Medal of Honor,double recipient(s)

[benny rutledge]

Seven Marines were awarded the CMH twice.A visit to CMOHS.Org to research Maj.J.J.Foss I found a section called "double recipients" among them Smedley Butler for actions in Haiti and Vera Cruz.Why on Earth didn't Lt/Gen Puller get his ONE ?A site worth visiting for more history on our Corps,Sempers....

[wrbones]

Chesty was a Mustang and he couldn't keep his mouth shut! LOL. The Brass in D.C. never really liked him.

[yellowwing]

(Neither did the Communist Chinese!)

[top1371]

I believe that only two recipients received two from the Corps the other double recipients recived them from other services.

Semper Fi,

Top

[lurchenstein]

top1371
I believe that only two recipients received two from the Corps the other double recipients recived them from other services.

Would one of those recipients (MOH from 2 Services) be Dan Daley?

[benny rutledge]

TOP 1371,there are Seven Marines listed,yes one was Smedley Butler,the other was (yes) Dan Daley.I Don't have a printer to read verbatim from (I'm at library)but there are more MARINE double recipients than any other service.The web address is WWW.CMOHS.ORG.Also (of course)WWW.HQMC.USMC.MIL.Sempers you guys.....

[lovelldj]

The people who say 7 and the people who say 2 are both right. 5 out of the 7 won both the Navy and the Marine Corps Medals of Honor for the SAME ACTION. What distinguishes Smedley Butler and Dan Daly is that they were awarded it twice, for TWO separate actions (Daly's were 15 years apart!) Another thing to keep in mind with the CMH is that the standard of gallantry for earning the medal has been ratcheted up severely since its inception, largely because a number of other medals have been introduced to account for lesser acts of bravery. A CMH from the Civil War or the Indian Wars MIGHT be (emphasize might) for an act of bravery that in moderm times might only rate, say, a Bronze Star.

[benny rutledge]

lovelldj,agood point to keep in mind,that lesser awards have since been created for various forms of gallantry.That brings me to LTGEN L.B.Puller again.Dammit to Hell ,that man invented the words Bravery and Guts.Even before his passing,a special act of Congress to award Him his CMH was shot down by the Politicians despite the outraged crys of his supporters.It is still not to late to petition the CinC to award it Posthumously to his survivors.I think I'll E-mail Senator Glenn for his thoughts on this.It takes a Marine......

[lurchenstein]

benny rutledge
That brings me to LTGEN L.B.Puller again. ...It is still not to late to petition the CinC to award it Posthumously to his survivors.I think I'll E-mail Senator Glenn for his thoughts on this.It takes a Marine......

Maybe we should write essays on why Chesty must be awarded the MOH & send them to our CinC. Does the MOH Society have input on matters like this?

[lovelldj]

I understand the emotional compulsion we all feel that we would like to see Chesty honored with the CMH. However, I feel there are two small problems. First, while some politicians were actively engaged in shooting down the act, it was Chesty himself who was pushing very hard to have one of his own Navy Crosses upgraded. Whether or not he deserved it is a separate issue; it just doesn't sit well with people that he was his own biggest cheerleader in this regard. The second sticky point is that his Navy Crosses were all awarded for his leadership actions as commander of various units who performed amazing feats in combat conditions. None, however, were awarded for individual bravery, which is a clear requirement of the modern day CMH. This takes nothing from his bravery or steadfastness under fire, but I'm afraid the facts simply don't support the case. People should read his biography to get the full story and judge for themselves.

[lurchenstein]

lovelldj
I understand the emotional compulsion we all feel that we would like to see Chesty honored with the CMH. ... People should read his biography to get the full story and judge for themselves.

Well said.

[benny rutledge]

I Have read both "Chesty" and "Marine".Regardless of his own flagwaving,wasn't (or isn't) there a automatic step up to CMH if a reciepient has 5 Navy Crosses?If nothing else LT/Gen Puller should at least have a commemorative stamp issued by the postal service?

[lovelldj]

Originally posted by benny rutledge
I Have read both "Chesty" and "Marine".Regardless of his own flagwaving,wasn't (or isn't) there a automatic step up to CMH if a reciepient has 5 Navy Crosses?If nothing else LT/Gen Puller should at least have a commemorative stamp issued by the postal service?

I guess it would be nice if that were true, but it isn't. It would certainly look funny if such a policy existed and the only Marine who qualified didn't have it enacted.

[ba_1991]

If elvis can have a stamp,Chesty damned sure should have one.