Medal of Honor recipients visit service members at Al Asad

Marine Corps News ^ | Lance Cpl. James B. Hoke

[SandRat]

AL ASAD, Iraq (April 26, 2006) -- Two Medal of Honor recipients from the Vietnam era toured through Al Asad, Iraq, April 20, meeting with deployed service members.

Retired Army Col. Robert L. Howard and retired Marine Capt. John J. McGinty III ate lunch and dinner with several service members. Upon completion of dinner, the two honored visitors met with service members in the Morale, Welfare and Recreation building and gave a speech on their tales of war.

The two gentlemen also met with several service members individually, giving each a morale boost, an autograph and a 100-minute phone card along with the advice to call home

[SandRat]

Retired Army Col. Robert L. Howard signs a copy of his citation of the Medal of Honor for a soldier at the Morale, Welfare and Recreation building at Al Asad, Iraq, April 20. Howard received the Medal of Honor March 12, 1968, for his gallant and intrepid actions in the Vietnam War. Leaving his helicopter landing zone and moving out to rescue a missing American soldier, his platoon came under attack by a two-company force. During the initial engagement, he was wounded and a grenade destroyed his weapon. Unable to walk, and seeing his platoon leader wounded, Howard crawled to his leader's aid. After dragging the seriously wounded officer back to the platoon area, Howard was able to rally the disorganized platoon and direct their fire upon the encircling enemy with shouts of encouragement. For three and a half hours, his small force repulsed enemy attacks enough to give rescue helicopters a chance to land. He personally supervised the loading of his men and would not leave the bullet-swept landing zone until all of his soldiers were aboard the helicopters safely. Photo by: Lance Cpl. James B. Hoke

[SandRat]

Medal of Honor Awardees visit Iraq Marines

[taxesareforever]

Awesome!!!

[GOPyouth]

My best friend is a doctor there in the Navy. He's been there for about 2 weeks now. I'll have to fire him off an email to see if he got to meet these guys.

matt

[E.G.C.]

BTTT