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Posted on 09/13/2008 7:56:53 PM PDT by mozarky2
September 12, 2008, 0:00 a.m.
Giants Among the Lilliputians True honor.
By Kathleen Parker
Camden, S.C. — While the political class was focused on the meaning of pigs wearing lipstick, a few fortunate South Carolinians were riveted by the meaning of valor.
The occasion was a celebration of four of the state’s living recipients of the Medal of Honor — Charles Murray Jr., (Army, WWII, 1944), John Baker (Army, Vietnam, 1966), James Livingston (USMC, Vietnam, 1968), and Michael Thornton (Navy, Vietnam, 1972).
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(Excerpt) Read more at article.nationalreview.com ...
Citation to accompany the award of the Medal of Honor:
MURRAY, CHARLES P., JR.
Rank and organization: First Lieutenant, U.S. Army, Company C, 30th Infantry, 3d Infantry Division. Place and date: Near Kaysersberg, France, 16 December 1944. Entered service at: Wilmington, N.C. Birth: Baltimore, Md. G.O. No.: 63, 1 August 1945. Citation: For commanding Company C, 30th Infantry, displaying supreme courage and heroic initiative near Kaysersberg, France, on 16 December 1944, while leading a reinforced platoon into enemy territory. Descending into a valley beneath hilltop positions held by our troops, he observed a force of 200 Germans pouring deadly mortar, bazooka, machinegun, and small arms fire into an American battalion occupying the crest of the ridge. The enemy’s position in a sunken road, though hidden from the ridge, was open to a flank attack by 1st Lt. Murray’s patrol but he hesitated to commit so small a force to battle with the superior and strongly disposed enemy. Crawling out ahead of his troops to a vantage point, he called by radio for artillery fire. His shells bracketed the German force, but when he was about to correct the range his radio went dead. He returned to his patrol, secured grenades and a rifle to launch them and went back to his self-appointed outpost. His first shots disclosed his position; the enemy directed heavy fire against him as he methodically fired his missiles into the narrow defile. Again he returned to his patrol. With an automatic rifle and ammunition, he once more moved to his exposed position. Burst after burst he fired into the enemy, killing 20, wounding many others, and completely disorganizing its ranks, which began to withdraw. He prevented the removal of 3 German mortars by knocking out a truck. By that time a mortar had been brought to his support. 1st Lt. Murray directed fire of this weapon, causing further casualties and confusion in the German ranks. Calling on his patrol to follow, he then moved out toward his original objective, possession of a bridge and construction of a roadblock. He captured 10 Germans in foxholes. An eleventh, while pretending to surrender, threw a grenade which knocked him to the ground, inflicting 8 wounds. Though suffering and bleeding profusely, he refused to return to the rear until he had chosen the spot for the block and had seen his men correctly deployed. By his single-handed attack on an overwhelming force and by his intrepid and heroic fighting, 1st Lt. Murray stopped a counterattack, established an advance position against formidable odds, and provided an inspiring example for the men of his command.
BAKER, JOHN F., JR.
Rank and organization: Sergeant (then Pfc.), U.S. Army, Company A, 2d Battalion, 27th Infantry, 25th Infantry Division. Place and date: Republic of Vietnam, 5 November 1966. Entered service at: Moline, Ill. Born: 30 October 1945, Davenport, Iowa. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. En route to assist another unit that was engaged with the enemy, Company A came under intense enemy fire and the lead man was killed instantly. Sgt. Baker immediately moved to the head of the column and together with another soldier knocked out 2 enemy bunkers. When his comrade was mortally wounded, Sgt. Baker, spotting 4 Viet Cong snipers, killed all of them, evacuated the fallen soldier and returned to lead repeated assaults against the enemy positions, killing several more Viet Cong. Moving to attack 2 additional enemy bunkers, he and another soldier drew intense enemy fire and Sgt. Baker was blown from his feet by an enemy grenade. He quickly recovered and single-handedly destroyed 1 bunker before the other soldier was wounded. Seizing his fallen comrade’s machine gun, Sgt. Baker charged through the deadly fusillade to silence the other bunker. He evacuated his comrade, replenished his ammunition and returned to the forefront to brave the enemy fire and continue the fight. When the forward element was ordered to withdraw, he carried 1 wounded man to the rear. As he returned to evacuate another soldier, he was taken under fire by snipers, but raced beyond the friendly troops to attack and kill the snipers. After evacuating the wounded man, he returned to cover the deployment of the unit. His ammunition now exhausted, he dragged 2 more of his fallen comrades to the rear. Sgt. Baker’s selfless heroism, indomitable fighting spirit, and extraordinary gallantry were directly responsible for saving the lives of several of his comrades, and inflicting serious damage on the enemy. His acts were in keeping with the highest traditions of the U.S. Army and reflect great credit upon himself and the Armed Forces of his country.
LIVINGSTON, JAMES E.
Rank and organization: Captain, U.S. Marine Corps, Company E, 2d Battalion, 4th Marines, 9th Marine Amphibious Brigade. place and date: Dai Do, Republic of Vietnam, 2 May 1968. Entered service at: McRae, Ga. Born: 12 January 1940, Towns, Telfair County, Ga. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as Commanding Officer, Company E, in action against enemy forces. Company E launched a determined assault on the heavily fortified village of Dai Do, which had been seized by the enemy on the preceding evening isolating a marine company from the remainder of the battalion. Skillfully employing screening agents, Capt. Livingston maneuvered his men to assault positions across 500 meters of dangerous open rice paddy while under intense enemy fire. Ignoring hostile rounds impacting near him, he fearlessly led his men in a savage assault against enemy emplacements within the village. While adjusting supporting arms fire, Capt. Livingston moved to the points of heaviest resistance, shouting words of encouragement to his marines, directing their fire, and spurring the dwindling momentum of the attack on repeated occasions. Although twice painfully wounded by grenade fragments, he refused medical treatment and courageously led his men in the destruction of over 100 mutually supporting bunkers, driving the remaining enemy from their positions, and relieving the pressure on the stranded marine company. As the 2 companies consolidated positions and evacuated casualties, a third company passed through the friendly lines launching an assault on the adjacent village of Dinh To, only to be halted by a furious counterattack of an enemy battalion. Swiftly assessing the situation and disregarding the heavy volume of enemy fire, Capt. Livingston boldly maneuvered the remaining effective men of his company forward, joined forces with the heavily engaged marines, and halted the enemy’s counterattack Wounded a third time and unable to walk, he steadfastly remained in the dangerously exposed area, deploying his men to more tenable positions and supervising the evacuation of casualties. Only when assured of the safety of his men did he allow himself to be evacuated. Capt. Livingston’s gallant actions uphold the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and the U.S. Naval Service.
THORNTON, MICHAEL EDWIN
Rank and organization: Petty Officer, U.S. Navy, Navy Advisory Group. Place and date: Republic of Vietnam, 31 October 1972. Entered service at: Spartanburg, S.C. Born: 23 March 1949, Greenville, S.C. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while participating in a daring operation against enemy forces. PO Thornton, as Assistant U.S. Navy Advisor, along with a U.S. Navy lieutenant serving as Senior Advisor, accompanied a 3-man Vietnamese Navy SEAL patrol on an intelligence gathering and prisoner capture operation against an enemy-occupied naval river base. Launched from a Vietnamese Navy junk in a rubber boat, the patrol reached land and was continuing on foot toward its objective when it suddenly came under heavy fire from a numerically superior force. The patrol called in naval gunfire support and then engaged the enemy in a fierce firefight, accounting for many enemy casualties before moving back to the waterline to prevent encirclement. Upon learning that the Senior Advisor had been hit by enemy fire and was believed to be dead, PO Thornton returned through a hail of fire to the lieutenant’s last position; quickly disposed of 2 enemy soldiers about to overrun the position, and succeeded in removing the seriously wounded and unconscious Senior Naval Advisor to the water’s edge. He then inflated the lieutenant’s lifejacket and towed him seaward for approximately 2 hours until picked up by support craft. By his extraordinary courage and perseverance, PO Thornton was directly responsible for saving the life of his superior officer and enabling the safe extraction of all patrol members, thereby upholding the highest traditions of the U.S. Naval Service.
Thanks so much for the citations.
Considering all the garbage they waste tax dollars on in Washington, there should be a monument in Washington to all the Congressional Medal of Honor recipients as some small token of our national debt and gratitude to them, and by extension, to ALL men and women who served America in our fighting forces.
Speaking of Medal of Honor recipients, does anyone know the name of the 5 that were at the GOP convention?
I am very distressed that despite such tremendous acts of heroism still being performed today, the Pentagon has only seen fit to advance the commendation in posthumous circumstances. And while this is certainly deserved, it denies the American people living heroes to stand among us.
Today in our nation, there is only one living MoH recipient for every three million Americans. The odds of ever seeing or hearing one alive and in person, only keep getting worse. Many Americans, if not most, have no idea what the MoH is, what it stands for, or even what it looks like in the great array of military decorations.
Why does this matter?
MoH recipient General Joe Foss, a leading USMC ace fighter pilot in WWII, returned to a heroes welcome, became an important test pilot and the governor of the State of South Dakota.
The rest of which paled before his being a Medal of Honor recipient.
For the rest of his life, like other MoH recipients, he was the personification of the American hero. He met and spoke with tens of thousands of people, and showed them all what heroism means. Yet he as a person, for the rest of his life, was secondary to the MoH itself, and what it represents.
On January 11, 2002, Joe Foss, then in his mid-80s, was at Phoenix Sky Harbor airport, when he was stopped by airport security, and not permitted to board his flight to West Point, to give a speech. This was because his Medal of Honor had sharp points, and “He might use it to try and hijack the aircraft.”
This is the price we pay for being denied living heroes.
Medal of Honor recipient, possibly our leading WWII United States Marine Corps top ace Joe Foss died a year later.
Somehow I don’t feel worthy to even walk in the shadow of these Giants Among Us.
“......the Pentagon has only seen fit to advance the commendation in posthumous circumstances....”
....are you sure about this?...when did it go into effect?
“On January 11, 2002, Joe Foss, then in his mid-80s, was at Phoenix Sky Harbor airport, when he was stopped by airport security, and not permitted to board his flight to West Point, to give a speech. This was because his Medal of Honor had sharp points, and “He might use it to try and hijack the aircraft.”
This is the price we pay for being denied living heroes.”
No, its the price we pay for having idiot politically correct globalists running the Country.
Agreed! BUMP
However, your point about gov't waste and priorities stands. From the website linked above: In large part Patriots Point operates on admissions revenue as well as support that comes in the form of membership and contributions Even though Patriots Point is a State of South Carolina agency, the museum receives no funding from the legislature and enabling legislation compels the museum to be self sustaining.
I am a proud Carolinian today ... thanks.
The last Medal of Honor citation to a living military service member was in Vietnam. Since that time seven Medals of Honor have been presented, all posthumously. 33 years have passed since the end of the Vietnam War.
Since that time there has been the Tehran hostage rescue, the invasion of Grenada, the occupation of Beirut ending with the destruction of the USMC barracks, the invasion of Panama, the first Gulf War, Operation Restore Hope in Somalia, the occupation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the War on Terrorism (ongoing), the invasion and occupation of Afghanistan (ongoing), and the second Gulf War and Iraq occupation (ongoing).
It is not unusual that only seven Medals of Honor have been presented in that time. However, it is unfortunate that out of numerous and extraordinary acts of heroism, some individuals receiving several high ranking decorations for repeated acts of bravery far beyond the call of duty, in that time, the Pentagon has found no living individual who has risen to the standards they have set for the recognition with the Medal of Honor.
And, as much as I am loathe to say it, presenting a MoH posthumously, for the selfless act of jumping on a hand grenade to save the life of your comrades, in truth while meritorious, hardly rates the ultimate citation.
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