William Swenson MoH Ceremony Today, 2:10PM EDT
Video feed will supposedly be available at this link.
Kudos, CPT Swenson. Awe-inspiring.
Category: Real Soldiers
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Indeed, Hondo. Well done, Captain.
THIS is the Tuesday feel good story!
About time. I read the story, awe inspiring!
Figures that the live video from the a White House server won’t load
Have any of us seen anyone more uncomfortable in his duty to make this award? The look on the petulant child’s face is utterly disgusting.
Capt Swenson? Can’t say that he looks all that happy to be there either, but that’s an entirely different story.
Well done, sir!
I have it up, live.
OWB–one can’t hold the other’s jock.
I’ll leave it to you to decide which is which, but I think the choice among the regular posters here would be unanimous, or nearly so.
Well, thank you for the link. This day belongs to the Captain, his Team, and the families of that battle’s Fallen. God bless them all.
Congrats to Captain Swenson on his overdue Medal of Honor. May those lost that day rest in Peace and never be fogotten.
Doesn’t he kind of remind you of Fess Parker?
Obama (or whoever he is) kind of enhanced that image when he said Captain Swenson would rather be in the mountains or on a trail among the cedars.
I wonder if Hollywood will grab hold of him the way they did Audie Murphy?
When I was watching the video at the White House web site, it suddenly froze up.
So, I switched over to television and watched it on Fox News.
Moving ceremony. Thank you Captain Swenson for being the leader that you are. America needs more hero’s like you.
Indeed, rb325th. May those who didn’t return alive that day rest in peace, and may God comfort their surviving family and friends.
I can’t say I’m that surprised that CPT Swenson is a bit conflicted today, OWB. I’ve read more than one account where a MoH recipient referred to the day they performed the acts of heroism for which they were later awarded the MoH as, in effect, the worst day of their life.
Given what one has to go through to even be considered for the MoH, I can understand that.
If I were to receive the most cherished medal from Ophoney…I’d tell them to mail it to me!
Anyway, Thank You Captain Swenson. You ARE MY hero.
It definitely was a moving ceremony. I felt bad for the Cpt. He was sweating so bad! The president was right, he much rather would want to be on a mountain then in the WH receiving that medal from him or anyone else in the DOD, Army or any other Govt. branch.
Thank you Cpt. Swenson for all that you did while you were in uniform, it’s too bad that the military lost such a great leader because of stupidity on their part.
I salute you, sir!
Thank you for your sacrifice.
Anybody see the MSN story? There’s a fly in the ointment.
16,
The link you’re talking about in the MSN story refers to supposed questions about the accounts contained in Dakota Meyer’s MOH nomination and reports submitted by senior leaders in the Marine Corps that were specific to Meyer’s combat encounters. After reading it through, I don’t think it has much to do with Swenson.
On another note, the NYT is reporting that Swenson has asked to be reinstated and placed on active duty.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2013/10/15/us/politics/ap-us-medal-of-honor-active-duty.html?ref=aponline&_r=2&
Videos shot by a Army medevac helicopter crewman conflict with the ground report. I’ll post the link, and let folks with a lot more knowledge than me worry about it.
http://news.msn.com/us/videos-contradict-medal-of-honor-recipients-account
Not exactly new info, PintoNag – though the video is new. A McClachey report from a year or two ago brought out some apparent discrepancies in Meyer’s MoH recommendation and some other accounts of the battle in Ganjgal Valley.
In my more cynical moments, I’ve often wondered if Swenson’s MoH recommendation got “back burnered” for a while or “lost” in order to avoid bringing those differences in accounts of the battle to the forefront too soon. I’d guess it wouldn’t be the first time something had been “set aside for a while” to avoid two services poking each other in the eye in public.
On a different subject: thanks for posting the link about CPT Swenson requesting reinstatement, PintoNag. Hadn’t seen that, and it’s good news indeed. Hopefully he still qualifies medically and can get back in uniform ASAP.
The Army – and the nation – can certainly use a man of his quality.
Powerpoint Ranger posted that link, Hondo.
PintoNag: oops. (sheepish grin)
Sorry, Powerpoint Ranger. My error; should have thanked you for doing that.
I’ve typed up a few responses and deleted them because it’s not my place to reveal whatever details that have been made available to me since 2009.
However, I will say that Will Swenson embodies those values we most hold dear. Sadly, I cannot say the same for some Army officers before, during and after the battle at Ganjgal. That makes me extremely sad.
The problem with CPT Swenson’s reinstatement is that he’ll be used as a propaganda piece by the Army instead of leading troops where he belongs.
The short clip does not show the helo’s approach to the LZ. This would the rifle flashes and tracers from the mgs. This clip proves nothing. Did the air crew recieve any awards for this E-Med Evac? Could be sour grapes or tring to still discedit the Captain. I have flown many E-vacs where the zone was quiet until landing. Also, usually had a gunship for support. Remember there is a gunship waiting and looking for targets to kill. Joe
@24… MOH recipients always have a had a tough time remaining on active duty. No matter what good (or bad) they do… the medal is always in the background. I remember one who got into a unit that was located at the old stockade at Bragg. Many asked (not to his face) if he got “accepted” because of merit or the medal? He himself brought it up a few times (the controversy), and admitted was a no-win situation for him. He just drove on! Another MOH recipient got pissed off while at C&GSS and only wore his GCM after some Colonel dictated that only one badge could be worn. He took off his CIB AND jump wings and all medals except the GCM! Hilarious. Another MOH recipient was salted away as an O-6 in charge of post beautification.