[ErnBatavia]

I got to know Mitchell Paige a bit, before he died a few years ago...his wife and my mother were good DAR buddies.

What a thrill for this USMC former corporal to be welcomed into his study full of memorabilia -- and of course have him autograph my Mitch Paige GI Joe.

[archy]

I got to know Mitchell Paige a bit, before he died a few years ago...his wife and my mother were good DAR buddies.

What a thrill for this USMC former corporal to be welcomed into his study full of memorabilia -- and of course have him autograph my Mitch Paige GI Joe.

What are the odds that a guy who lived 15 miles from my hometown and with whom I likely ran across in our high school days would be presented with the MOH by LBJ in the same ceremony as a guy I'd gone through Armor training with?

I've had the very special privilige of knowing four individuals who've earned the MOH in three different wars, and each was just as common and ordinary as can be....and, at the same time, more special than can be imagined.

[archy]

I got to know Mitchell Paige a bit, before he died a few years ago...his wife and my mother were good DAR buddies.

Do you have any take on what his thoughts about the idea in the post here might have been, or what sort of reaction he'd have had to it?

I know he continued to care deeply for his Marine Corps:

When the Hasbro Toy Co. called some years back, asking permission to put the retired colonel's face on some kid's doll, Mitchell Paige thought they must be joking.

But they weren't. That's his mug, on the little Marine they call "G.I. Joe." At least, it has been up till now.

Mitchell Paige's only condition? That G.I. Joe must always remain a United States Marine.