Sergeant Alvin York, WWI
Lieutenant Audie Murphy, WWII
Brave soldiers, all!
Posted on 07/01/2010 3:24:19 PM PDT by centurion316
Rules, FR Rules. The original title included the phrase “Since the Vietnam War”, but because the original title exceeded the FR limit of 100 characters, I had to truncate in order to avoid violating another FR rule: no changes to titles.
This thread is not about Marines, they will have their day, but today is not it.
Well Done Soldier!
Salvatore Giunta for President 2012. He has the right stuff.
SSG Sal Giunta, a paratrooper w/ the 173rd Airborne, will be awarded the first Medal of Honor given to a living recipient since the Vietnam War. He earned this by charging a group of Taliban who were trying to make off with a wounded comrade in the Korengal Valley of Afghanistan. His actions broke the Taliban's attack and allowed him to regain control of SGT Josh Brennan. He also saved the lives of the many other members of his unit who had been caught in a fixed ambush by the Taliban. Giunta didn't hesitate one second before advancing on his own to ensure the enemy would never take one of ours, but sadly Josh Brennan was too badly wounded too survive. His cousin PVT Joe Brennan recently graduated airborne school and has joined the same unit proudly carrying on Josh's memory.There's a reason the MH doesn't get handed out like party poppers. Wow. Thanks centurion316.
I salute SSG Giunta for his bravery and heroism. Here’s a story about another member of the 173rd.
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/news/story?id=2421164
When I was teaching at West Point, I always liked the guys who were there on a “hockey scholarship” They hit the ice for the love of the game, and they persevered through the rigors of cadet life because it was the price you paid for a pathway to personal excellence. They were great cadets, great soldiers, and great Americans.
Two examples:
I just graduated an Army officer course with a bunch of other Captains. A guy in my class talked about one of the only two Silver Stars that were awarded to two Soldiers in his entire battalion. During the awards ceremony, there were a few civilian contractors there. One was a Vietnam vet. During the reading of the citation (which describes what the guy did to earn the award), the Vietnam vet said something to the effect, "he did all that and he's onlygetting a Silver Star?"
Another example:
At the graduation ceremony for the course I just graduated, we all wore our dress uniforms with awards. There were over a hundred Captain students and about a dozen instructors who were Captains and Majors. 99% combat vets. I saw 2 Bronze Stars with a V device and 2 Army Commendation Medals with a V. So in a group of over 120 Captains and Majors, there were only 4 (relatively) low valor awards.
Kudos to this brave hero.
I concur with your observations. In certain unnamed divisions during Vietnam, a Silver Star was the standard award for an infantry company commander who completed a six month’s tour of command. Certainly not true today, and the pendulum has clearly swung too far the other way.
I remember the division commander landing in the midst of my company after a significant fire fight. He pinned two Silver Stars on soldiers that I had mentioned to the battalion commander were deserving. One other who was in the 91st Evac got his that afternoon. We had to follow up with paperwork, including citations, but the right guys got the awards, I guarantee. Those guys would never get an award today.
Sergeant Alvin York, WWI
Lieutenant Audie Murphy, WWII
Brave soldiers, all!
Ping.
Ahhhh, a hero like we used to have in the good ole’ days!
God Bless him!
A snappy Salute for SSG Guinta.
BTTT
Paying my respects to this awesome soldier!
He’s a hottie, too!
Super!
Lamh Foistenach Abu!
That didn’t take long at all.
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