There are 98 living Medal Of Honor recipients. Today, March 25th, is the day Congress has declared as National Medal Of Honor Day.
Where do we find such men?
Where do we find such men?
Showing posts with label Where Do We Find Such Men And Women?. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Where Do We Find Such Men And Women?. Show all posts
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Sunday, March 08, 2009
A Wonderful Tribute From Son To Father
I read this late last night, and wept. Godspeed, sir, to your reward; and to the son, you are so fortunate, to have a father worth honoring. Thank you for doing so.
===============================
(2006)My father asks me for nothing, really. Every three months or so, I take him to his doctor, who pokes about him wondering what keeps him animated, and that's about it. He's grown frail, and has discovered the joys of "Not Going." It takes a lot to get him to leave the comfort and safety of his house. I was really surprised when he called me on Saturday, because he asked me to take him somewhere.
My father was a ball gunner on a B-24J Liberator bomber in the Pacific during WW2. He rarely spoke about that. My father and his confreres considered themselves part of a thing greater than the sum of their parts in it --or so it seems to me -- and more or less did what was expected of them as a sort of unpleasant chore, kept themselves safe as much as was practicable, amused themselves when possible, and got back to being regular people as soon as they could.
As far as how practicable it was to keep safe hanging below a plane filled with four hundred pound bombs with nothing but the ocean beneath you to bore you and Japanese Zeros shooting at you to keep you interested in the trip, you can draw your own conclusions.
My father said that the last B-24 in flying condition was going to be at a little airshow nearby, and he wanted to go see it. Would I take him?
As I said, my father is very frail. His heart is big but not useful. His mind is sharp but not overused now. It takes quite a bit of effort for him to get down the hall and into a car. And there was nothing I could do to keep him from trying to climb in that plane when we got there.
I didn't try, actually; I just was sort of amazed, and wondered how I could help him. You entered the plane on a rickety jump ladder in the tail, walked through the fuselage filled with wooden ammo boxes and gun emplacemements, climbed around the retracted ball that was his home for forty missions, and then had to walk on a catwalk less than a foot wide between the bomb racks to get to the cockpit. All this for a man who needs a walker.
We went along the side of the plane, creeping along at the pace my father goes, my father assiduously avoiding walking between the fuselage and the props -- a habit sixty years old and more -- and he saw his chance. He ducked down and crept into the bomb bay.
Down came the hands. No one needed to be told who that man was, or why he was there. Everyone behind paused to wait patiently and respectfully, and everyone within reach helped me pick that old, frail, brave man up to look on the nuts and bolts of that totem of his distant life. And they thanked him, and they asked him questions, and marveled at him. A Brigadier General and a sailor and a J.A.G. and Vietnam vets by the handful pressed his hand for the piquant residue of that life that might be on it.
He just looked for one familiar face that he had not brought with him, but there were none.
My father asks for nothing.
(My father passed away on Sunday)
===============================
Tuesday, March 03, 2009
My Father Asks For Nothing
(2006)My father asks me for nothing, really. Every three months or so, I take him to his doctor, who pokes about him wondering what keeps him animated, and that's about it. He's grown frail, and has discovered the joys of "Not Going." It takes a lot to get him to leave the comfort and safety of his house. I was really surprised when he called me on Saturday, because he asked me to take him somewhere.
My father was a ball gunner on a B-24J Liberator bomber in the Pacific during WW2. He rarely spoke about that. My father and his confreres considered themselves part of a thing greater than the sum of their parts in it --or so it seems to me -- and more or less did what was expected of them as a sort of unpleasant chore, kept themselves safe as much as was practicable, amused themselves when possible, and got back to being regular people as soon as they could.
As far as how practicable it was to keep safe hanging below a plane filled with four hundred pound bombs with nothing but the ocean beneath you to bore you and Japanese Zeros shooting at you to keep you interested in the trip, you can draw your own conclusions.
My father said that the last B-24 in flying condition was going to be at a little airshow nearby, and he wanted to go see it. Would I take him?
As I said, my father is very frail. His heart is big but not useful. His mind is sharp but not overused now. It takes quite a bit of effort for him to get down the hall and into a car. And there was nothing I could do to keep him from trying to climb in that plane when we got there.
I didn't try, actually; I just was sort of amazed, and wondered how I could help him. You entered the plane on a rickety jump ladder in the tail, walked through the fuselage filled with wooden ammo boxes and gun emplacemements, climbed around the retracted ball that was his home for forty missions, and then had to walk on a catwalk less than a foot wide between the bomb racks to get to the cockpit. All this for a man who needs a walker.
We went along the side of the plane, creeping along at the pace my father goes, my father assiduously avoiding walking between the fuselage and the props -- a habit sixty years old and more -- and he saw his chance. He ducked down and crept into the bomb bay.
Down came the hands. No one needed to be told who that man was, or why he was there. Everyone behind paused to wait patiently and respectfully, and everyone within reach helped me pick that old, frail, brave man up to look on the nuts and bolts of that totem of his distant life. And they thanked him, and they asked him questions, and marveled at him. A Brigadier General and a sailor and a J.A.G. and Vietnam vets by the handful pressed his hand for the piquant residue of that life that might be on it.
He just looked for one familiar face that he had not brought with him, but there were none.
My father asks for nothing.
(My father passed away on Sunday)Mullen Visits Bit Of America In Heart Of Mexico
Office of the Secretary of Defense Public Affairs
Story by Jim Garamone
Date: 03.07.2009
Posted: 03.07.2009 01:46
MEXICO CITY - In the heart of this thoroughly Mexican metropolis, there is a little bit America.
Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, took time from a busy schedule of meetings with Mexican military and naval leaders yesterday to visit the Mexico City National Cemetery.
The American Battle Monuments Commission oversees the cemetery, where 1,563 Americans are buried. Mullen had finished a meeting with Mexican army Gen. Guillermo Galvan, secretary of national defense, and was on his way to meet with Mexican navy Adm. Mariano Francisco Saynez when he asked to visit the American shrine.
The cemetery contains the remains of 750 Americans killed in the Mexican-American War in 1846 and 1847. "I wanted to pay my respects and honor those who served," Mullen said. Leslie Bassett, charge d'affaires at the U.S. Embassy here, accompanied the admiral.
Superintendent Hector de Jesus led the admiral's party along the cemetery's paths, pointing out famous and not-so-famous names. He lamented the fact that the admiral wasn't visiting later in the spring, "when all the flowers will be out."
But purple bougainvillea blossoms add highlights to the trees, and a variety of flowers bloomed around the monument to those "known but to God." The grass is perfectly trimmed along the pathways, and hedges allow privacy from the busy city.
"This is reflective of how Americans take care of those who serve and sacrifice," Mullen said. "There are 24 military cemeteries overseas, and they are all beautifully maintained."
The cemetery was the first American military cemetery established outside the United States in 1851. Congress authorized $10,000 to buy the land and hired people to collect the remains of 750 American soldiers from shallow graves around Mexico City. There was no way at the time to identify the remains, and they all are buried under a white-marble monument.
A further 813 veterans, members of their families and members of the U.S. Diplomatic Service also are buried at the cemetery. The last burial was in 1924.
Story by Jim Garamone
Date: 03.07.2009
Posted: 03.07.2009 01:46
MEXICO CITY - In the heart of this thoroughly Mexican metropolis, there is a little bit America.
Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, took time from a busy schedule of meetings with Mexican military and naval leaders yesterday to visit the Mexico City National Cemetery.
The American Battle Monuments Commission oversees the cemetery, where 1,563 Americans are buried. Mullen had finished a meeting with Mexican army Gen. Guillermo Galvan, secretary of national defense, and was on his way to meet with Mexican navy Adm. Mariano Francisco Saynez when he asked to visit the American shrine.
The cemetery contains the remains of 750 Americans killed in the Mexican-American War in 1846 and 1847. "I wanted to pay my respects and honor those who served," Mullen said. Leslie Bassett, charge d'affaires at the U.S. Embassy here, accompanied the admiral.
Superintendent Hector de Jesus led the admiral's party along the cemetery's paths, pointing out famous and not-so-famous names. He lamented the fact that the admiral wasn't visiting later in the spring, "when all the flowers will be out."
But purple bougainvillea blossoms add highlights to the trees, and a variety of flowers bloomed around the monument to those "known but to God." The grass is perfectly trimmed along the pathways, and hedges allow privacy from the busy city.
"This is reflective of how Americans take care of those who serve and sacrifice," Mullen said. "There are 24 military cemeteries overseas, and they are all beautifully maintained."
The cemetery was the first American military cemetery established outside the United States in 1851. Congress authorized $10,000 to buy the land and hired people to collect the remains of 750 American soldiers from shallow graves around Mexico City. There was no way at the time to identify the remains, and they all are buried under a white-marble monument.
A further 813 veterans, members of their families and members of the U.S. Diplomatic Service also are buried at the cemetery. The last burial was in 1924.
Saturday, January 03, 2009
New Terms I Learned Today, Part 2
Family Annihilator --- a person (usually male) who kills his whole family in a fit of rage.
Specifically, I was watching an episode of a TV documentary series called "What Should You Do?" One of the narrators, Candace DeLong, a former FBI agent and profiler, discussed family annihilators while showcasing the heroic actions of Alana Franklin, a true heroine.
Alana, at the age of eleven, was calm enough, practical enough, and smart enough to save her nephew from his crazy daddy. For her heroic actions, the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission awarded her a medal. To this date, she's the youngest recipient of the Carnegie Heroes Medal.
Specifically, I was watching an episode of a TV documentary series called "What Should You Do?" One of the narrators, Candace DeLong, a former FBI agent and profiler, discussed family annihilators while showcasing the heroic actions of Alana Franklin, a true heroine.
Alana, at the age of eleven, was calm enough, practical enough, and smart enough to save her nephew from his crazy daddy. For her heroic actions, the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission awarded her a medal. To this date, she's the youngest recipient of the Carnegie Heroes Medal.
Wednesday, October 08, 2008
Welcome Home, Captain Lorenza Conner
| Georgia Airman's Remains Found in Vietnam; Being Returned to Family | |
| | |
| Last Edited: Friday, 03 Oct 2008, 6:30 PM EDT | |
| Created: Friday, 03 Oct 2008, 10:29 AM EDT | |
 By The Associated PressCARTERSVILLE, Ga. (AP) -- A Georgia airman missing since the Vietnam War is being returned to his family. Air Force Captain Lorenza Conner of Cartersville was piloting an F4-D Phantom fighter jet when he was shot down on Oct. 27, 1967 during a mission over North Vietnam. The Department of Defense said Conner's remains were recovered in a jungle in 2007. Connor, a graduate of Tuskegee University, was 24 at the time of his death. Officials with the Department of Defense said the captain's remains will be returned to the family for burial with full military honors. The funeral has been set for Saturday, Oct. 25, 2008 at Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church in Cartersville. |
Powered by ScribeFire.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
