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With Dakota Meyer standing at attention in his dress uniform, sweat glistening on his forehead under the television lights, President Barack Obama extolled the former Marine corporal for the “extraordinary actions” that had earned him the Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest award for valor. SNIP But an exhaustive assessment by a McClatchy correspondent who was embedded with the unit and survived the ambush found that the Marines’ official accounts of Meyer’s deeds....

Two months ago, Dakota Meyer was awarded the Medal of Honor by President Barack Obama for his service in Afghanistan, the military’s most prestigious award. On Monday, Sgt. Meyer alleged that a defense contractor has called him mentally unstable and a problem drinker, ruining his chances for a job in the defense industry. In legal papers filed Monday, the Marine claims that BAE Systems, where he worked earlier this year, retaliated against him after he raised objections about BAE’s alleged decision to sell high-tech sniper scopes to the Pakistani military. He says his supervisor at BAE effectively blocked his hiring...

I recently attended a wonderful celebration with several generations of our military heroes. One of the few advantages of working in Washington is the occasional chance to do something special. Last Saturday night offered just such an opportunity. And, so, my wife and I attended the annual dinner of the American Veterans Center (AVC). The banquet room was filled with veterans who had participated in some of the greatest achievements of the American armed forces. That evening, we were in the middle of history. AVC’s mission is to preserve and promote the legacy of America’s servicemen and women from every...

William “Bill” Crawford certainly was an unimpressive figure, one you could easily overlook during a hectic day at the U.S. Air Force Academy. Mr. Crawford, as most of us referred to him back in the late 1970s, was our squadron janitor. While we cadets busied ourselves preparing for academic exams, athletic events, Saturday morning parades and room inspections, or never-ending leadership classes, Bill quietly moved about the squadron mopping and buffing floors, emptying trash cans, cleaning toilets, or just tidying up the mess 100 college-age kids can leave in a dormitory. Sadly, and for many years, few of us gave...

One of the country’s bravest hopes to become one of New York City’s bravest. Sgt. Dakota Meyer, the Marine who received the Medal of Honor this month for personally rescuing 36 soldiers pinned down by Taliban fighters in Afghanistan, told The New York Post that he aspires to become a New York City firefighter. "It’s something I’ve always wanted to do. It’s a way I feel I can do my part in giving back to America,” Meyer said after he tossed out a ceremonial pitch at the Mets' Citi Field, the paper reported. Meyer's grandfather was a firefighter, and Meyer...

The White House initially denied a request by Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) to attend a Medal of Honor ceremony for a fellow Marine Corps and Afghanistan war veteran, a congressional source said. Hunter first learned last week about plans for President Obama to award former Marine Cpl. Dakota Meyer the Medal of Honor during a Thursday ceremony at the White House. Hunter formally requested to attend the ceremony earlier this week, but the White House said no, the congressional source said.

President Obama will today award the Medal of Honor to Marine Cpl. Dakota Meyer. In attendance will be a handful of soldiers and Marines who, one day in September 2009, were abandoned by their chain of command and relied on their own initiative to dislodge a fierce enemy. Their battle has entered military folklore and resulted not only in today's Medal of Honor but in two Navy Crosses, two investigations for dereliction of duty, three letters of severe reprimand, and a recommendation for a second Medal of Honor. The setting was the remote Afghan village of Ganjigal, on the Pakistan...

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is awarding the military's highest honor to a Marine credited with saving 36 lives during an intense fire-fight in Afghanistan.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Dakota Meyer saved 36 lives from an ambush in Afghanistan and the former Marine will collect the nation's highest military honor at the White House on Thursday. While he is receiving the Medal of Honor, Meyer's slain comrades will be memorialized in hometown ceremonies at his request. His hero's moment was his darkest day. Meyer lost some of his best friends the morning of Sept. 8, 2009, in far-off Kunar Province.

Medal of Honor recipient Dakota Meyer asked for Bud Light when he had a beer with President Obama yesterday, but the White House didn't have any, according to CBS reporter Mary Walsh.

A historic Colt .45-caliber, semi-automatic pistol stolen more than 30 years ago from a Medal of Honor winner in South Carolina has been returned to its rightful owner. The gun and owner were reunited after a history buff in Medford, who bought the old handgun in an online auction last month, tracked down the retired Marine whose name is engraved on it. Marine John J. McGinty's brave act on March 12, 1968 "I knew if I found him and it was his gun, I couldn't keep it," said George Berry, 71, who knew little about the history of the gun...

Dakota Meyer, who left the service last year, will be the third living recipient of the award for actions in Afghanistan and the tenth man recognized for exceptional bravery in the current wars. He’ll also be the first living Marine to receive the honor since the Vietnam War. White House and defense officials have not released details of the award or the timing of its presentation. The 22-year-old’s heroics came while serving with an embedded training team from the III Marine Expeditionary Force out of Okinawa, Japan. In September 2009, his team was ambushed in the controversial battle of Ganjgal,...

  WASHINGTON — Few of us ever will meet a Medal of Honor recipient. Fewer still ever will have the opportunity to be of assistance to one. In part, that's because "The Medal" — our nation's highest military decoration, awarded for "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of life above and beyond the call of duty" — is worn by just 85 living Americans.Since we were attacked on 9/11, the Medal of Honor has been awarded only nine times to the more than 2 million Americans who have served in Afghanistan and Iraq. Army Sgt. 1st Class Paul...

He apologized 30 hours later.

SNIP Sgt. 1st Class Jared Monti was actually killed in Afghanistan on June 21, 2006. In September 2009, President Obama awarded him the Medal of Honor posthumously. On his Facebook page this evening, Monti's father, Paul, posted: "FYI- President Barack Obama telephoned me personally this afternoon to apologize for his error in his speech to the 10th mountain division re: Jared's medal ceremony. Apology accepted."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5T1Aq2tFVA&feature=player_embedded

This was absolutely awful. Barack Obama made another horrible mistake today. The president visited the 10th Mountain Division today and congratulated them on their service. Then he told the soldiers that he had given the Medal of Honor to Jared Monti who came back from Iraq alive. Jared Monti was actually killed in Iraq in 2006. How sad. “First time I saw 10th Mountain Division, you guys were in southern Iraq. When I went back to visit Afghanistan, you guys were the first ones there. I had the great honor of seeing some of you because a comrade of yours,...

What are you watching here? This is Obama, speaking at Fort Drum and justifying his willy-nilly pullout of Afghanistan in front of the 10th Mountain Division. And he references SFC Jared Monti of the 10th Mountain as being the first Medal of Honor recipient not to get the award posthumously. Except Jared Monti was dead when he got the award. He was killed in action in 2006. Those are his parents in the picture as Obama presented them with Monti’s MOH. The soldier Obama must have been thinking about is SSG Sal Giunta, of the 173rd Airborne. Giunta was the...

President Obama, at recent campaign stops, has pointed out that his hair is now getting gray, a sign of how he has aged and the toll taken by his job. But on Thursday, the president had a different kind of senior moment. Speaking at Ft. Drum in upstate New York, Obama thanked troops from the 10th Mountain Division for their deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. To hammer home his point, he told a story of awarding the Medal of Honor to a living member of the division. Obama, however, misspoke. he did award the medal, but posthumously.

Army Ranger to be awarded the Medal of Honor on July 12th. Second living recipient from combat in Afghanistan. WASHINGTON (Army News Service, May 31, 2011) -- An Army Ranger who lost his right hand and suffered shrapnel wounds after throwing an armed grenade away from his fellow Soldiers will be the second living Medal of Honor Recipient from the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. On July 12th, President Barack Obama will award Sgt. 1st Class Leroy Arthur Petry, with the Medal of Honor for conspicuous gallantry. Petry will receive the Medal of Honor for his courageous actions during combat...

MUNSTER, Ind.-- On Monday, a new monument was installed in honor of a marine from East Chicago, Ind., who was killed in the Vietnam War. Lance Cpl. Emilio De La Garza Jr. went to high school in East Chicago and went to work at Inland Steel. He enlisted in 1969, and was a machine gunner. In 1970, he died at age 20 after throwing himself on a grenade to shield two fellow Marines. For his action, De La Garza was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. De la Garza's family met the Navy corpsman who tried to save his...

www.catholicnewsagency.com Marine Corps foundation honors heroic Vietnam War priest By Marianne Medlin Marine Cpl. James Capodanno, stands next to the window dedicated to his brother. Credit: Marine Corps Heritage Foundation Triangle, Va., May 20, 2011 / 02:35 am (CNA).- Servant of God Fr. Vincent Capodanno, a chaplain who was killed in action while protecting U.S. soldiers during the Vietnam War, was honored with a permanent tribute at the National Museum of the Marine Corps.“The Marines who served with Chaplain Capodanno remember him as the Chaplain who went wherever his Marines needed his comfort and guidance, no matter the personal...

Desmond T. Doss was 23 years old when he was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1942. The lanky Lynchburg, Va., native was much like other young men of the Greatest Generation, but one thing set Desmond apart from the other new troops. He was a devout Seventh Day Adventist and refused to touch a weapon. Some of the men in his training unit made jokes about him, others threatened him, but Desmond held firm to his beliefs. The Army considered discharging him, but Desmond objected. “I’d be a very poor Christian if I accepted a discharge implying that I...

Examples of TSA agents humiliating elderly or disabled passengers are too numerous to note. In one outrageous case, a man was prevented from taking a “suspicious object” onto an airliner. The 86-year-old Joe Foss, former governor of South Dakota, was carrying his Medal of Honor, awarded personally by President Roosevelt for heroism in World War II. Now there’s a shady character requiring close scrutiny. Foss had the medal with him to show the cadets at West Point, where he was invited to speak. But the five-pointed star looked suspicious to several TSA agents. Of course, they may not have been...

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Medal of Honor recipient and Iowa native Staff Sgt. Sal Giunta will end his Army career in June and move to Colorado to pursue his education, a military spokesman said Tuesday. Giunta has opted not to re-enlist and will leave the Army in mid-June, said Army Spokesman George Wright. He and his wife, Jenny, plan to move to Fort Collins, Colo., where he will attend school. Wright said he didn't know what school Giunta will attend, but Fort Collins is home to Colorado State University. Giunta is the first living service member from the wars...

Hawaii is mourning the loss of World War II veteran Barney Hajiro. The Oahu man was the oldest living Medal of Honor recipient in America. "He wants to be remembered as a simple person," said son Glenn Hajiro. Barney Hajiro, 94, served in the Army's famed 442nd Regimental Combat Team. He single-handedly destroyed two German machine gun nests during the rescue of the "Lost Battalion" in France. He was shot in the cheek, shoulder and wrist, leaving his left arm paralyzed. "There were snipers, lot of shooting, and people were saying it's going to be suicide, but he said he...

42 years ago, Sgt. 1st Class Robert Howard was on a joint patrol of U.S. and South Vietnamese troops when the unit was attacked by 250 North Vietnamese soldiers. After regaining consciousness from an explosion which riddled his body with shrapnel, Howard killed an enemy soldier who was wielding a flamethrower before dragging his commanding officer to safety. Howard then shoots several enemies with his pistol before being wounded once more in the foot, preventing him from walking. He then sets up a defensive position, repelling numerous attacks. Howard, who retired in 1992 as a Colonel was believed to be...

Last week, Staff Sgt. Salvatore Giunta became the first living service member from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars to receive the Medal of Honor, the country's top military award. But like most of the brave men and women who serve, Giunta knows he wasn't out there fighting for medals or recognition, and he accepted the award with admirable humility and heartfelt acknowledgment of those who have died in battle. At the conclusion of the ceremony, Giunta got a hug, not a military salute, from President Obama. As a blog post on the website of Stars and Stripes, a military publication,...

Three years ago and half a world away, on a cold, treacherous mountainside in Afghanistan, a young man, wearing the uniform of the U.S. Army, challenged a hailstorm of bullets in order to save his fellow soldiers. On November 16, President Obama, during a ceremony at the White House, awarded Army Staff Sergeant Salvatore Giunta the Medal of Honor for conspicuous gallantry and great personal bravery in combat. Giunta, who is now 25, was 18 and working nights at a fast-food Subway store in Hiawatha, Iowa when he responded to a recruiting ad and decided to join the Army....

In a White House ceremony last Tuesday, Army Staff Sgt. Salvatore Giunta was given the Medal of Honor. He was the first living Medal of Honor recipient since Vietnam. The event was televised, as it should have been, but hardly anyone noticed. Much of the world, including a disappointingly large portion of America, was consumed with other news: A prince had gotten engaged. The dashing Prince William, son of the Prince of Wales, announced his engagement on the same day Sal Giunta received the Medal of Honor for valor in Afghanistan. So much for Giunta's glory. Incidentally, two days later,...

  MIDLAND, Texas — A decade ago, I was hunting not far from here with my now-departed friend Joe Foss, the World War II Marine fighter ace and Medal of Honor recipient. I made an impatient long-range shot at a fast-moving deer — and missed the target. Joe shook his head, looked at me and said, "What were you thinking?"Joe's challenge came to mind repeatedly this week during interviews about my new book, "American Heroes in Special Operations." Almost invariably, young reporters asked a question or two about the best-selling book and then shifted to queries about events during...

On Oct. 25, 2007, Spc. Giunta’s platoon was conducting a movement to contact to interdict enemy forces on the Gatigal Spur, in order to provide over watch for 2nd and 3rd platoon’s exfil back to Combat Outpost Vimot, and the Korengal Outpost. While conducting their exfil from the platoon’s blocking position, Spc. Giunta’s platoon was ambushed by 10 to 15 enemy personnel who utilized an “L” shaped, near ambush that was within 10 meters of the platoon’s main body. The enemy fired 10 Rocket Propelled Grenades (RPGs) and three PKMs (machine guns) from the apex of the ambush and additional...

  Our Troops Rock!  Thank you for all you do!   For the freedom you enjoyed yesterday... Thank the Veterans who served in The United States Armed Forces.   Looking forward to tomorrow's freedom? Support The United States Armed Forces Today!     ~ Hall of Heroes ~Hershel W. Williams Info from here.             Hershel Woodrow "Woody" Williams (born October 2, 1923) is a retired United States Marine who received the Medal of Honor for his actions in the Battle of Iwo Jima during World War II. Born in Fairmont, West Virginia, on October 2, 1923,...

Modern wars often are described euphemistically with expressions like "overseas contingency operations" and "low-intensity conflict." They sometimes are fought from air-conditioned cubicles whence missiles are fired remotely from pilotless drones on unsuspecting targets. At the tip of the spear, however, war remains what it always has been: a punishing, violent, life-or-death struggle - the ultimate test of character of anyone who faces it.Army Special Forces Staff Sgt. Robert J. Miller met this challenge on a daily basis in Afghanistan. In 2008, he was serving with Special Forces Operational Detachment Alpha 3312, conducting combined operations with Afghan National Army troops...

video link http://www.wral.com/news/video/8408469/#/vid8408469

The Taliban is out in Afghanistan -- well, in the videogame version anyway. Following a backlash from military families and politicians, Electronic Arts has modified its latest version of the "Medal of Honor" series so that the game no longer pits U.S. troops against the Taliban. The multi-player format game, set in modern-day Afghanistan, was initially designed so that players would either inhabit the role of coalition forces or enemy fighters, labeled as the Taliban. British Defense Sec. Liam Fox also spoke out against the game, saying, "At the hands of the Taliban, children have lost fathers and wives have...

The White House apologized Thursday for turning the family of a Medal of Honor recipient away from an exclusive tour last week because the late veteran's 10-year-old grandson was wearing shorts. Vernon Baker, the last surviving black Medal of Honor winner from World War II, was buried Friday at Arlington National Cemetery after dying in July from complications of brain cancer at age 90. He belatedly received the military's top award from President Bill Clinton in 1997, after historians concluded he'd been wrongly denied because of his race.

The Family of Medal of Honor recipient Vernon Baker was denied access to the White House's West Wing on Saturday, a day after the World War II hero was buried at Arlington National Cemetery. Baker's widow, Heidy, and grandson, Vernon Pawlik, 10, were denied entry because the boy was wearing shorts and a T-shirt. His shirt had a picture of his grandfather on it. A White House website doesn't list a dress code, but the family had been invited to tour the West Wing, which houses the president's office and where casual dress is prohibited. U.S. Rep. Walt Minnick's office...

Chief Master Sgt. Richard L. “Dick” Etchberger will posthumously receive the Medal of Honor on Tuesday at a White House ceremony, and two Bay County family members will be there to see the award and witness Etchberger’s induction into the Pentagon’s Hall of Heroes. Russell Etchberger, a retired Air Force chief master sergeant and Richard Etchberger’s cousin, plans to attend the Medal of Honor ceremonies in Washington with his son, Henry, a Mosley High School student. Tyndall Air Force Base’s 325th Public Affairs Office confirmed CMSgt. Malcolm McVicar, commandant of the base’s Paul W. Airey NCO Academy, would be the...

On Tuesday, more than 42 years after Air Force Chief Master Sgt. Richard L. Etchberger died on a Laotian mountaintop, President Obama will award him the Medal of Honor, the military's highest award for bravery. But for decades even Etchberger's own children didn't know about his heroism. Cory Etchberger was in third grade in 1968, when he was told that his father had died in a helicopter accident in Southeast Asia. At age 29 he learned the truth, when the U.S. Air Force declassified his father's story. "I was stunned," he told CNN during a visit to his hometown of...

Army Staff Sgt., Awarded Medal of Honor for Valor in Afghanistan, Says Comrades Going Beyond Call Every Day America's first living recipient of the Medal of Honor since the Vietnam War says the heroic actions he undertook in Afghanistan are as brave as what every American soldier experiences day in and day out during their tours of duty in that country. Interview - Staff Sgt Salvatore Giunta

ACTION FROM WHICH THE MEDAL OF HONOR WAS EARNED: Then-Specialist Salvatore A. Giunta distinguished himself by acts of gallantry at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a rifle team leader with Company B, 2d Battalion (Airborne), 503d Infantry Regiment during combat operations against an armed enemy in the Korengal Valley, Afghanistan on October 25, 2007. When an insurgent force ambush split Specialist Giunta’s squad into two groups, he exposed himself to enemy fire to pull a comrade back to cover. Later, while engaging the enemy and attempting to link up with...

Yesterday, President Obama spoke with Staff Sergeant Salvatore Giunta to inform him that he will be awarded the Medal of Honor for acts of gallantry at the risk of his life that went above and beyond the call of duty. Sergeant Giunta will be the first living service member to be awarded the Medal of Honor for service in Iraq or Afghanistan. The President thanked Sergeant Giunta for his service and extraordinary bravery in battle. Further information about the date and time of the ceremony will be released at a later date. ACTION FROM WHICH THE MEDAL OF HONOR WAS...

DES MOINES, Iowa – A 25-year-old soldier from Iowa who exposed himself to enemy gunfire to try to save two fellow soldiers will become the first living service member from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq to receive the Medal of Honor, the White House announced Friday. President Barack Obama phoned Army Staff Sgt. Salvatore Giunta, on Thursday at the base in Italy where he's stationed to tell him he'd be receiving the nation's highest military honor, Giunta's father told The Associated Press. He will become the eighth service member to receive the Medal of Honor during operations in Iraq...

Thursday, President Obama spoke with Staff Sgt. Salvatore Giunta to inform him that he will be awarded the Medal of Honor for acts of gallantry at the risk of his life that went above and beyond the call of duty. Giunta will be the first living servicemember to be awarded the Medal of Honor for service in Iraq or Afghanistan. The President thanked Sergeant Giunta for his service and extraordinary bravery in battle. Further information about the date and time of the ceremony will be released at a later date. ACTION FROM WHICH THE MEDAL OF HONOR WAS EARNED: Then-Spc....

WASHINGTON -- President Obama will posthumously honor Army Staff Sgt. Robert Miller with the Medal of Honor in a White House ceremony next month. Miller, a weapons sergeant assigned to Company A, 3rd Battalion, 3rd Special Forces Group Airborne, was killed by small-arms fire on Jan. 25, 2008. Miller sacrificed his life to protect the lives of his teammates and 15 Afghan soldiers. Army officials said Miller’s unit was supporting an Afghan Border Police security patrol in the Chenar Khar Valley in Kunar Province when they were ambushed by Taliban fighters hiding in nearby buildings. The unit called for close-air...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Military bases across the U.S. have banned the sale of a new video game that lets a player pretend to be a Taliban fighter and "shoot" U.S. troops in Afghanistan. "Medal of Honor" by Electronic Arts, a major game developer based in Redwood City, Calif., hits stores Oct. 12. Gamers are scoffing at the decision, saying that advanced technology has made it commonplace in the gaming world to let players switch sides and play the bad guy...

On October 6, President Barack Obama will award Staff Sergeant Robert J. Miller, U.S. Army, the Medal of Honor for conspicuous gallantry. Staff Sergeant Miller will receive the Medal of Honor posthumously for his heroic actions in Afghanistan on January 25, 2008. He displayed immeasurable courage and uncommon valor - eventually sacrificing his own life to save the lives of his teammates and 15 Afghanistan National Army soldiers. Staff Sergeant Miller’s parents, Phil and Maureen Miller will join the President at the White House to commemorate their son’s selfless service and sacrifice. PERSONAL BACKGROUND: Robert Miller was born on October...

Electronic Arts is bringing the Medal of Honor game series (the first of the new generation of World War II shooter) in a game set in the WOT. Some people are annoyed that gamers are able to play as the Taliban. From the story: I was glad to see that EA was resurrecting the Medal of Honor series and turning it over to the DICE team. I suspected that they might try to top the excesses of Modern Warfare, but I haven't seen enough of it to know either way. Neither has Britain’s Defence Secretary Liam Fox, but that hasn't...

ST. MARIES, Idaho -- Strangers are stepping up to help the widow of a north Idaho veteran who received the Congressional Medal of Honor. Vernon Baker died at his St. Maries home in July and will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1941, served and was wounded in World War II. Vernon was 90 years old.