vehicle, or MRAP, during a four-vehicle mounted patrol riding through the streets of Shewan, Afghanistan. That’s when things got ugly. The patrol came under heavy fire from machine guns as well as rocket-propelled grenades from hidden insurgent positions. One of the RPGs hit Gustafson’s MRAP, piercing its armor, rendering the driver unconscious and partially amputating Gustafson’s right leg. Despite his injuries, Gustafson remained vigilant on his M240B machine gun, locating and accurately firing on several insurgent positions, some as close as 20 meters...

A 21-year-old Eagan man who helped his fellow Marines fight their way out of an ambush in southern Afghanistan despite a serious leg injury received the Navy Cross on Friday, the highest award a Marine is eligible to receive aside from the Medal of Honor. Lance Cpl. Brady A. Gustafson, a machine gunner, was deployed with the 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines — the "hardest hit battalion in the Corps" last year, according to the Marine Corps News. At least 20 of the battalion's Marines and sailors were killed in combat in 2008. On July 21, the battalion, based in Twentynine...

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates' decision to award Sgt. Rafael Peralta a Navy Cross instead of a Medal of Honor makes no sense. Either Peralta grabbed a grenade to protect his fellow Marines or he did not. If Peralta grabbed the grenade then he deserves a Medal of Honor. If he did not grab the grenade than there is no reason to award him a Navy Cross. Peralta was born in Mexico and joined the Marines as soon as he received a green card. He subsequently became a U.S. citizen while serving in the Marines. On November 15, 2004, while...

According to the secretary of the Navy, Marine Sgt. Rafael Peralta gave his life to save his comrades in the Iraqi city of Fallujah in 2004, grabbing a hostile grenade, pulling it to his body and absorbing the brunt of the blast. President Bush later praised Peralta as a hero. But a decision by Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates not to recommend him for the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest military honor, stirred an outcry yesterday by his family and Marines whose lives he saved. Peralta instead will be posthumously awarded the second-highest award for valor in combat, the...

Service announces that Sgt. Rafael Peralta will instead get Navy Cross CAMP PENDLETON ---- A Marine nominated for the Congressional Medal of Honor and singled out by President Bush for throwing his bullet-riddled body on a grenade to protect fellow Marines in Iraq in 2004 won't be receiving the award, his mother said Wednesday. Rosa Peralta said Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Richard Nantonski informed her Wednesday morning that her son, Sgt. Rafael "Rafa" Peralta, of the Hawaii-based 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, will instead be awarded the Navy Cross. Download the citation Natonski indicated that a committee reviewing the nomination...

"I was basically a leech on the side of America's body, sitting there, sucking blood out, not doing anything productive. Finally, when I joined the Marine Corps, I understood what it was to be an American," said Martinez.

This might seem strange, maybe even sacrilegious, but I am one American who will be happy when this celebration of Veterans Day is over. Don't get me wrong, I am very proud to be a citizen in the same country as our Veterans and current American soldiers. It's only fitting that we have a special day set aside to honor our Nation's Veterans. It's this knot I have in my throat, my blurry eyes, the slight burning on my salt-stained cheeks, and my runny nose which is bothersome. I'm fresh out of tissues and don't feel like running out...

MISSION — Ernesto Gomez entered glory Tuesday, Oct. 23, 2007. He leaves behind his love, Carleen Gomez; beloved sons, Israel and Gabriel Gomez; four grandchildren, many others he cherished, and a tattered Bible. Ernesto Gomez was a highly decorated Marine Vietnam Veteran, awarded the Medal of Valor. His interests were many: motorcycles, stone masonry, prison ministry, golfing (who shot under 100) and cooking. He was an artist, bonsai enthusiast, poet and loved telling everyone about the Lord God his Savior. Services will be at Grimes Funeral Chapels at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 27, 2007, with full Marine military honors....