medalofhonor

Medal of Honor

(by  Jim Kuhnhenn, Associated Press) WASHINGTON – …On Tuesday, March 18,  24 mostly ethnic or minority U.S. soldiers who performed bravely under fire in three of the nation’s wars finally received the Medal of Honor that the government concluded should have been awarded a long time ago.

The servicemen – Hispanics, Jews and African-Americans – were identified following a congressionally mandated review to ensure that eligible recipients of the country’s highest recognition for valor were not bypassed due to prejudice. Only three of the 24 were alive for President Barack Obama to drape the medals and ribbons around their necks.

“Today we have the chance to set the record straight,” Obama said. “No nation is perfect, but here in America we confront our imperfections and face a sometimes painful past, including the truth that some of these soldiers fought and died for a country that did not always see them as equal.”

The three surviving recipients – Vietnam veterans Jose Rodela, Melvin Morris and Santiago Erevia – received a prolonged standing ovation at Obama’s side, their faces set in somber acknowledgement of the honor.

Jose Rodela

Jose Rodela

Rodela, now of San Antonio, was a 31-year-old company commander of a Special Forces strike group on Sept. 1, 1969, in Phuoc Long Province, Vietnam, when he and his company of Cambodian soldiers whom he had helped recruit came under fire from North Vietnamese Army troops.

According to his Medal of Honor citation and supporting documents, the battle lasted 18 hours and 11 men in his company were killed and 33 others wounded.

The citation states that late in the battle, Rodela “was the only member of his company who was moving and he began to run from one position to the next, checking for casualties and moving survivors into different positions in an attempt to form a stable defense line. Throughout the battle, in spite of his wounds, Rodela repeatedly exposed himself to enemy fire to attend to the fallen and eliminate an enemy rocket position.”

In an interview with the Army News Service last December, he said simply, “We trained for this and I would have done it again.”

Melvin Morris

Melvin Morris

Morris of Cocoa, Fla., was a staff sergeant during combat operations on Sept. 17, 1969, near Chi Lang, South Vietnam. According to the Pentagon, Morris led soldiers across enemy lines to retrieve his team sergeant, who had been killed. He single-handedly destroyed an enemy force hidden in bunkers that had pinned down his battalion. Morris was shot three times as he ran with American casualties.

Morris received the Distinguished Service Cross in April 1970. That same month, he returned to Vietnam for his second tour.

“I never really did worry about decorations,” Morris told The Associated Press last month. But he said he fell to his knees when he received the surprise call from Obama with news that he was to be honored.

Santiago Erevia

Santiago Erevia

Erevia, also of San Antonio, was cited for courage while serving as a radio-telephone operator on May 21, 1969, during a search-and-clear mission near Tam Ky, South Vietnam. He was a specialist 4 when his battalion tried to take a hill fortified by Viet Cong and North Vietnam Army soldiers. The Pentagon says he single-handedly silenced four Viet Cong bunkers.

As for the medal, he told the publication Soldier Live last month, “I’m only thankful I’m getting it while I’m alive.”

Among those who received a posthumous medal was Leonard Kravitz, an assistant machine gunner in the Korean War who is credited with saving his platoon by providing cover for retreating troops. He died in the attack. He is the uncle of singer and actor Lenny Kravitz, who attended Tuesday’s ceremony.

Tuesday’s mass ceremony, the largest since World War II, was the result of an Army review conducted under a directive from Congress in the 2002 National Defense Authorization Act. The law required that the record of each Jewish-American and Hispanic-American veteran who received a Distinguished Service Cross during or after World War II be reviewed for possible upgrade to the Medal of Honor.

The Pentagon said the Army reviewed the cases of the 6,505 recipients of the Distinguished Service Cross from World War II and the Korean and Vietnam wars and found an eligible pool of 600 soldiers who may have been Jewish or Hispanic. The Army also worked with the National Museum of American Jewish Military History, the Jewish War Veterans of the USA and the American GI Forum, the largest Hispanic-American veterans group, to pinpoint potential medal recipients.

During the initial review, investigators found that other soldiers who had received the Distinguished Service Cross appeared to meet the criteria for a Medal of Honor and the directive was expanded to permit them to be considered for the upgraded honor.

Reprinted here for educational purposes only. May not be reproduced on other websites without permission from Associated Press. Visit the website at ap .org.

Questions

1. What is the Medal of Honor? Be specific.

2. How many U.S. soldiers were awarded the Medal of Honor from President Obama on March 18th?

3. Why were these soldiers (the largest number awarded the Medal at one time since WWII) recognized with this honor at this time? Be specific.

4. How many of the Medal of Honor recipients are alive today to be able to receive their medals? – in what war did they serve?

5. Re-read the brief descriptions of the three who received their Medals in person this month (para. 6-8, 9-11 and 12-13)
Read more at:  cmohs.org/recent-recipients.php 
What 2-3 adjectives would you use to describe these three men? Explain your answers.

Background

THE MEDAL OF HONOR:

  • The Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration awarded by the United States government.
  • It is bestowed by the President in the name of Congress on members of the United States Armed Forces who distinguish themselves through “conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his or her life above and beyond the call of duty while engaged in an action against an enemy of the United States.”
  • Due to the nature of its criteria, it is often awarded posthumously (more than half have been since 1941).
  • Members of all branches of the armed forces are eligible to receive the medal, and there are three versions (one for the Army, one for the Air Force, and one for the Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard).
  • The Medal of Honor is bestowed upon an individual by the passing of a Joint Resolution in the Congress; and is then personally presented to the recipient or, in the case of posthumous awards, to next of kin, by the President of the United States, on behalf of the Congress, representing and recognizing the gratitude of the American people as a whole.
  • Due to its honored status, the medal is afforded special protection under U.S. law.
  • As the award citation includes the phrase “in the name of Congress,” it is sometimes erroneously called the Congressional Medal of Honor; however, the official title is simply the Medal of Honor. (from wikipedia)

Resources

Read about the Medal of Honor at history.army.mil/moh.html.

For a list of soldiers awarded the Medal of Honor on March 18, 2014, go to the Congressional Medal of Honor Society website at:
cmohs.org/recent-recipients.php 

Watch a CNN interview with Mr. Morris:

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