So. the Rumor Doctor stopped by today…
I don’t know if you’ve ever read Jeff Schogol’s column in the Stars & Stripes column “The Rumor Doctor” but he does the research that shithouse lawyers won’t do on military rumors. Well, he emailed us to let us know about this week’s column “Must all troops salute Medal of Honor recipients? “. On the question, Jeff concludes;
Officially, there is no law or military regulation requiring all servicemembers to salute Medal of Honor recipients, but you are allowed to do so when the recipient is physically wearing the medal, according to the Congressional Medal of Honor Society.
The tradition of saluting recipients comes from an Army tradition of having them take part in military parades, during which they would stand with an officer during the “pass in review,” and both would return salutes from commanders as they passed by, according to the society.
So now we’re all smarter than we were after TSO’s charts and graphs. I read Jeff’s column every chance I get, just to get that Stars & Stripes feel I used to get when I was stationed overseas. He asked me to encourage you to send him your queries.
Category: Military issues
In the Coast Guard, all members (including the Commandant) are required to salute Medal of Honor recipients.
I always thought we were required to do so…when the Medal was being worn only. Learned something new today.
I am more smarter for reading TAH!
Jonn,
Perchance do you remember the comic strip of the goofy soldier in S/S?
I’ve got just one, that I saved. Our “beer of choice” in the barracks was the lager Heineken Red star. Not the same as the US version. We used to recycle all the bottles back to the Class VI.
One day the strip showed a mouse dumpster diving. We crossed out the name and put my Husband’s in…As the mouse was diving, someone on the ground said, “Where’s Martin?” And you can see the Heineken bottle that is being sought.
For years, I tried to track down some of the funnies. It was mid to late eighties, early nineties. They were just classic…
I’m sure though that it wouldn’t be “wrong” to salute any Medal of Honor winner whether they were wearing the medal or not.
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What it doesn’t say is what you’re supposed to do as a civilian. Hand over the heart? Pretend you didn’t see it? Point and shout “Holy shit a Medal of Honor!”? It seems wrong to just walk past or something.
If I can salute the flag at a Vikings game during the anthem, I will by god salute any man who has been awarded the highest military honor we have, whether I am in uniform or civvies.
Speaking of which, I watched the ceremony at the White House, and was disappointed with our Commander in Chief, who could have set the standard in this regard by snapping a smart and crisp salute after putting the MOH on SSG Guinta. I’m pretty sure that is exactly what W would have done.
@Spade (#6), yes, I had exactly the same feeling when I was standing near and passing by a Medal of Honor recipient in a wheel chair at the Association of the United States Army (AUSA) annual meeting and expository in DC last month. I’m a little slow sometimes, I guess, so it took just a moment for it to sink in, and then it was like the moment had passed to make my acknowledgement. Had my mind on other things – like finding my way back to the bus (having a somewhat dysfunctional sense of direction), then I felt badly. I also felt I didn’t properly acknowledge or address a full-bird in uniform in a wheel chair (with a prosthetic, I think) over at the Wounded Warrior table (though we did have a brief chat about his jerked chicken). Guess I need to work on my proper manners as a civilian in the military world… (something the military never taught me!)
Back in March, I was honored to have seen 20 MOH wearers stepping off of a plane in DC. I walked up to as many as I could, stuck out my hand, and said “Thank you, sir, for your service to and sacrifices for our country. I am honored to shake your hand. We can never repay you — thank you.” To a man, they were humble and said “thank you”.
Picture and post over at my place:
http://texan-in-wisconsin.blogspot.com/2010/03/medal-of-honor-winner.html
Damn, but I had to wipe away a tear or two.
Jon Cavianti told me a story of how he was being honored once in Germany at a reception held by a General. A Lt.Col refused to salute Jon. Now Jon, a humble man, said it really didn’t bother him but man did it bother the General who dressed the Lt.Col down severely in public. Doubt he ever saw Bird. I always thought it was manditory….but manditory or not, I would salute the Recipient whether I was in uniform or not.
I consider it an honor to salute any MoH recipient, without question, anywhere, anytime, and no matter what I’m wearing.
Like others here, if I were in uniform I would salute without hesitation. And if I were in civies I would not hesitate to offer a handshake and thanks.
I will salute them anytime, anywhere, and consider it an honor to do it.
I went to your link, Snowman. (#9 post). That was a great story, and thanks for sharing!
I’d be simply honored to be in the presence of a MOH recipient, proper protocol be dammed, and yeah, this civilian would salute or at least give a heartfelt, “Thank You” to the gentleman in question.