Marine gets Silver Star 43 years after battle

A really good story from the LA Times about a band of brothers who came together to get the recognition that one one of them deserved;

[Marine Pfc. Daniel] Hernandez was 20 when he served as a machine gunner with M Company, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division. The company, which was among the hardest hit during the Vietnam War, lost 17 men on March 5, 1966, during Operation Utah in Quang Ngai province.

That day…Hernandez dived through enemy fire to pick up a wounded Marine and carry him to safety. A bullet grazed his back. Still, he refused to be evacuated, and, moments later, when he saw an enemy soldier firing at a group of wounded Marines, he ran through oncoming bullets to kill the soldier and save his comrades. Another bullet later grazed his head, sending him to a hospital in Guam.

But the real story is how a former lieutenant discovered one of his troops had never got the recognition he’d deserved and spent three years rectifying the deficiency.

Lupori, who was Hernandez’s commander during the battle, recommended the young man for the medal. Lupori was soon transferred to another battalion and lost contact with Hernandez, but he always assumed that Hernandez had been awarded the honor.

Forty years later, Lupori found out that wasn’t the case.

By chance in 2005, another Marine brought the two men together for lunch. When Lupori congratulated Hernandez on the medal, Hernandez didn’t know anything about it.

“It was then I decided to do everything in my power to get him his medal,” said Lupori, who believes the paperwork was lost in the military bureaucracy.

What does a real hero say about his medal?

He dedicated the honor to all Marines and soldiers and the youths at Hollenbeck.

“In my company,” he said. “I did not own valor. It was not exclusive to me. My company owned valor.”

Category: Military issues