Spending inauguration day with heroes [TSO]

(NOTE: TSO may have access to a few tix if anyone has some extra scratch to buy them, a tuxedo, and a desire to meet some of these guys. Email us if interested.)

All other things being equal, I don’t really want to leave the house Tuesday. I’d rather lay in bed, watch cartoons, maybe level up my Warcraft characters tailoring skill. Because I like to get crazy like that.

But every 4 years I get to spend a night with my heroes. Literally. It’s the “Salute to Heroes Inaugural Ball” featuring between 50-100 Medal of Honor Recipients. I’ve talked about it here before, and in 2000 I spent the time with Hiroshi Miyamura and Walter Ehlers. This year I have gone through the list of attendees, and the man I most want to meet is this gentleman, Peter C. Lemon.

Should be easy enough to recognize the man, he has no hair, and is the youngest living MoH recipient. The reason I became more interested in his story than in others though is that we’ve been running all these stories about American cowards who have been running away from their voluntary commitment to the Armed Forces, and fleeing to Canada. Well, near as I have been able to determine, Mr Lemon represents the sole living Canadian MoH recipient. Or rather, he was a Canadian. Who knows, since he never once seems to mention Canada anywhere on his website, but rather talks about all the things he has done for this, his adopted country. Somehow I actually feel bad for Canada, they send us Hockey Players and heroes, and we send them cowards and polar bear researchers. That’s a pretty serious trade deficit.

Anyway, he just looks like a very nice, very affable fellow, doesn’t he?

Not to the NVA he didn’t apparently.

LEMON, PETER C.

Rank and organization: Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company E, 2d Battalion, 8th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division.

place and date: Tay Ninh province, Republic of Vietnam, 1 April 1970.

Entered service at: Tawas City, Mich.

Born: 5 June 1950, Toronto, Canada.

Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Sgt. Lemon (then Sp4c.), Company E, distinguished himself while serving as an assistant machine gunner during the defense of Fire Support Base Illingworth. When the base came under heavy enemy attack, Sgt. Lemon engaged a numerically superior enemy with machine gun and rifle fire from his defensive position until both weapons malfunctioned. He then used hand grenades to fend off the intensified enemy attack launched in his direction. After eliminating all but 1 of the enemy soldiers in the immediate vicinity, he pursued and disposed of the remaining soldier in hand-to-hand combat. Despite fragment wounds from an exploding grenade, Sgt. Lemon regained his position, carried a more seriously wounded comrade to an aid station, and, as he returned, was wounded a second time by enemy fire. Disregarding his personal injuries, he moved to his position through a hail of small arms and grenade fire. Sgt. Lemon immediately realized that the defensive sector was in danger of being overrun by the enemy and unhesitatingly assaulted the enemy soldiers by throwing hand grenades and engaging in hand-to-hand combat. He was wounded yet a third time, but his determined efforts successfully drove the enemy from the position. Securing an operable machine gun, Sgt. Lemon stood atop an embankment fully exposed to enemy fire, and placed effective fire upon the enemy until he collapsed from his multiple wounds and exhaustion. After regaining consciousness at the aid station, he refused medical evacuation until his more seriously wounded comrades had been evacuated. Sgt. Lemon’s gallantry and extraordinary heroism, are in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit on him, his unit, and the U.S. Army.

Tags: Peter Lemon

Category: Support the troops