Friday, July 02, 2010
It has been nearly four decades since a soldier performed actions that the Department of Defense deemed worthy of being awarded the Medal of Honor, while still alive. But that could change soon if the White House goes along with the Pentagon’s recommendation to recognize the heroism of an American soldier who fought in Afghanistan.
The military has not revealed the name of the soldier, who would be the first Medal of Honor recipient to personally accept the award for a conflict since the Vietnam War. What’s known about the soldier is that he “ran through a wall of enemy fire in Afghanistan’s Korengal Valley in fall 2007” in an effort to keep Taliban fighters from overrunning his squad, according to The Washington Post. The action reportedly saved the lives of about half a dozen men.
Members of Congress, military officers and even Defense Secretary Robert Gates have lamented the Pentagon’s reluctance to present the Medal of Honor to anyone returning alive from the wars in Iraq or Afghanistan. The medal has been awarded posthumously to six who died in the conflicts.
Although many media reports have stated that this would be the first Medal awarded to a living soldier since the Vietnam War, in fact, a Vietnam War veteran, Bruce Crandall, was belatedly presented with the Medal of Honor on February 26, 2007, for his actions during the Battle of Ia Drang on November 19, 1965.
If the White House approves the Defense Department’s recommendation for the medal, it could increase support for the Afghanistan War by putting a human face on a conflict that seems increasingly distant from the daily lives of most Americans.
-Noel Brinkerhoff, David Wallechinsky
Pentagon Recommends Medal of Honor for a Living Soldier (by Greg Jaffe and Craig Whitlock, Washington Post)
No Survivors Have Earned Medal of Honor in Iraq or Afghanistan (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)
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