August 2, 2009 — There is somewhat of a disturbing news account that has just come out about the number of Medal of Honor (MOH), our nations highest decoration for our military personnel, that have been awarded in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Seven nominations have been made and six have been awarded all posthumously. The criteria for awarding the MOH is strict as it should be, but I wonder if there isn't more at play here then meets the eye.
It's disturbing to me that the nomination for the MOH that was not approved concerns a Marine that was wounded by friendly fire and yet was able to throw himself on an insurgents grenade and keep the blast from killing some of his fellow Marines. There is an eye witness account of what this Marine did. And yet, Secretary of Defense Gates chose to convene an independent panel consisting of a former commanding general, a Medal of Honor recipient, a neurosurgeon and two pathologists to review this case. It was each reviewers individual conclusion that the facts did not meet the "no doubt" standards used in awarding the MOH. You can read the USAToday.com account of this story here: http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2009-08-01-medalofhonor_N.htm.
I just think this is so wrong.
If one eye witness can verify another's valor in battle then that should far outweigh any implied expert opinion of others that were not there. In eight years these wars have been raging only six medals have been awarded. In the four plus years of WWII there were 464. Go figure...
Why do we continue to put our military personnel in a different class of people. Why do we continue to not give them their due. They are the ones that pay the price for our FREEdoms. Notice that they pay a price...as freedom is not free. Wake up America...the parade is passing us by. Honor our military personnel and our veterans at every opportunity...it's what really matters!
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