David French provides an anecdote that poses a question:
In January 2008, a small team of American soldiers was ambushed after an al-Qaeda terrorist faked a surrender (this was common practice). The team leader and another officer were mortally wounded the instant the terrorists opened fire. The senior noncommissioned officer was pinned down and unable to take effective control of the formation; other officers were worked desperately to retrieve their fallen comrades. A Sergeant First Class took immediate control of the situation, personally returning fire and killing the majority of the attackers, directing the team’s defense, and coordinating the recovery under fire of his stricken team members. He shepherded the formation out of the kill zone and coordinated the medical evacuation.
All in a day’s work, you say? How about this additional fact: He did all of this after being shot in the neck in the opening moments of the ambush. He killed the enemy, protected his comrades, and led them to safety while bleeding profusely — collapsing only after help arrived. I’m not sure about you, but I can’t even imagine what I’d do in a similar circumstance.
I’m just glad I never had to find out.
The SFC was awarded a Silver Star, by the way. Our country’s third highest award for valor.
Despite its symbolic importance and educational role in military culture, the Medal of Honor has been awarded only six times for service in Iraq or Afghanistan. By contrast, 464 Medals of Honor were awarded for service during World War II, 133 during the Korean War and 246 during the Vietnam War. “From World War I through Vietnam,” The Army Times claimed in April 2009, “the rate of Medal of Honor recipients per 100,000 service members stayed between 2.3 (Korea) and 2.9 (World War II). But since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, only five Medals of Honor have been awarded, a rate of 0.1 per 100,000 — one in a million.
So what’s a guy got to do, die?
Do we no longer believe in the concept of “honor”, at least as it applies to living soldiers? Are we so concerned about what a MoH awardee might do later in life that we deny him his due for what he has already done?
Or is it this: Are those in the rear with the gear – and those even further back than that – so envious of recognition deny it to those who have earned it? And if that is true, what has become of that mild charity and kind deference that once defined a greater generation?
Whatever the answer, it’s a national disgrace.
In Vietnam the problem was spelled “REMF.” It is interesting to note the differential in CMH rate in the ETO vs PTO in WW2. There were many more CMH awards in the ETO than in the Pacific. It was mainly a difference in philosophy with the ETO being Army run vs Navy in the PTO.
What’s going on now I think can be spelled the same way as in ‘Nam. And, it is worse than shameful.
The first few years of the War on Terror there was a backlash against high awards because so many were issued for so little during the Gulf War. But the longer we went without a living awardee, the more scrutiny there will be on who gets the first one. The more scrutiny there will be, the more senior officers get nervous about recommending the award.
Either the military will find a perfect battle and a perfect living soldier to end the drought, or some general will rediscover common sense and pick a good battle with a good living soldier and push the award through. Once the first one is awarded, the scrutiny will lessen and we can get back to normal.
It IS a disgrace…and what needs doing is to assemble a commission (quite possibly of living CMH holders) to go through the citations and consider upgrades.
I like this idea, Mike. I’m normally predisposed to look at any sort of commission, study group, or “task force” with a jaundiced eye but this idea has merit, and lots of it.
There is, or seems to be, an unwritten policy against the MoH being awarded to the living now. I think that it is not, as Mr. Thul suggests, because so many high awards were given out in GW Mk. 1, but more because no one wants to be seen as ‘glorifying war’ or other non-PC reason. Also, as a society we seem to have forgotten the concept of “hero.” Or maybe have watered it down so as to be almost meaningless (same thing), and are more inclined in our o, so enlightened age, to dub as “hero” someone who sits in a tree to keep it from being cut down for example.
If you compare what the SFC did with the citations for MoH recipients, you would find that his actions were in accord with them. In fact, if you look at the MoH citations from the Civil War, you are left wondering why it was not given out by the bucketful in WWI and WWII.
Here is a breakdown of MoH awards by war: http://www.homeofheroes.com/moh/war/1_a_main.html
note how few were posthumous before WWII.
There was one Regiment, from Massachusetts, as I recall, that received the MoH simply because they all re-enlisted. Given what was being done to soldiers in Lincoln’s war, perhaps it wasn’t out of line.
That was the 27th Maine. All due to muster out in late June, 1863. Stanton needed them in Washington City, so he offered them the MoH to reenlist and gave out 864 of them (side note – to be at that strength at that point in the war, they must not have seen much action). A review board in 1917 stripped the MoH from them because reenlisting was not, in the opinion of the board members, “above and beyond the call of duty.”
The losses (dead and wounded) in the Civil War would be unacceptable today. 10%? Not worth noticing. 20%? Not unusual at all. 30, 40, 50 % common. And they kept going.
One nasty little secret about the Civil War is the number of ‘excess civilian deaths.’ Estimates are that there were about 1,250,000 ‘excess’ deaths, that is over and above what would normally be expected in the population. Most of those would have been in the South, since that is were most of the war was fought, and almost all from starvation and disease. I’ll have to do some digging if anyone wants the source for that, my bookmarks on on my dead laptop.
Which adds fuel to my argument. There’s precedent for a review board, especially since you’re talking about upgrading, not downgrading. And making that review board up from living MoH recipients ends all dispute about the legitimacy of an upgrade.
“In fact, if you look at the MoH citations from the Civil War, you are left wondering why it was not given out by the bucketful in WWI and WWII.”
Very simple: if memory serves, the only awards in existence were the Purple Heart (ok, Badge of Merit back then), and the MOH, no? So if you wanted to issue an award for any act of valor or service, there weren’t many choices available.
That Sergeant should have gotten the DSC, at least.
A suggestion not related to politics which might also help explain the lack of MOH awards; both the Iraq & Afghanistan wars have shown the lowest casualty rates compared to any war in the 20th century. Strategypage has an interesting discussion on the ratio of awards to deaths for different branches during WW2.
Good point. And the criteria were kind of vague.
The medal was “to be bestowed upon such petty officers, seamen, landsmen, and Marines as shall most distinguish themselves by their gallantry and other seamanlike qualities during the present war.”
and
“to such noncommissioned officers and privates as shall most distinguish themselves by their gallantry in action, and other soldier-like qualities, during the present insurrection.”
Good link, too. Interesting that Engineers and Artillery had roughly the same “award rate.”
Roger all.
Field Music of the Guard!
Sound Taps for Lieutenant John Finn.
Another warrior has departed.
One other thing – Please take an extra minute this weekend to recall those who, in answering the call of our Republic, ‘gave the last full measure’ for her. And wear your Buddy Poppy with pride.
MoH — actually, any honoring of heroism, as opposed to celebrity — is politically incorrect; and as well, they’re afraid of another Ira Hayes. Are the numbers of (say) Navy Crosses and Silver Stars up or down? I suspect that both are down, too.
“they’re afraid of another Ira Hayes”
I don’t think they’re so much afraid of another Ira Hayes as they are afraid of someone who’s going to criticize the current government.
But they weren’t awarding MOHs under the previous administration either. It doesn’t seem to have anything with who is or isn’t President, but some irrational fear among the awards boards that they just can’t make that ultimate decision. I like Mike M.’s no-brainer idea that living MOH recipients should be the final review or the entire board. If we don’t start awarding these things to guys to obviously deserve them, we won’t have any awardees to honor in the future. If that happens, we’ll NEVER have anyone with the fortitude to award it, and few current examples of that type of valour to compare it to.
“Referring to his alcoholism, he once said: “I was sick. I guess I was about to crack up thinking about all my good buddies. They were better men than me and they’re not coming back. Much less back to the White House, like me.”
Hayes? Not a bad guy. He only hurt himself.
Gentlemen and warriors of both sexes… We have our flag flying outside our house today and for the rest of this weekend in honor of you and all the fallen warriors who have protected us and our beautiful country so faithfully. We can’t physically make it to a cemetery to pray in honor of you all, but we will pray for you all, in thanks and deepest affection. We are alive and still free because of you.
Bless you, my dears.
Marianne
I agree with the general gist of what is being said. That in this day and age of having almost total access to information, one can look up details on anything and compare. I also think that there is a great shyness in picking one story from the many because everyone will compare it to any number of other stories using all of the resources available now and ask why not this one or that one too? You would get many different committess/groups pushing for their own story ala web sites with vocal blogger support or facebook groups or what not.
As Dave above said, “…the military will find a perfect battle and a perfect living soldier to end the drought.” I think that is the only way it will happen.
one of the problems, at least in the Army, is a tendency to limit higher awards to higher ranks, which i have seen happen in peacetime, and which there is no reason to think hasn’t been carried over into combat.
a few years back, when i was still in, i happened to see, during a foray into the CP at Annual Training, a memo from Division HQ, which spelled out how many awards were available to each unit, and which ranks they could be given to.
minor State awards were for junior enlisted w*rking their butts off. their first line stuporvisors got a slightly larger gong, etc. the only awards that mattered, from a promotion points viewpoint, were for senior NCO’s and ossifers. the only saving grace is, the unit was so FUBAR, pretty much no one got anything, so at least the REMF’s didn’t benefit while the grunts got screwed.
granted, this may have been a CA ARNG aberration, but from my years, and talking to others, it seems to be the new way of things. little people get little gongs.
its basic physics: gold sinks, sh1t floats. %-)
Only slightly off topic, my son (soon to be active duty AF) has spent much of this weekend with 2 close friends – one who spends most of his days within spitting distance of the nuclear reactor that powers his sub and the other who provides services to the soldiers returning to Dover and their grieving families. Made it easy for all of us to remember what this weekend is about.
God bless and thank all of you who serve and have served.
I think that there have been no MOH recipients, in Iraq or A’stan is for two reasons – 1) Politics and Politicians – they have no concept of honor and 2) The people in charge are so afraid of what “someone” might say, that they prefer no action at all. A shame, as there are numerous of our Heroes who are deserving of recognition, but will never get it.
At least I can say “Thank You for Your Service” and I try to do it often.
Honor and Remember.
Correction – should read “no living MOH recipients”
Brain fart, sorry.
We *gots* our heroes! There’s Michael Jackson, who must have been a hero–just look at his posthumous coverage, and Sandra Bullock, who has to be a hero for exercising restraint against Jesse James. Then there’s Bono who, with his own–his *very* own money–is saving Africa! And don’t forget Dave Matthews, who just this month made it his mission to tell me I must ride my bicycle in order to save the world of excess uncredited carbon credits! Oh, and don’t forget that ambassador of ambassadors, Sean Penn, who has made it his personal goal to understand all those other political systems, just so’s we can better appreciate the horrid inferiority of our own exceptionally evil capitalistic system. And Michael Moore, medical doctore extraordinaire, who has been diligent to present to us a much more humane hospice system (got a hangnail, es no problemo, senor! We can fix it just before you die, comprende?) such as is found in Cuba.
Jarheads? Squids? Ground Pounders? Airheads? Nah. They ain’t no heroes. If they had just studied hard and gone to college, like the now Senior Senator from MA (TM)*, They might really be really real heroes, like Hollywood has produced!
Seriously, it is indeed a problem, when a nation seems to no longer understand the true definition of “hero”–when it seems to worship the gaudy, the putrid, the foolishness, the vainglorious–and fails to honor those who have given of themselves for our way of life–for our freedoms.
Jim
*Who, by the way, seems to think him a hero, since he served in Vietnam, and somehow earned three Purple Hearts
I don’t know how we would have won in WW2 or Vietnam without John Wayne. Or where would be without the good sense of Earl Pitts.
Accute fear, and it operates at a couple of levels.
Institutionally no one writing the award wants to send it up the flag pole only to have it rejected and/or downgraded.
It is almost never processed Commander to Commander. It is typically sent up the flag pole where it goes straight into the S-1/G-1 (Personnel Office) where some bozo personnel person will go thru the write-up and reject it based on all sorts of minor crap criteria….e.g. No One under E-7 shall get a a Bronze Star… Yet, on the other hand, we’ve gotten to the point of having institutionalized the End of Tour/PCS award that everyone “deserves”.
One of my proudest achievements is being a recipient of an ARCOM (Army Commendation Medal) where the write up was hand written on the form, in poor hand writing, with words crossed out. The award ribbon is great, but to me the write up document is much more meaningful.
So you get organizational inertia.
Then there’s a political element. No one is getting the Medal anymore without the Political element having a say so…And no one is getting to Flag Rank without a political connection. No politician is going to risk creating a Hero who can then go out on National TV and make a statement about how screwed up the leadership is. Cynical as it may seem to say, Dead Hero’s are far easier to deal with as they are far less difficult to control.
I had always heard that once you got the Medal you were immune to a court martial and that rings true to me.