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Congressional Medal of Honor recipient Ed Freeman of Boise died Wednesday morning, according to a friend of the Freeman family. He was 80 years old. -- SNIP -- As a flight leader and second in command of a 16-helicopter lift unit, he supported a heavily engaged infantry battalion at Landing Zone X-Ray in the la Drang Valley.

Michael J. Daly, a lifetime resident of Fairfield and a Medal of Honor recipient in World War II, died at home today. He was 83. The cause of death, according to a relative, was pancreatic cancer. President Harry S. Truman placed the blue ribbon of the Congressional Medal of Honor around the neck of 20-year-old Capt. Daly at the White House on Aug. 23, 1945. The award gave the modest Daly an aura of celebrity, which thereafter caused him some embarrassment. "I'm no hero," he often said. "The heroes were those who gave their lives." During World War II, which...

Getting to Know John McCain By KARL ROVE April 30, 2008 It came to me while I was having dinner with Doris Day. No, not that Doris Day. The Doris Day who is married to Col. Bud Day, Congressional Medal of Honor recipient, fighter pilot, Vietnam POW and roommate of John McCain at the Hanoi Hilton. As we ate near the Days' home in Florida recently, I heard things about Sen. McCain that were deeply moving and politically troubling. Moving because they told me things about him the American people need to know. And troubling because it is clear that...

It came to me while I was having dinner with Doris Day. No, not that Doris Day. The Doris Day who is married to Col. Bud Day, Congressional Medal of Honor recipient, fighter pilot, Vietnam POW and roommate of John McCain at the Hanoi Hilton. As we ate near the Days' home in Florida recently, I heard things about Sen. McCain that were deeply moving and politically troubling. Moving because they told me things about him the American people need to know. And troubling because it is clear that Mr. McCain is one of the most private individuals to run...

It came to me while I was having dinner with Doris Day. No, not that Doris Day. The Doris Day who is married to Col. Bud Day, Congressional Medal of Honor recipient, fighter pilot, Vietnam POW and roommate of John McCain at the Hanoi Hilton. As we ate near the Days' home in Florida recently, I heard things about Sen. McCain that were deeply moving and politically troubling. Moving because they told me things about him the American people need to know. And troubling because it is clear that Mr. McCain is one of the most private individuals to run...

Summary of Action Petty Officer Second Class (SEAL) Michael A. Monsoor For actions on Sept. 29, 2006 Petty Officer Michael A. Monsoor, United States Navy, distinguished himself through conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as a Combat Advisor and Automatic Weapons Gunner for Naval Special Warfare Task Group Arabian Peninsula in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom on 29 September 2006. He displayed great personal courage and exceptional bravery while conducting operations in enemy held territory at Ar Ramadi Iraq. During Operation Kentucky Jumper, a combined Coalition battalion clearance and...

SAN DIEGO — To his Navy SEAL buddies, Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael A. Monsoor will always be known as "Mikey," a fun-loving 25-year-old guy who had "a little mischievous look on his face." It's a face they'll never forget. On Sept. 29, 2006, while on a mission in Ramadi, Iraq, Monsoor and other members of a Navy SEAL sniper team were within a moment of death. An insurgent had tossed a grenade into their hideout, hitting Monsoor in the chest before bouncing to the floor. In an instant, Monsoor was on the grenade, using his body to shield his...

The Congressional Medal of Honor Society called on Monday. You can stop now. Hal Koster's name has been branded into their consciousness. "We are thrilled to have the passionate support of JINSA's members behind the "Above & Beyond" initiative," the representative said, enormously impressed with your efficiency. Thank you all for taking the time and effort - we know some of you had trouble working the website and took multiple shots to get it right. Special thanks to "Ooh-Ah", who posted it on Free Republic and to all of the Freepers who pinged and responded; to David in New York...

Tonight I wrote a vanity about the subject of this article here: Tears on Veterans Day but I thought that this 2005 article from National Review deserves a thread of its own. Campus Rads vs. Our Vets The antiwar unwelcome on campus. By Wynton C. Hall & Peter Schweizer 29 August 2005 As college students hit campuses across the nation this week, a new generation of young veterans will step off the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan and onto the ideological battlefield of our university campuses. For those on the frontline in the war on terror, the antiwar hostility...

Sgt. Rafael Peralta told his men he would die for them. Then he went out and proved it. Peralta was leading five Marines on a house-clearing mission Nov. 15, 2004, in the second week of a battle for the insurgent stronghold of Fallujah, Iraq. As he entered a room near the back of one home, gunfire hit him in the face and chest, leaving him barely breathing on the floor. Then a grenade rolled out of the room, landing a foot away from him. Peralta pulled it to his chest so he could shield his men from the blast. He...

Tomorrow, November 10, is the 232nd birthday of the US Marine Corps. The Marines can be a mystery to those of us who weren’t raised in the military culture. We know from our history books that they are an elite group, something different from other soldiers. But what really makes them different? In celebration of the Marines, HUMAN EVENTS asked a few Marines to describe the difference in their own words. I felt proud just speaking with Colonel H.C. “Barney” Barnum, Jr., a retired Marine, now Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy. Col. Barnum received the Congressional Medal of Honor...

AMARILLO, Texas — A man who wildly exaggerated his record to include a presidential nomination for the military's highest honor and more Silver Stars than World War II hero Audie Murphy has been sentenced to 34 months in prison. Richard David McClanahan, who had inflated his history using medals purchased on eBay, was sentenced Thursday for lying about his record and for making false statements to get financing for a car. He was also given five years' probation on each count. "It was wrong, and I knew it was wrong when I did it," he told U.S. District Judge Mary...

WASHINGTON - The first Medal of Honor awarded for combat in Afghanistan will be presented today to the family of a Navy SEAL from Long Island, who gave his life to make a radio call for help for his team. President Bush was to present the nation's highest military honor for valor on Monday to the family of Lt. Michael Murphy of Patchogue, N.Y. "There's a lot of awards in the military, but when you see a Medal of Honor, you know whatever they went through is pretty horrible. You don't congratulate anyone when you see it," said Marcus Luttrell,...

BY now, most Americans know the story of Cpl. Pat Tillman. He bravely chose military service rather than the National Football League, and he was killed in Afghanistan in 2004 by fire from his comrades. My own units in Vietnam were occasionally the victims of errant rifle fire, mortar rounds and bombs — indeed, the very success of an infantry attack is dependent on leaning forward into friendly supporting fires. But, after the fact, the Tillman death played out differently. His unit reported that he was killed in a ferocious engagement with the enemy, and the truth was hidden by...

For those familiar with Adm. Fluckey's life, he passed away last night. Adm. Fluckey was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor and 4 Navy Crosses during WWII. He also wrote about his experiences in a book entitled "Thunder Below". I wish his family well.

It wasn’t for keeps or to park in his garage, but being surprised with the type of aircraft he used to shoot down six Japanese fighter planes over the Pacific Ocean in 1943 set up a memorable day for retired U.S. Marine Corps pilot Jeff DeBlanc, 86, of St. Martinville. “I am so very humbled and it’s so nice to see everyone who came out to do this for me,” said DeBlanc as he looked into the crowd sprinkled with young uniformed officers. “As one Marine to another I look at them as veterans that survived the war just like...

The actions taken by Navy SEAL Lt. Michael P. Murphy, have placed him in consideration, posthumously, for the Congressional Medal of Honor -- the United States' highest military award. On a June afternoon in 2005, Navy SEAL Lt. Michael P. Murphy lay in hiding on the side of a ridge in the lawless eastern mountains of Afghanistan. He carried little with him in the thin alpine air near Pakistan's border. A rifle. Clips of ammunition. Sophisticated communications and surveillance equipment. Some high-energy food. There were three U.S. commandos hiding with him on that mountain, all, like him, members of one...