Navy Cross
Valor Friday
Guy Bordelon is a unique man. He was a naval aviator, and a fighter ace, but it took him a roundabout way to get there. Along the way he claimed more than one “only” title. Bordelon, hailing from Louisiana, first took pre-law classes at Louisiana Polytechnic Institute, before attending Louisiana State College. In 1942, with […]
Valor Friday
AW1Ed forwarded the story of a bad ass Navy diver. Back in the day when divers wore the big, heavy brass standard diving dress. The size and weight of it only matched by the enormous brass balls of the operators themselves. Crilley received both the Navy Cross and the Medal of Honor for his diving […]
Valor Friday
Recently, the keel for a guided missile destroyer was laid down. This future US Navy ship is being named USS Quentin Walsh. DDG-132 is named not for a US Navy hero, but rather a Coastie. Though admittedly, the US Coast Guard was under the Navy Department at the time of his particular noteworthy heroics, as […]
Valor Friday
I’ve several times talked about men and women of valor who have received decorations from allied governments. Sometimes, as in the case of recipients of the top valor awards (such as a Medal of Honor or the Victoria Cross), these foreign decorations are nearly automatic. For example, virtually every Medal of Honor recipient in the […]
Valor Friday
Where last we left Lieutenant Colonel Iceal “Gene” Hambleton and 1st Lieutenant Mark Clark they were trapped in South Vietnam, amidst the largest North Vietnamese Army (NVA) combined arms offensive of the war. It was April 5, 1972, and Hambleton had been alone on the ground for three days after being the lone survivor from […]
Valor Friday
One group of American heroes that I have yet to dive deeply into are those in the submarine service. World War I proved the effectiveness of submarines, but subs saw their most devastating use in WWII, with the German U-Boats being a scourge on convoy traffic in the North Atlantic. They were also critical for […]
Valor Friday
Thanksgiving Day is generally known in America as that last Thursday in November where we eat turkey and watch the Dallas Cowboys lose a football game, but it’s also the name for other holidays around the world. It’s celebrated on 25 October in the tiny Caribbean island nation of Grenada. The reason, if you can […]
Valor Friday
Kurt Chew-Een Lee was the child of Chinese immigrants. Growing up in Sacramento, when America entered World War II, Lee was only 15. As a participant in JROTC during those high school years, it should be no surprise that he enlisted as soon as he turned 18. The eldest son of six children (three boys, […]
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