The Word
"When you walk, your steps will not be hampered; when you run, you will not stumble. Hold on to instruction, do not let it go; guard it well, for it is your life."--Proverbs 4:12,13
The Quote
"If the people have not vision, they shall surely perish. No man has a right to live who has not in his soul the power to die nobly for a great cause. Let abhorrence be for those who wage wanton or wicked wars, who with ruthless violence oppress the upright and the unoffending. Pay all honor to the preachers of peace who put righteousness above peace. But shame on the creatures who would teach our people that it is anything but base to be unready and unable to defend right, even at need by the sternest of all tests, the test of righteous war, war waged by a high-couraged people with souls attuned to the demands of a lofty ideal. Have these professional pacifists lost every quality of manhood? Are they ignorant of the very meaning of nobility of soul?" --Theodore Roosevelt
The Joke
Health nuts are going to feel stupid someday, lying in hospitals dying of nothing.
The Hero--Today’s Medal of Honor Recipient
Today I'm going to depart from the alphabetical routine in order to honor a man who passed away on 5 July, a man whose courage is exemplary even in the annals of Medal of Honor winners.
Here Stockdale climbs down from his Skyhawk one week before being shot down.
Here he is (second from the left) one week before his release from the Hanoi Hilton in 1973.
Stockdale is reunited with his wife and sons.
Receiving the Medal of Honor from President Ford in 1976
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, Illinois
Born: 23 December 1923, Abingdon, Illinois
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.
Stockdale was an excellent pilot, and had 1,000 hours in the F-8 Crusader alone. He was the commander of an attack squadron flying A-4E Skyhawks at the time he was shot down, and he had led the very first bombing raid on North Vietnam in 1964. According to his Wikipedia article, the "near-mortal wound to his person" was slitting his wrists, and according to his Academy of Achievement bio, the disfiguration prior to that was cutting his scalp up with a razor and beating his face with a stool. The Vietnamese had planned to parade their pet Navy Captain before foreign journalists, but he denied them that. The Wikipedia article also notes that he could barely stand upright or walk for years after he returned from Vietnam. The Navy's press release about Stockdale's passing notes this: "Upon his retirement from naval service, the secretary of the Navy established the Vice Admiral Stockdale Award for Inspirational Leadership presented annually in both Pacific and Atlantic Fleets. Stockdale held 26 combat awards including two Distinguished Flying Crosses, three Distinguished Service Medals, two Purple Hearts and four Silver Star Medals. He is a member of the Navy's Carrier Hall of Fame, The National Aviation Hall of Fame and an Honorary Fellow of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots. He held 11 honorary doctoral degrees." He served as president of The Citadel, and was a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford.
But to me, what symbolizes his bravery as much as any of his combat awards is that he was able to look back years later and describe the reception he got from villagers in enemy territory as "A thundering herd...It was the quarterback sack of the century." It takes a heck of a man to joke about that kind of thing. And yes, I'm very proud that he's a fellow Illinoisan.
A-4E's from USS Oriskany on the attack near Haiphong, 1966. Prints of this painting signed by Admiral Stockdale are available from Brooks Aviation Art.
