24 Medals of Honor to be awarded
According to the Washington Post, the White House is set to announce the award of 24 Medals of Honor for past wars. According to the Post, these are previously “overlooked minority” awards.
Mostly, I’m disappointed that the list doesn’t include SGT Rafael Peralta and Sergeant First Class Alwyn C. Cashe who pulled his Bradley crew from the burning vehicle and then died from his injuries.
But there is a list of the 24 awardees at the Post link. Thanks to Chief Tango for the link. And thanks to the Post for the editor changing the headline from “winners” to “recipients” as indicated by the URL to the link.
Category: Real Soldiers
“bout time”. But I agree Jonn they left some well deserving men out.
I’m a little pissed he didn’t upgrade Ship’s Cook 2nd Class Doris Miller from a Navy Cross to a MOH.
It makes no sense to me either why Peralta and Cashe are not being awarded the MOH. Has anybody seen the citation for MacArthur’s MOH for when he left the Phillipines? His actions would a Letter of Appreciation today (maybe).
SFC Cashe is the kind of man we used to teach schoolchildren about. Sadly, I doubt if more than one person in 10,000 knows his name or his story.
@3……..Spot on, “Dugout Doug” as his troops called him, never left his command post to visit the front. Additionally, in spite of being warned about a pending air attack, his planes were caught on the ground and destroyed.
I am so proud, that these brave men are finally being recognized for their valor.
No objections here. If they deserve the award … Award it!
But, what about the Irish?
Just askin’!
@7.
I agree.
But I cannot help but wonder about the timing and political angle.
Sergeant First Class Jose Rodela and my father served together in B-36 in 1969. My father received a DSC for actions in Phuoc Long Province in November of 69. Bad year in the RVN. God speed to both of them, I’ll see you in Vahalla.
Upcoming talking point:
“President Obama, who has awarded more Medals of Honor than any other President in history…”
Not taking anything away from these 24 men, but…Thanks for remembering Peralta and Cashe here at TAH. Yep…can’t find any minorities post Vietnam worthy of the MOH? This brings the total number of MOHs awarded since 1/1/2000 to SEVENTY-FIVE, and only 13 of those were to heroes from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Guess we’ll have to wait 30 or 40 years for DoD to review the GWOT guys who have been overlooked.
BTW – This has nothing to do with Obama…the mandate for this review was in the 2002 Defense Authorization Act. As for MOST, this will bring BHO’s total to 36 MOHs awarded. Truman awarded 112 and Nixon awarded 111.
Doug, this is the first time I’ve seen you post here; it’s an honor to have you here…
Combat…I’m just one more regular vet…nothing special. But I do watch the Blog all the time and consider John and Mark to be personal friends (even though John is the only one I’ve personally met.)
@13 Doug…glad to see you here sir. Thank you for all you do as well. It is an honor to be able to post back at you. Have a great weekend.
I sat in the Kelley Hill Chapel attending SFC Cashe’s memorial service in late 2005…I had redeployed to the Rear D to begin my new career field and was a few weeks away from going to school. What a great American and NCO.
That autumn was a tough time for the Sledgehammer Brigade- SFC Cashe and my good friend CPT Joel Cahill…along with all the other honored dead from 3/3 ID.
Godspeed, Gentlemen.
I don’t get the “overlooked” description used by the Post and, I’m guessing, the Emperor’s mouthpiece, Jay Carney. As I understand it, each of these men received the DSC or its other-service equivalent. That isn’t being overlooked. Or am I missing something here?
I suppose what I’m getting at in comment 16 is that it doesn’t necessarily follow that someone who received the Navy Cross or the DSC would have received the Medal of Honor but for racial, religious or ethnic prejudice. I saw nothing in the 2002 bill that established the basis for decision making decades after the gallant acts of these men.
All 24 men were originally awarded the DSC. I have the citations for the DSCs (which will be upgraded) for all but a couple of the WWII guys in the Military Times Hall of Valor if you want to read them.
Doug,
First, Thanks for all you do.
Next, I have a question, the article said that these men were over looked because of their backgrounds. Do you know what the criteria for selection was to have them upgraded? How many were reviewed? Are more upgrades coming?
@19: This is the last of the major upgrades although there may be isolated cases yet to come. This began in the early 1990s due the fact not a single Black American got the MOH in WWI or WWII (there were 2 in Korea and 20 in RVN). In 1991 the MOH was presented (posthumously) to WWI Black soldier Freddie Stowers, and in 1994 7 MOHs were presented to Black WWII heroes (all but one posthumously.) Subsequently a review of Japanese-American soldiers was ordered (only 1 AJA received the MOH, Posthumously, in WWII) and in 1990 22 additional awards were presented to AJA soldiers, most of them posthumously. In 2002 a review of awards to Hispanic (there were 13 in WWII, 4 in Korea, 16 in RVN) was ordered as well as to Jewish Americans (3 in WWII, 2 in Korea including the late award to Tibor Rubin, and 1 in RVN). The result is these 24 awards now being presented to Hispanic or Jewish soldiers from WWII, Korea, and RVN.
I’m not sure what the criteria was, in nearly all cases but Rubin and 1 AJA WWII upgrade, the awards were upgraded from the DSC previously awarded.
Correction to above…the AJA awards were presented in 2000, not 1990
I just read as many of the Citations as I could find. Very awe inspiring
Doug-
FOURTEEN years to review these? I realize there is a depth required, and that looking at such an honor can be difficult, but it still seems really odd that it would require this much time- regardless of who’s at the top.
I am going to say something. I mean absolutely no disrespect to any of the 24 men who were named today.
I am all for righting wrongs, I have no doubt that race played a part in who received a MOH in the past.But there are some thing that need to be remembered.
Racism is wrong. But trying to award a MOH simply on race or political motivation is wrong as well. Anyone that was overlooked based on race alone deserves to be looked at again. My fear is race will Be a Factor in its award in the future.
I think of Men like Rudy Hernandez when I think about someone who received the MOH. I hope the new recipients were picked with Due Diligence. Not with any eye towards we have to give the medal to Minorities.
Or am I completely off base?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rodolfo_P._Hernandez
Dakota Meyer posted an article that explains why Peralta has not been awarded the Medal of Honor. Apparently, some of his fellow Marines are disputing his final action, saying that it was fabricated.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/comrades-say-marine-heroism-tale-of-iraq-veteran-was-untrue/2014/02/21/455bf006-9b1f-11e3-ad71-e03637a299c0_story.html
@24. No, you are not off base and there is very good reason to conclude when looking at the numbers Doug Sterner presented that, in the aggregate, racial or ethnic prejudice does explain the paucity of Medals of Honor for non-whites and white non-Christians. The question that we share is how in the world did anyone come to the conclusion that in one case the DSC should be upgraded and in another it should stand? And that goes to the criteria for recommending the upgrade, which we don’t have. If the decision makers began with the presumption that each man they looked at should have the Medal of Honor, that’s a very different perspective than beginning with the presumption that each received what he should have: the DSC. The two different starting points place the burden in different places and, absent persuasive rebuttal, result in different outcomes (i.e., overcoming the presumption that Soldier X should have received the Medal of Honor is altogether different than overcoming the presumption that the DSC was the correct and proper award for Sodier X.) As for your concern that your question may be construed as disrepectful, that’s on the perceiver if he chooses to go that way. There is no disrespect in your words or your tone. You are just wondering, as am I, how in the world the decision making was done.
Yeah. That word “winner” was pissing. me. off.
The review of awards was decided upon in 2002 due to the overwhelming evidence that many Awards were never given or downgraded based on the prejudices of the time against different races, religions, and skin color.
I believe the review to have been done for righteous reason and that not one single person being awarded the MOH is having it done so as some form of “jury nullification” or in other words simply because of the color of their skin, their religion, or race.
End of story, 24 men unjustly denied the awarding of this Nations Highest Honor are now having that egregious error righted.
God Bless each and every one of them.
Funny thing, several years back men of the 442d were also subjected to such a review of their awards, and a large number of awards of the MOH resulted from that review. I do not recall any criticism of that to the extent that I am seeing today back then. Though I did see some “criticism” of it last night… but I am pretty sure that guy has himself a nice set of white sheets he wears in his closet.
The affirmative action President is once again playing politics with our nations highest honor. Is there any need to point out the minority aspect of this unless you are making some point? Much as affirmative action graduates of college are looked down upon as not really having earned the degree this has a chance in the minds of the general public to cast doubt on whether these men earned The MOH or if they are just getting it to make up for past grievences.
While the optics are not the greatest and the President’s people manage to put their foots in their mouths all the time, I will take some time to learn about these 24 brothers in arms. Perhaps the overwheming positive that will come out of this is that there will be a chance for these stories to once again be heard/told and, in a way, let our heroes know that they are not forgotten.
The term “minority” is included in the article.
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/vet-shocked-learn-medal-honor-i-fell-my-knees-n36171
Don’t get me wrong, I believe this man has earned it but look at how the media plays it.
@31 – GT, we know the media never misses a chance to let their biases show through. Of course, they seem to forget that it was the heroes of the Progressive movement *Woodrow Wilson cough cough* who used the pseudo science of eugenics to segregate the Armed Forces and the federal civilian agencies. Short answer, fuck the press!