thedrifter
09-19-06, 01:00 PM
Decoration debate
By Gidget Fuentes
Marine Corps Staff writer
They were grunts, two infantrymen and brothers-in-arms like the thousands of Marines who have marched to the Iraqi desert on a mission to bring hope to that nation and rain hell on insurgents blocking the way.
One jumped on a grenade tossed by an Iraqi insurgent stopped with a car full of weapons, using his helmet to absorb the blast. His life hung precariously, but after eight days he died of his wounds.
The other, felled by bullets from an enemy rifle, grabbed a grenade tossed on the floor and held it to his torso just before it exploded. The blast took his life, but he saved the lives of his buddies in the room.
The two Marines - one a corporal, the other a sergeant - fought to their last breath. They gave their last full measure, sacrificing themselves to save the lives of their men.
The stories of Cpl. Jason Dunham and Sgt. Rafael Peralta may soon be etched permanently into the history books as the Marine Corps' first recipients of the Medal of Honor in the war in Iraq.
Dunham, 22, and Peralta, 25, have been nominated for the medal, the nation's highest award for valor, given by the president "for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty."
No decision or final approval had been made as of Sept. 14 on whether Dunham or Peralta would receive the medal. The official line from Washington was a terse "no comment," and spokesmen said it's policy not to discuss pending or possible nominations. But Marines and others with knowledge of both cases say that approval and awarding are imminent.
The acts of the two noncommissioned officers have stirred much anticipation in Marine circles, on the Internet and particularly in the blogosphere, at a time of heated debate about just who should rate the highest award - and whether a service member has to die to get it.
In the middle of the debate is a small but growing groundswell of military observers who believe that other Marines, including several living recipients of the Navy Cross, the second-highest combat award, should have their awards upgraded to the Medal of Honor.
The statistics are telling. While both presumed Marine nominees lost their lives, 14 out of 15 Navy Cross recipients are still alive. And many observers reading their Navy Cross citations see Medal of Honor between the lines.
No Marine has been awarded the Medal of Honor since the Vietnam War. The military's three modern-day Medal of Honor recipients all perished in combat - two soldiers in Somalia in 1993 and one soldier in Iraq in 2003.
If they are awarded the medal, Dunham and Peralta would join an elite group of 294 Marine warriors. According to the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, 128 of those medals were given posthumously. Only 20 Marine recipients are alive today. Six received the medal for combat actions during World War II, four in the Korean War and 10 in Vietnam.
If either Dunham or Peralta receive it, one sure bet is that the life-or-death debate about the medal -whether the Corps, notoriously stingy with valor awards, could be shortchanging those who lived to tell their own stories - will continue.
Despite swirling speculation, service officials have been mum on what Medals of Honor may come, if any.
Is death a prerequisite?
"It is Marine Corps policy that we do not comment on pending awards," said 1st Lt. Rob Dolan, a spokesman at Quantico, Va.
But officials can talk about the Navy Crosses already bestowed. As of Sept. 15, the Navy Department had approved 15 Marine-related Navy Crosses - two to officers, 12 to enlisted Marines and one to a Navy corpsman who was with a Marine unit. One went to a sergeant in a combat operation in Afghanistan, and the rest were given for actions in Iraq.
Yet, out of all 15 medals, only one was given posthumously. The other 14 recipients are living, breathing heroes.
And that statistic has raised a controversial question in military circles and online: Has the Medal of Honor become an award reserved for those who've sacrificed their life in their final combat act?
"Evidently so," one colonel who has nominated a number of his Marines for combat valor awards, including the Navy Cross, said with a hint of sarcasm.
"Is that the standard in which someone ought to be able to receive it?" wondered a master gunnery sergeant, a veteran of three Iraq tours so far.
It's a sentiment echoed by many others who are frustrated by what they see as a trend that may deprive some living combat heroes of their proper recognition.
"I would hate to look back at this war on terrorism and see that our heroes deserved the highest military honor only if they were killed in combat," Gunnery Sgt. Andrew Michaelson, an infantry unit leader, wrote in an Aug. 21 letter to Marine Corps Times.
"There should be some living heroes walking around with that award," Michaelson added via e-mail just before he left Hawaii for another deployment to Iraq.
Others worry about the dearth of Medals of Honor, especially after 3½ years of intense fighting in Iraq and five years of military operations in Afghanistan.
It's angered Joseph Kinney, a former Marine and Vietnam combat veteran, so much that he's called for a congressional hearing to find out what's going on - with regard to both posthumous awards and the length of time it's taking to give medals.
"There are too many that have gone unacknowledged," Kinney, an author, said from his North Carolina home. He blames disinterest among senior military officers, a lack of procedures and a lengthy process of review scrutiny. "There's no reason why it takes years," he said. "What can change with the passage of time?"
"Astute people in the Pentagon should be asking questions," he added.
"Identifying and honoring military heroes just has not taken on a high priority. This is a travesty that, if left unaddressed, will be felt for generations to come," Kinney wrote in a mid-September letter to Sen. Elizabeth Dole, R-N.C. "While we may not honor military heroes the way we used to, such acts of acknowledgment are the lifeblood of our warriors. They are the grist of legend, the fuel for those who come behind and face death in the name of this country.
"While we superficially pay homage to this generation of warriors with our yellow magnetic ribbons, we have yet to fully honor them as we have in the past," he added.
Military regulations and instructions provide guidelines for determining which actions deserve combat decorations. But the awards criteria and process are far from well-understood and remain a mystery to many in uniform.
Nominations for combat valor awards, from a Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal for valor to a Medal of Honor, are typically submitted at the Marine's unit. They go through lengthy reviews starting at the regimental level, with awards review boards at the division and Marine expeditionary force levels. Higher awards require more extensive reviews in Washington, and Medal of Honor nominations ultimately must be approved by the president.
The actions of Marines in the offensives in Fallujah alone, merit more combat medals than have been approved so far, Kinney said. "I think there ought to be a whole stack of medals from Fallujah," he said.
Others agree. "When you're fighting this kind of enemy, there are even more and greater enemy … that Marines find themselves right in the thick of it," said Matt Dodd, a retired lieutenant colonel and editor of DefenseWatch, a blog with Soldiers For The Truth.
A particular concern of Dodd is whether some recipients of the Navy Cross should instead be given the Medal of Honor. Close reads of their citations reveal parallels with the actions of others honored by the Medal of Honor in the past.
The actions of Dunham and Peralta are no different, he said. "I wouldn't be surprised if both of them get it."
"If those actions don't rate it, what the heck does?" he said.
Navy Cross heroes
Combat heroism and mettle aren't found just in the citations and stories of Medal of Honor recipients. The Navy Cross long has reflected the Corps' foundation of bravery and courage in battle.
The line separating the two can be a fine one. Navy regulations offer little to clearly identify combat actions deserving a Navy Cross, stating that it is awarded to someone who "distinguishes himself or herself by extraordinary heroism not justifying the award of the Medal of Honor."
It also states that "to warrant this distinctive decoration, the act or the execution of duty must be performed in the presence of great danger or at great personal risk and must be performed in such a manner as to set the individual apart from his or her shipmates or fellow Marines. An accumulation of minor acts of heroism does not justify the award. The high standards demanded must be borne in mind when recommending the award."
Marines revere the Navy Cross and its recipients much as they do the Medal of Honor.
"These men are held up in the highest esteem, when Marines see their brother Marine or corpsman with a medal like that," said Tom Vetter, a retired lieutenant colonel and chairman of the 1st Marine Division Association's warrior liaison committee. "They are the epitome of what bravery is all about. It really motivates the troops."
Service officials won't say whether any of the Navy Cross recipients were considered for the Medal of Honor. But in discussions and debates on opinion pages and blogs of late, boosters contend that some Navy Cross recipients were due the Medal of Honor.
Take Capt. Brian Chontosh. When his platoon was ambushed outside Diwaniyah on a long convoy March 25, 2003, the then-first lieutenant acted quickly, ordering his driver off the road and toward an enemy machine gun as rocket-propelled grenades, mortar rounds and automatic weapons fire rained in the kill zone.
At one point, Chontosh got out of his vehicle and fired his rifle and pistol on a trench, killing enemy fighters. Out of ammunition, he twice picked up AK47 rifles and "continued his ferocious attack," his Navy Cross citation states, and he fired an enemy RPG launcher at another group of fighters.
When the dust settled, he had killed more than 20 fighters, wounded several others and cleared a 200-meter-long trench near Highway 1.
Kinney said he's part of a movement trying to get more recognition for Chontosh, the Combined Anti-Armor Platoon commander with 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines. Chontosh received the Navy Cross for his actions.
"I want them to have heroes who are among their peers," Kinney said. "And there are people out there, like Brian Chontosh and others, who are deserving."
In Vetter's view, the combat heroics of then-1st Sgt. Brad Kasal, who was awarded the Navy Cross, also warrant the Medal of Honor.
Valor in the 'house of hell'
Kasal led his men from 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines, into a Fallujah house Nov. 13, 2004, to help a group of Marines wounded by insurgent fire, but they found themselves in a pitched, close-quarters battle with the gunmen. Hit by seven bullets and 40 bits of shrapnel, Kasal went down but kept fighting, covering a wounded Pfc. Alex Nicoll as rounds and a grenade exploded nearby. He fired back while trying to stop Nicoll's bleeding.
"He went in there to get his Marines, and they were wounded," Vetter said. "He was providing the leadership that a senior staff NCO gives. He wouldn't quit."
"The Navy Cross is a prestigious medal in its own right, but I thoroughly expected Kasal would be awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions that day," retired Col. D.R. Stanton wrote in a May 15 letter to Marine Corps Times. "Surely his bravery and willingness to give his own life were worthy of that highest of honors. Compared to other services, the Corps is very careful in presenting medals - sometimes to the extreme.
"The circumstances surrounding this action cannot be ignored and should be revisited," he added.
Another reader echoed the thought. "Kasal probably expected that grenade to kill him. Who wouldn't? I have read accounts of the Medal of Honor being awarded for exactly that type of action in combat," wrote retired Sgt. Evan Campbell, a combat veteran, on June 26. "Kasal deserves our nation's highest award, the Medal of Honor. It should not become an award that is given only posthumously."
An embedded photojournalist captured Kasal in an iconic photograph, being helped out of the house by two Marines with blood smeared on his trousers and his pistol held tight in his hand.
"That picture of them carrying him out, with his 9mm pistol in his hand, it just exemplifies the leadership that he has and what he did there," Vetter said. "Marines don't quit no matter how bad things get. You take care of your team."
Kasal, now a sergeant major, "just displays the honor, the courage and the commitment," Vetter added. "I was amazed that he wasn't awarded the Medal of Honor."
With Kasal in that "House of Hell" in Fallujah that day was Sgt. Robert Mitchell, another Navy Cross recipient whom some believe should receive the top award.
As Kasal battled nearby, Mitchell suffered a ricochet round in his leg and shrapnel across his body but he kept fighting, applying first aid to wounded Marines, fending off enemy fighters and, at one point when his weapon jammed, stabbing an insurgent to death. Despite his own injuries, Mitchell helped evacuate the casualties.
His actions have some thinking he would be a natural candidate for the top decoration.
"Every Medal of Honor citation I have ever read had some of the same actions that Mitchell carried out," Michaelson said.
Mitchell "committed several acts, to include rushing through enemy fire several times, administering first aid to all of the wounded Marines while bleeding profusely from his own wounds, directing the evacuation of all Marines within that house while he refused to be evacuated himself for his wounds," Michaelson said.
A grenade, and life or death
What gnaws at boosters advocating for more Medal of Honor awardees is the similarity between these combat actions and those of Medal of Honor recipients, some of whom were awarded the medal posthumously.
A review of dozens of Medal of Honor citations reveals a few common threads. Often, their story is one of:
• Racing through enemy barrages of fire, often against an overwhelming force, to knock out machine-gun nests or mortar tubes, or jumping into a trench to silence enemy guns.
• Directing their men through a heavy assault, fending off enemy forces and ignoring their own wounds.
• Dodging fire to pull wounded comrades to safety.
• Jumping on a grenade to save others, often fatally or severely wounding themselves in the process.
For some recipients, their award cites a combination of these actions.
The stories of Dunham and Peralta echo some of these themes. Among the more telling tales that took place on Iwo Jima is the story of Pfc. Jacklyn "Jack" Lucas, a teenager who enlisted fraudulently and later stowed away on ship to sail into combat. He went on to become the youngest Medal of Honor recipient of the 20th century.
On Feb. 20, 1945, he and his fire team were ambushed on the island. "Quick to act when the lives of the small group were endangered by two grenades which landed directly in front of them, Private First Class Lucas unhesitatingly hurled himself over his comrades upon one grenade and pulled the other one under him, absorbing the whole blasting force of the explosions in his own body in order to shield his companions from the concussion and murderous flying fragments."
Lucas survived and, now 78, said he'd do it again unhesitatingly. "I paid a dear price over the years, with the pain and the suffering," he said from his home in Hattiesburg, Miss. "But I don't regret having done that to save my fellow Marines.
"They all lived. They went on, and they had their families and their children, and their lives go on," he added. "I wound up saving lives."
Lucas would like to see the dwindling ranks of Medal of Honor recipients expand with new members, and he is sure that Marines will get that high recognition.
He'd like to see more but notes it's not automatic. "They have to meet the criteria. You just don't give out a bunch of awards to people," he said. Otherwise, "it devalues the award."
"People don't go to war just to get medals and decorations," he added. "I certainly didn't. I didn't even know what the Medal of Honor was. I just wanted to fight for my country." ;
Ellie
By Gidget Fuentes
Marine Corps Staff writer
They were grunts, two infantrymen and brothers-in-arms like the thousands of Marines who have marched to the Iraqi desert on a mission to bring hope to that nation and rain hell on insurgents blocking the way.
One jumped on a grenade tossed by an Iraqi insurgent stopped with a car full of weapons, using his helmet to absorb the blast. His life hung precariously, but after eight days he died of his wounds.
The other, felled by bullets from an enemy rifle, grabbed a grenade tossed on the floor and held it to his torso just before it exploded. The blast took his life, but he saved the lives of his buddies in the room.
The two Marines - one a corporal, the other a sergeant - fought to their last breath. They gave their last full measure, sacrificing themselves to save the lives of their men.
The stories of Cpl. Jason Dunham and Sgt. Rafael Peralta may soon be etched permanently into the history books as the Marine Corps' first recipients of the Medal of Honor in the war in Iraq.
Dunham, 22, and Peralta, 25, have been nominated for the medal, the nation's highest award for valor, given by the president "for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty."
No decision or final approval had been made as of Sept. 14 on whether Dunham or Peralta would receive the medal. The official line from Washington was a terse "no comment," and spokesmen said it's policy not to discuss pending or possible nominations. But Marines and others with knowledge of both cases say that approval and awarding are imminent.
The acts of the two noncommissioned officers have stirred much anticipation in Marine circles, on the Internet and particularly in the blogosphere, at a time of heated debate about just who should rate the highest award - and whether a service member has to die to get it.
In the middle of the debate is a small but growing groundswell of military observers who believe that other Marines, including several living recipients of the Navy Cross, the second-highest combat award, should have their awards upgraded to the Medal of Honor.
The statistics are telling. While both presumed Marine nominees lost their lives, 14 out of 15 Navy Cross recipients are still alive. And many observers reading their Navy Cross citations see Medal of Honor between the lines.
No Marine has been awarded the Medal of Honor since the Vietnam War. The military's three modern-day Medal of Honor recipients all perished in combat - two soldiers in Somalia in 1993 and one soldier in Iraq in 2003.
If they are awarded the medal, Dunham and Peralta would join an elite group of 294 Marine warriors. According to the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, 128 of those medals were given posthumously. Only 20 Marine recipients are alive today. Six received the medal for combat actions during World War II, four in the Korean War and 10 in Vietnam.
If either Dunham or Peralta receive it, one sure bet is that the life-or-death debate about the medal -whether the Corps, notoriously stingy with valor awards, could be shortchanging those who lived to tell their own stories - will continue.
Despite swirling speculation, service officials have been mum on what Medals of Honor may come, if any.
Is death a prerequisite?
"It is Marine Corps policy that we do not comment on pending awards," said 1st Lt. Rob Dolan, a spokesman at Quantico, Va.
But officials can talk about the Navy Crosses already bestowed. As of Sept. 15, the Navy Department had approved 15 Marine-related Navy Crosses - two to officers, 12 to enlisted Marines and one to a Navy corpsman who was with a Marine unit. One went to a sergeant in a combat operation in Afghanistan, and the rest were given for actions in Iraq.
Yet, out of all 15 medals, only one was given posthumously. The other 14 recipients are living, breathing heroes.
And that statistic has raised a controversial question in military circles and online: Has the Medal of Honor become an award reserved for those who've sacrificed their life in their final combat act?
"Evidently so," one colonel who has nominated a number of his Marines for combat valor awards, including the Navy Cross, said with a hint of sarcasm.
"Is that the standard in which someone ought to be able to receive it?" wondered a master gunnery sergeant, a veteran of three Iraq tours so far.
It's a sentiment echoed by many others who are frustrated by what they see as a trend that may deprive some living combat heroes of their proper recognition.
"I would hate to look back at this war on terrorism and see that our heroes deserved the highest military honor only if they were killed in combat," Gunnery Sgt. Andrew Michaelson, an infantry unit leader, wrote in an Aug. 21 letter to Marine Corps Times.
"There should be some living heroes walking around with that award," Michaelson added via e-mail just before he left Hawaii for another deployment to Iraq.
Others worry about the dearth of Medals of Honor, especially after 3½ years of intense fighting in Iraq and five years of military operations in Afghanistan.
It's angered Joseph Kinney, a former Marine and Vietnam combat veteran, so much that he's called for a congressional hearing to find out what's going on - with regard to both posthumous awards and the length of time it's taking to give medals.
"There are too many that have gone unacknowledged," Kinney, an author, said from his North Carolina home. He blames disinterest among senior military officers, a lack of procedures and a lengthy process of review scrutiny. "There's no reason why it takes years," he said. "What can change with the passage of time?"
"Astute people in the Pentagon should be asking questions," he added.
"Identifying and honoring military heroes just has not taken on a high priority. This is a travesty that, if left unaddressed, will be felt for generations to come," Kinney wrote in a mid-September letter to Sen. Elizabeth Dole, R-N.C. "While we may not honor military heroes the way we used to, such acts of acknowledgment are the lifeblood of our warriors. They are the grist of legend, the fuel for those who come behind and face death in the name of this country.
"While we superficially pay homage to this generation of warriors with our yellow magnetic ribbons, we have yet to fully honor them as we have in the past," he added.
Military regulations and instructions provide guidelines for determining which actions deserve combat decorations. But the awards criteria and process are far from well-understood and remain a mystery to many in uniform.
Nominations for combat valor awards, from a Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal for valor to a Medal of Honor, are typically submitted at the Marine's unit. They go through lengthy reviews starting at the regimental level, with awards review boards at the division and Marine expeditionary force levels. Higher awards require more extensive reviews in Washington, and Medal of Honor nominations ultimately must be approved by the president.
The actions of Marines in the offensives in Fallujah alone, merit more combat medals than have been approved so far, Kinney said. "I think there ought to be a whole stack of medals from Fallujah," he said.
Others agree. "When you're fighting this kind of enemy, there are even more and greater enemy … that Marines find themselves right in the thick of it," said Matt Dodd, a retired lieutenant colonel and editor of DefenseWatch, a blog with Soldiers For The Truth.
A particular concern of Dodd is whether some recipients of the Navy Cross should instead be given the Medal of Honor. Close reads of their citations reveal parallels with the actions of others honored by the Medal of Honor in the past.
The actions of Dunham and Peralta are no different, he said. "I wouldn't be surprised if both of them get it."
"If those actions don't rate it, what the heck does?" he said.
Navy Cross heroes
Combat heroism and mettle aren't found just in the citations and stories of Medal of Honor recipients. The Navy Cross long has reflected the Corps' foundation of bravery and courage in battle.
The line separating the two can be a fine one. Navy regulations offer little to clearly identify combat actions deserving a Navy Cross, stating that it is awarded to someone who "distinguishes himself or herself by extraordinary heroism not justifying the award of the Medal of Honor."
It also states that "to warrant this distinctive decoration, the act or the execution of duty must be performed in the presence of great danger or at great personal risk and must be performed in such a manner as to set the individual apart from his or her shipmates or fellow Marines. An accumulation of minor acts of heroism does not justify the award. The high standards demanded must be borne in mind when recommending the award."
Marines revere the Navy Cross and its recipients much as they do the Medal of Honor.
"These men are held up in the highest esteem, when Marines see their brother Marine or corpsman with a medal like that," said Tom Vetter, a retired lieutenant colonel and chairman of the 1st Marine Division Association's warrior liaison committee. "They are the epitome of what bravery is all about. It really motivates the troops."
Service officials won't say whether any of the Navy Cross recipients were considered for the Medal of Honor. But in discussions and debates on opinion pages and blogs of late, boosters contend that some Navy Cross recipients were due the Medal of Honor.
Take Capt. Brian Chontosh. When his platoon was ambushed outside Diwaniyah on a long convoy March 25, 2003, the then-first lieutenant acted quickly, ordering his driver off the road and toward an enemy machine gun as rocket-propelled grenades, mortar rounds and automatic weapons fire rained in the kill zone.
At one point, Chontosh got out of his vehicle and fired his rifle and pistol on a trench, killing enemy fighters. Out of ammunition, he twice picked up AK47 rifles and "continued his ferocious attack," his Navy Cross citation states, and he fired an enemy RPG launcher at another group of fighters.
When the dust settled, he had killed more than 20 fighters, wounded several others and cleared a 200-meter-long trench near Highway 1.
Kinney said he's part of a movement trying to get more recognition for Chontosh, the Combined Anti-Armor Platoon commander with 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines. Chontosh received the Navy Cross for his actions.
"I want them to have heroes who are among their peers," Kinney said. "And there are people out there, like Brian Chontosh and others, who are deserving."
In Vetter's view, the combat heroics of then-1st Sgt. Brad Kasal, who was awarded the Navy Cross, also warrant the Medal of Honor.
Valor in the 'house of hell'
Kasal led his men from 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines, into a Fallujah house Nov. 13, 2004, to help a group of Marines wounded by insurgent fire, but they found themselves in a pitched, close-quarters battle with the gunmen. Hit by seven bullets and 40 bits of shrapnel, Kasal went down but kept fighting, covering a wounded Pfc. Alex Nicoll as rounds and a grenade exploded nearby. He fired back while trying to stop Nicoll's bleeding.
"He went in there to get his Marines, and they were wounded," Vetter said. "He was providing the leadership that a senior staff NCO gives. He wouldn't quit."
"The Navy Cross is a prestigious medal in its own right, but I thoroughly expected Kasal would be awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions that day," retired Col. D.R. Stanton wrote in a May 15 letter to Marine Corps Times. "Surely his bravery and willingness to give his own life were worthy of that highest of honors. Compared to other services, the Corps is very careful in presenting medals - sometimes to the extreme.
"The circumstances surrounding this action cannot be ignored and should be revisited," he added.
Another reader echoed the thought. "Kasal probably expected that grenade to kill him. Who wouldn't? I have read accounts of the Medal of Honor being awarded for exactly that type of action in combat," wrote retired Sgt. Evan Campbell, a combat veteran, on June 26. "Kasal deserves our nation's highest award, the Medal of Honor. It should not become an award that is given only posthumously."
An embedded photojournalist captured Kasal in an iconic photograph, being helped out of the house by two Marines with blood smeared on his trousers and his pistol held tight in his hand.
"That picture of them carrying him out, with his 9mm pistol in his hand, it just exemplifies the leadership that he has and what he did there," Vetter said. "Marines don't quit no matter how bad things get. You take care of your team."
Kasal, now a sergeant major, "just displays the honor, the courage and the commitment," Vetter added. "I was amazed that he wasn't awarded the Medal of Honor."
With Kasal in that "House of Hell" in Fallujah that day was Sgt. Robert Mitchell, another Navy Cross recipient whom some believe should receive the top award.
As Kasal battled nearby, Mitchell suffered a ricochet round in his leg and shrapnel across his body but he kept fighting, applying first aid to wounded Marines, fending off enemy fighters and, at one point when his weapon jammed, stabbing an insurgent to death. Despite his own injuries, Mitchell helped evacuate the casualties.
His actions have some thinking he would be a natural candidate for the top decoration.
"Every Medal of Honor citation I have ever read had some of the same actions that Mitchell carried out," Michaelson said.
Mitchell "committed several acts, to include rushing through enemy fire several times, administering first aid to all of the wounded Marines while bleeding profusely from his own wounds, directing the evacuation of all Marines within that house while he refused to be evacuated himself for his wounds," Michaelson said.
A grenade, and life or death
What gnaws at boosters advocating for more Medal of Honor awardees is the similarity between these combat actions and those of Medal of Honor recipients, some of whom were awarded the medal posthumously.
A review of dozens of Medal of Honor citations reveals a few common threads. Often, their story is one of:
• Racing through enemy barrages of fire, often against an overwhelming force, to knock out machine-gun nests or mortar tubes, or jumping into a trench to silence enemy guns.
• Directing their men through a heavy assault, fending off enemy forces and ignoring their own wounds.
• Dodging fire to pull wounded comrades to safety.
• Jumping on a grenade to save others, often fatally or severely wounding themselves in the process.
For some recipients, their award cites a combination of these actions.
The stories of Dunham and Peralta echo some of these themes. Among the more telling tales that took place on Iwo Jima is the story of Pfc. Jacklyn "Jack" Lucas, a teenager who enlisted fraudulently and later stowed away on ship to sail into combat. He went on to become the youngest Medal of Honor recipient of the 20th century.
On Feb. 20, 1945, he and his fire team were ambushed on the island. "Quick to act when the lives of the small group were endangered by two grenades which landed directly in front of them, Private First Class Lucas unhesitatingly hurled himself over his comrades upon one grenade and pulled the other one under him, absorbing the whole blasting force of the explosions in his own body in order to shield his companions from the concussion and murderous flying fragments."
Lucas survived and, now 78, said he'd do it again unhesitatingly. "I paid a dear price over the years, with the pain and the suffering," he said from his home in Hattiesburg, Miss. "But I don't regret having done that to save my fellow Marines.
"They all lived. They went on, and they had their families and their children, and their lives go on," he added. "I wound up saving lives."
Lucas would like to see the dwindling ranks of Medal of Honor recipients expand with new members, and he is sure that Marines will get that high recognition.
He'd like to see more but notes it's not automatic. "They have to meet the criteria. You just don't give out a bunch of awards to people," he said. Otherwise, "it devalues the award."
"People don't go to war just to get medals and decorations," he added. "I certainly didn't. I didn't even know what the Medal of Honor was. I just wanted to fight for my country." ;
Ellie