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 MOH
Recipient
Alton Knappenberger
Passed Away June 9
Alton Knappenberger, the man whose
13-character surname is the second-longest on the Roll of
Honor, passed away on June 9, 2008. His death leaves only 103
Living Recipients of our Nation's highest award for military
valor.
Knappenberger was born in Coopersburg,
Pennsylvania, and lived his quiet life in his home state,
seldom venturing far from home save for his service in World
War II. After he was drafted, Knappenberger participated in
the Allied landing at Anzio, Italy, in 1944. It was his FIRST,
and his ONLY, combat experience of the war. It would mark him
one of that war's greatest heroes however, for on February 1,
1944, he picked up a Browning automatic rifle, ran alone to a
knoll and held off a German attack for more than two hours
near Cisterna di Latina, 30 miles from Nazi-held Rome. In the
aftermath of his one-man stand, the battlefield was littered
with 60 German dead and "Knappie," as his comrades
called him, became known as "The One Man Army."
Knappenberger died of natural causes at
Pottstown Memorial Hospital at the age of 84. He will be
buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
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Alton Knappenberger's
13-character surname, along with those of Messerschmidt,
Shellenberger, Van Valkenburgh, and Santiago-Colon
share the spot as the second-longest surnames on the
Medal of Honor Roll. They are exceded in length by but
one single surname of 14 characters. We'll leave it to
the curiosity of our readers to identify that MOH
recipient. |
 MOH
Recipient
Jack Lucas
Passed Away June 5
Jack Lucas was a Marine Corps
legend...the youngest Marine in history to receive the Medal
of Honor and the fourth youngest recipient of any branch of
service since the Civil War. The man who, 6 days after his
17th birthday covered TWO Japanese grenades with his body at
Iwo Jima to save the lives of his comrades, had been battling
cancer and died shortly after midnight after he requested
doctors remove a dialysis machine, his wife, Ruby, told the
Associated Press.
At age 14 Jack forged his mother's
signature on his enlistment papers and lied his way into
military service. When his true age was revealed two years
later and the Marine Corps attempted to ship him back to the
United States from Hawaii, he stowed away with a borrowed pack
on a troop ship headed for combat on Iwo Jima. There he
demonstrated an uncommon heroism quite befitting his uncommon
character, becoming a legend among legends in the U.S. Marine
Corps.
Jack and Ruby were personal friends who
visited us and who hosted us at their home in Hattiesburg,
Mississippi, and Jack was one of the first Medal of Honor
recipients to request a personal page (www.HomeOfHeroes.com/jacklucas
) when we launched this website. Jack used that page to keep
in contact regularly with his many friends and admirers around
the nation. He will be truly missed by us all.
The AP reports that in his final hours,
a steady stream of visitors was stopped and Ruby Lucas was
given a few quiet moments with her husband. "I said,
'Jack, you know you're dying,"' Ruby Lucas said. He just
raised his head off the pillow. He said, 'I ain't dead yet.'
Just as plain as day. I said, 'That's Jack Lucas. He wants to
get the last word in."'
|
Associated Press reports that Lucas was
the youngest man of any branch of service to earn the Medal of
Honor since the Civil War are in error. Sixteen-year-old Army
Private Frederick Bergendahl earned the Medal of Honor on December
8, 1874, during the Indian Campaigns, and Navy Apprentice John
Hayden earned the Medal of Honor for Peace Time Heroism on July 15, 1879.
Sixteen-year-old Navy Seaman James Walsh, who earned the Medal
of Honor for actions April 21 - 22, 1914, during the
occupation of Vera Cruz, Mexico, was the only person in the last
century younger than Lucas to earn the MOH. |
 Medal
of Honor
Posthumously Awarded
To Ross McGinnis
On December 4, 2006.
Private First Class Ross A. McGinnis' platoon was conducting a
combat patrol in Adhamiyah, Iraq. The combat patrol made a
left turn onto a side street southwest of the Abu Hanifa
Mosque. There were two-story buildings and parked vehicles on
either side of the road. PFC McGinnis was manning the M2 .50
Caliber Machine Gun on the Platoon Sergeant's M1151 and his
primary responsibility was to protect the rear of the combat
patrol from enemy attacks. Moments after his vehicle made the
turn traveling southwest a fragmentation grenade was thrown at
his vehicle by an unidentified insurgent from an adjacent
rooftop. PFC McGinnis immediately yelled "grenade"
on the vehicle's intercom system to alert the four other
members of his crew and then made an attempt to personally
deflect the grenade, but was unable to prevent it from falling
through the gunner's hatch. Unhesitatingly and with complete
disregard for his own life he announced "the grenade is
in the truck" and threw his back over the grenade to pin
it between his body and the truck's radio mount. When the
grenade detonated, PFC McGinnis absorbed all lethal fragments
and the concussion with his own body killing him instantly.
His early warning allowed all four members of his crew to
position their bodies in a protective posture to prepare for
the grenade's blast. As a result of his quick reflexes and
heroic measures, no other members of the vehicle crew were
seriously wounded in the attack.
Private First Class
McGinnis was initially awarded the Silver Star for heroically
sacrificing his life for his comrades. On June 2, 2008, that
award was upgraded to the Medal of Honor and PFC McGinnis
became the FIFTH hero in the Global War on Terrorism to
receive our nation's highest honor. As with all four previous
awards, McGinnis' Medal of Honor was POSTHUMOUSLY presented by
President George Bush to his family.
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Other
Medals of Honor in the Global War on Terrorism |
|
*Paul Ray Smith
USA (Iraq) |
*Jason Dunham
USMC (Iraq) |
*Michael Murphy
USN (Afghanistan) |
*Michael Monsoor
USN (Iraq) |
To date there have been
NO LIVING recipients of the Medal of Honor in the Global War
on Terrorism and, in fact, no Medal of Honor recipient since
the end of the Vietnam War has survived to wear the award. One
of the 105 Living Medal of Honor recipients from past wars has
shared with me in confidence that he has been told by friends
inside the Department of Defense that there is no intent to
ever present another Medal of Honor to a living recipient.
While I've been unable to obtain independent verification to
that effect, current practice certainly tends to substantiate
that rumor.
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TRIVIA
Marine
Corps MOH Recipient Jason Dunham was born on the Marine
Corps Birthday, November 10 (1981)
Army MOH
Recipient Ross McGinnis was born the the Army Birthday,
June 14 (1987) |
 President
Bush Awards
3 Distinguished Service Crosses
At Fort Bragg
Sergeant
Christopher Corriveau (Right) was one of two Paratroopers of
the 82d Airborne Division who ws awarded the Distinguished
Service Cross by President George Bush during ceremonies on
May 22. Also receiving the DSC was Sergeant Eric Moser, and a
posthumous award of the DSC was made to the widow of Sergeant
Charles Wyckoff. The three awards brings to 13 the number of
DSCs awarded thus far in the Global War on Terrorism. To date,
awards of the two highest levels of awards are as follows:
| Award |
Branch |
Iraq |
Afghan |
Total |
| Medal of Honor (5) |
USA |
2 |
|
2 |
| |
USMC |
1 |
|
1 |
| |
USN |
1 |
1 |
2 |
| Air Force Cross (2) |
USAF |
|
2 |
2 |
| DSC (13) |
USA |
10 |
3 |
13 |
| Navy Cross (23) |
USN |
1 |
5 |
6 |
| |
USMC |
16 |
1 |
17 |
During that same ceremony,
President Bush also presented FOUR Silver Stars (one
Posthumously) to 82d Airborne Paratroopers. Except for
Marines, Silver Star numbers are harder to track in the GWOT.
We have identified a total of 77 Silver Star awards to members
of the Marine Corps, and have posted citations for all but one
of these. Army, Navy, and Air Force numbers have been much
more difficult to find. To date we have compiled the names of
the following number of Silver Star awards in GWOT:
| |
Army |
Navy* |
Marines |
Air
Force |
TOTAL |
| Iraq |
176 |
10 |
73 |
10 |
269 |
| Afghanistan |
88 |
1 |
4 |
18 |
111 |
|
Total
|
264 |
28* |
77 |
28 |
397 |
| *Published
news reports indicate that as of March 2008,
TWENTY-THREE U.S. Navy SEALs have been awarded the
Silver Star in GWOT. We have thus far identified
only FOUR of them. |
Some interesting facts about
current Silver Star awards include:
-
Navy SEAL Michael
Monsoor, who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor
and who had previously been awarded the Silver Star for a
separate act of heroism is the most-highly decorated
veteran in the Global War on Terrorism.
-
Army Medic Anthony
Vaccaro was posthumously awarded TWO Silver Stars,
becoming the ONLY hero to receive TWO of the top 3 valor
awards.
-
Twins Dan and Dave
Hibner, both Army Captains, are the only brothers we have
identified that have BOTH received Silver Stars in GWOT.
Both received their awards for actions as Company
Commanders of two different Engineer Companies, on the
same day, April 7, 2003, in Iraq.
-
Posthumous Silver Star
recipient Eddie Velez's body was escorted home by his
brother Andrew after he was killed in Iraq. Less than two
years later Andrew Velez was killed in action in
Afghanistan, and we believe their parents are the ONLY
ones to have lost two sons in the Global War on Terrorism.
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At age 50, Army Silver
Star recipient John Marshall is believed to have been the OLDEST American casualty during the war in Iraq. His brother served in the Vietnam War, and both of his parents served during World War II.
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Posthumous Army Silver
Star recipient David Bernstein was valedictorian at his suburban Philadelphia high school and graduated fifth in his class at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, Class of 2001.
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Marine Silver Star
recipient Sergeant Michael Bitz was the father of four young children, including twins who were born just weeks before his unit entered Iraq. He died never seeing his two youngest children.
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Marine Silver Star
recipient, Gunnery Sergeant Jeffrey Bohr served first as an Army Ranger and then a Marine. He parachuted into Grenada, helped oust Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega, served in the first Gulf War.
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Army PFC Jeremy Church was the FIRST Army Reserve soldier to receive the Silver Star in the Global War on Terror.
-
Sergeant Leigh Ann
Hester became the first woman since World War II to earn the Silver Star.
Subsequently, a second female soldier, Army Medic,
Specialist Monica Brown also earned the Silver Star.
-
While growing up in Texas, Phillip Jordan's mother was killed by a drunken driver when he was a toddler. His father died of heart failure when he was 13. Phillip Jordan joined the Marines when he was 27, following a battle with Hodgkin’s
disease, as earned the Silver Star posthumously while
serving as a Gunnery Sergeant in Iraq.
-
Although Major General Pete Chiarelli, the 1st Cavalry Division Commander was on hand to present the Silver Star at the awards
ceremony for Army Staff Sergeant William Payne, he took the unique opportunity to have the medal pinned on him by his father, Carl Payne, a retired Army tanker
employed as a Department of the Army employee working in Iraq.
-
Although born in India and maintaining strong ties to the Indian community, Neil Prakash was raised in Syracuse, New York, in what he called a very patriotic American household. An ROTC cadet at Johns Hopkins University, he planned to follow in the footsteps of his mother, father and older brother - all doctors - and attend medical school. But after attending an ROTC Branch Orientation during his senior year, he chose instead to join the U.S.
Army and earned a Silver Star in Iraq.
-
Staff Sergeant Terry Prater earned the Silver Star during his first tour of duty in Iraq. He was subsequently killed in action on his second tour. At the time of his death on March 15, 2007, Staff Sergeant Prater's brother was stationed in Afghanistan where he was serving with the 82d Airborne Division.
-
Army Master Sergeant Sarun Sar gained his first combat experience in his homeland of Cambodia, where his father was arrested by the communist insurgency during the war, and his brothers and sisters were separated from their family. At a very young age he joined the anti-Vietnamese guerillas, was wounded in action several times, and was sent to a refugee camp in Thailand to recover. There he was reunited with his older sister and her two children. After the war, they moved to the United States. Years later he learned that his father survived the Khmer Rouge regime, was imprisoned in Vietnam for subversion, and passed away from disease. His older brother was caught smuggling weapons for anti-government guerillas and was executed by the Vietnamese. His mother and his two younger brothers died from starvation. Only he and his two sisters survived. He became a U.S. citizen, and was later selected to join the Special Forces, where he has served 15 of his 20 years in the military. He fought in the first Gulf War, and has deployed to Thailand, Cambodia, Bosnia, Kosovo, Africa, Columbia and Afghanistan during his various assignments.
-
At the time of his death,
Silver Star recipient Army Sergeant Major Michael Stack was the father of six and grandfather of three.
We
encourage those of you in Army, Navy, and Air Force to help us
compile the missing citations for the heroes from your branch
of service. Unlike the Marine Corps, which has made every
effort to insure that we have listed the names and citations
for ALL of their heroes, our efforts to compile the same for
members of the other branches continue to be stonewalled, and
our requests met with excuses. If you have missing information
or citations for any awards we need, please EMAIL
US.
At
least three additional Medals of Honor are anticipated
to be presented in the immediate future for actions in
past wars. The awards were approved and included in the
Defense Appropriations Act last year. They
are:
- PFC Henry Svehla, U.S.
Army, whose posthumous DSC for heroism in the Korean
War will be upgraded to the Medal of Honor.
- Civil War heroes Philip G.
Shadrach and George D. Wilson, U.S. Army.
These two men were among those in the famous Andrews
Raid that resulted in the FIRST awards of the
Medal of Honor, but who were not numbered among the
19 awards presented. For more see: The
Andrews Raid
No
doubt some of our readers have questions on these
upgrades, so we offer the following explanation:
By
LAW, there is a time limit on the awarding of the Medal
of Honor. Every year various members of Congress
introduce legislation to waive that time limit in order
to upgrade lesser awards from previous wars to the Medal
of Honor. Some of the more famous (Doris Miller, Dick
Winters, Rex Barber, etc.) Few of these ever make it out
of their Congressional Committees.
|
|
For Immediate Release:
May 22, 2008
|
Congressman
John T. Salazar
Defending Rural Values
Third District of Colorado
Contact: (202) 225-4761
Eric Wortman, Communications Director |
Rep. Salazar Continues Push for Military Honors
Database
DOD Authorization directs Secretary
of Defense to start the process at Rep. Salazar’s
request
|
WASHINGTON,
D.C. – Today, Congressman John
T. Salazar announced the inclusion of language in
the National Defense Authorization Act directing
the Secretary of Defense to study the creation of
a military honors database.
“Having
a readily accessible and public database will not
only give the tools to law enforcement to
prosecute fraudulent claims, but will properly
recognize those who have been honored for serving
their nation,” said
Congressman Salazar, who served in the U.S. Army
and is a member of the House Veterans’ Affairs
Committee.
Last year, Congressman Salazar introduced
bi-partisan legislation to create a database
containing the names and citations of individuals
who have been awarded the Medal of Honor or any
other medal authorized by the United States
Congress. The
Military Valor Roll of Honor Act of 2007, H.R.
3769, requires the Department of Defense to
establish a searchable database containing the
names and citations of members of the Armed Forces
who have been awarded our nations highest military
honors. Currently no comprehensive database
exists for these records. Over 60 members
have joined Congressman Salazar in his efforts in
the House and Senator Ken Salazar has authored
identical legislation in the Senate.
“My
father was proud of his military service, and when
I ran for office I pledged to myself that I would
work every day to honor his memory and the memory
of all of our nations veterans for their service
to our country,” added
Salazar.
While copies of these original records exist
(for Army and Air Force Awards), many remain in
storage at the National Archives and are filed by
command, number, and date. Each record usually
contains the names and citations of a dozen or
more recipients, but no index exists to enable a
search by name. For this reason a family member or
researcher is required to request a citation by
those criteria, which are usually unknown to them,
or to pay a researcher to sort through tens of
thousands of pages. Even when this information is
known, records often have to be requested under
the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), a process
that can take a year or more before the individual
receives the requested documents. Awards to
members of the Navy and Marine Corps are preserved
on nearly half-a-million index cards housed at the
Navy Yard in Washington, D.C., where access to the
general public is extremely limited.
Complete text of Congressman Salazar’s
language in the National Defense Authorization Act
follows:
Searchable
Military Decorations Database
“The committee notes that there have been a
number of examples of individuals in recent years
who have fraudulently claimed to have been awarded
the Medal of Honor or other decorations of valor.
The committee believes that the frequency of such
incidents could be reduced and the prestige of all
military valor decorations preserved if the
general public was afforded access to a searchable
database listing those individuals who have been
awarded decorations for valor.
“The committee
directs the Secretary of Defense to study the
potential for establishing a searchable database
listing individuals who have been awarded military
medals for valor. The Secretary shall consider the
cost of the database, the administrative
challenges in assembling the database, the
implications for the privacy of the individuals
listed in the database, and the options for the
general public to gain access to the database. The
Secretary shall also consider the feasibility of
listing recipients of multiple valor decorations
in the database, but shall, at a minimum, report
his findings regarding feasibility of a database
that only includes recipients of the Medal of
Honor. The Secretary shall report his findings and
recommendations to the Senate Committee on Armed
Services and the House Committee on Armed Services
by March 31, 2009.” |
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I
strongly urge all of our visitors to take time to read more
about this legislation from the link below, and then start
putting pressure on your Senators and Representatives to move
this bill forward.
(NOTE: The information that we are
requesting be included in this database will NOT violate any
privacy laws--we ask only that the database include that
information which is already available to the public through
an FOIA (Freedom of Information Act Request).
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| WHAT IS GOING
ON AT HOMEofHEROES.COM?
I have no doubt many have
been asking this as you have watched me fall
further and further behind in updates. This is NOT
a lack of interest on my part, or a waning of my
enthusiasm for this website.
Since making the decision
early last year to attempt identifying all Silver
Star recipients, I've found myself totally swamped
and often wonder at the wisdom of tackling a
project so large. I console myself by believing
that it MUST be done to properly preserve the
accounts of valor of our heroes and drive
on.
This year I opted NOT to
return to my (income-producing) job as an
instructor at a local Community College in hopes
of catching up and driving forward. I will
continue to give it my best and watch for great
strides in our Awards section. I have obtained
more than 500 WWII Navy Cross citations to be
posted soon and am within $1,000 of being able to
COMPLETE the Navy Crosses. I further hope to
complete the DSCs by the end of 2008, which will
allow me to concentrate on the Silver Stars while
also returning more full-time attention to this
website.
I can not emphasize enough
how much I do need your financial support NOW more
than ever. The recent loss of one of our Official
Sponsors put me very much behind and halted the
progress on the Navy Cross citations. Please
continue to be patient with me, understand that
the slowness of updates in NOT an indication I am
spending less time on this effort or loosing
interest, and if you can, try to support
HomeOfHeroes.com financially. At the present I am
VERY close to having to return to an outside job
to pay the personal bills and keep this site
online.
Doug
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Doug
Sterner's
NEW BOOK
NOW AVAILABLE
Over
the last several years a couple of different publishers have
approached me about printing the stories from my web site in
book formant. I have always advised that the ONLY WAY I would
consider that would be as long as they did not object to my
keeping the stories in the web site as well. I wanted to
insure that the history of our heroes would be readily
available to students and others who need information quickly,
or who can not afford to go out and buy a book. Ultimately,
most of these publishers backed away after hearing this noting
that the web stories would hurt book sales--"Why would
people buy the book if they can read it free online."
Last
year Gary Toyn, author of an excellent biography on MOH
recipient George Whalen and Publisher for American Legacy
Media approached me on the same topic. Mr. Toyn was not
dismayed by the fact I wanted to keep the stories free online,
and has embarked on a multi-year, multi-book program of
publishing my stories. The first is now available. Based on my
web series and titled "Go For Broke," it is now
available in large paperback format from www.americanlegacymedia.com
for $15.95. (It is also available on Amazon.com if you prefer
to deal with them.)
If
you want an autographed copy, please send me a stamped,
self-addressed envelope with instructions on how you want your
book published. I have printed some attractive "From the
Desk of Doug Sterner" self-adhesive labels on which I can
write your requested message and sign and return it to you to
stick on the inside cover.
*****
 Speaking
of BOOKS, Medal of Honor Recipient Frank Herda recently sent
me a copy of his own NEW BOOK, "CUP OF DEATH." This
is NOT one of your typical Medal of Honor books about war,
valor, and personal remembrances. This is a fiction work in
the genre of the "Harry Potter" series, targeted primarily
at 8 - 12 year old children, but an enjoyable read for adults
as well. Here is a different kind of Medal of Honor book you
can add to your collection (autographed of course by the
author).
For
More information visit Frank
Herda's Website.
|
 You
can download (in MS WORD) a full-color book containing the
citations for the top two levels of these awards for heroism in
Afghanistan or Iraq. This FREE book also includes photos of
each of the recipients.
A
similar book containing names, citations and photos of
the GWOT Silver Star recipients is being planned. We
have obtained all citations for awards to Navy and
Marine Corps personnel, and are simply awaiting
citations for Army and Air Force recipients. Initially I
had planned to release this book on April 1, but
postponed it to include these other citations.
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The Filing Cabinet
Archived Stories from
the news...Past and Present
Much can be learned when we peruse some of the stories
and articles published by newspapers and magazines through the years. We have begun
compiling some of these stories from our files, as well as from articles sent to us by
others. Click on the filing cabinet at left to enjoy this new and quickly growing
feature. |
HomeOfHeroes.com In the News
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