Military officials investigated over ‘lost’ Medal of Honor nomination

Stars and Stripes ^ | 9/26/2013 | Jonathan S. Landay

[markomalley]

A Pentagon investigation into how a Medal of Honor nomination was

[pepsionice]

I was at a military ceremony around 2004. They had this guy get up to get some award from his old unit in South Korea. The guy had already been at our unit (in Germany) for four years and was set to leave in six months. The old unit had written up a medal...had it turned down....reapplied....lost the paperwork....then resubmitted a third and I believe even...a fourth time. The guy was embarrassed by this....over four years after he left the unit, and almost ready to leave the present unit.

There’s something broke with the entire system over medals. I think most are bogus in nature, and half the folks probably need some status symbol of sorts for what they did at some unit...but to say a medal....is just not worth it.

[markomalley]

There’s something broke with the entire system over medals.

Agreed...particularly for medals given for "meritorious service" (MSM, Commendation Medals, Bronze Stars (without "V"), etc.)

It is a byproduct of the hyper-inflated performance evaluation system that has always existed in the services.

[USNBandit]

I have a friend who is a former SEAL. He took over for a FAC team that got hit in Fallujah for a period of 36 hours. By taking over, I mean he killed all the guys that hit the FAC team, took over their duties and remained on station calling air support, while simultaneously killing all the bad guys trying to retake the building he was on top of. He was also wounded during the action, but kept fighting. He also suffers from a TBI that he received during that battle

I have another friend who was an engineering company commander who loaded his troops on aircraft in Germany and got them off the aircraft in Saudi Arabia, 48 hours after the shooting stopped in the first Gulf War.

They both received a bronze star for their actions. Yeah something is messed up.

There is a simple reason this MOH recommendation was lost. This captain had to display his heroism because some staff weenies back at the fire base wouldn't provide air or artillery. When his nomination went up the Army was still in the process of firing people and sweeping this incident under the rug.

[Jack Hammer]

Pentagon chair polishers are only interested in their own promotions, not valor in the field.

[rawhide]

Hey, John Kerry got his medals! /s

[piytar]

“When his nomination went up the Army was still in the process of firing people and sweeping this incident under the rug.”

Figured it was something like that. But do they still fire people for incompetence under Obama? Near as I can tell, not looking spiffy in your uniform (too many tatts), being a vocal Christian, and failing to comply with the impossible to comply with insanse ROEs get you booted. Incompetence? Very glad (but kind of surprised) to hear that still gets you the boot.

[pa_dweller]

And we want people held accountable.

A pretty tall order for FEDGOV.

[Chainmail]

Like I've said a bunch of times, this generation of soldiers and Marines are the best I've ever seen but the leadership is the worst, ever.

We've had several generations of biased selection boards that screen out anyone with guts and talent and only the careerists who never make a ripple get to the top.

No surprise then, that a real hero's medal package was deliberately "lost" - the careerists hate genuine heroes with a passion.

[generally]

On the plus side, if they can stall around for a few more years, he won’t have to receive the award from 0vomit. That alone would make it worth the wait.

[silverleaf]

BINGO

[silverleaf]

There is no “incompetence” under Obama

only people like Chaplains who stubbornly refuse to stop using the name “Jesus” when they lead Christian prayers and NCO’s who refuse to verbally affirm a belief in gay marriage when ordered by a lesbian commander

Now THOSE types get the book thrown at them

[BuffaloJack]

Only 4 years from the deed of valor to the Medal of Honor. All things considered, that’s fast.
My best friend, a Cobra gunship pilot, died of cancer 5 years ago next month. He received his Silver Star in the mail without ceremony only 10 days before his death. His act of valor took place in 1968. It took 40 years to receive his recognition.

[BuffaloJack]

> ... the careerists hate genuine heroes with a passion.
Careerists? Is that what we used to call “lifers”?

[tumblindice]

‘Kerry/Mr.Ed’
It’s nothing new. Lyndon B. Johnson was a naval reserve lt. Commander and flew as an ‘observer’ on a bomber. ‘Dug-out’ Doug awarded him a Silver Star and Lyndon got a lot of mileage out of holding it up at campaign stops back in Texas.
Some wag called it “possibly the least deserved but most appreciated medal ever awarded”.
This was before Kerry and we know he didn’t appreciate his medals.

Not to take away from legitimately awarded medals, but Democrats always seem to find a way to screw whatever pooch is involved.

[oh8eleven]

There’s something broke with the entire system over medals. I think most are bogus in nature ...
A local sports writer has admitted many times that as an office clerk in some Army unit in VN, he was "forced" to write up awards for events that never took place.
That was around 1970 and you know it's gotten worse, rather than better.

[Darksheare]

I received my ARCAM twelve years after the fact.

[Chainmail]

"Careerists? Is that what we used to call “lifers”?"

Uh, yes. Those of us who actually kept going in the career (28 years) are somewhat flinchy about that particular label ;-)

I was enlisted during the first four years and as disdainful as everybody else about "lifers"...until I got out and found that civilians were a lot harder to relate to. When the Corps offered me a commissioning program a bit later, I was enthusiastic about returning to uniform.

So, yes, I was a "lifer". Careerists are a separate subset of lifers: they are focused on getting themselves the choice assignments, the best promotion trajectory and they don't care what ethical/moral/integrity boundaries they need to bypass to get there. Today's careerist isn't just a "ticket puncher" - they abhor risk to the point that succeeding in our missions isn't even part of the program - it's just getting through that step of their careers without getting in trouble.

That's how we have ended up with combat troops loaded up like overweight turtles on the few times they venture out of their fortified cantonments or crammed into heavily armored vehicles with no real combat capability or no supporting arms readily available because of the overwhelming fear of "collateral damage".

The stunning rarity these days is a commander who actually engages the enemy and as our MoH candidate did, risks everything he had to save his men's lives.

[elpadre]

The few medal awards for valor I personally know of from the Korean war were truly justified.

[RJS1950]

You hit that exactly on the head. I too went from enlisted Marine to a commission. I turned down the Corps offers but accepted an AF program. There is a distinct lack of leadership at the trench level. I served around way too many who were “Jungle Fighters”, with a knife in each to plant in the backs on the way up the ladder. True leaders at the front are very rare and it would be little surprise if careerists were holding this back.