What a shame.
President Bush is handing out Medals of Freedom to people who were central to the U.S. invasion of Iraq as well as the defeat of the Taliban and al-Qaeda in Afghanistan. These are the highest civilian awards that the President can bestow. Congress is also handing out Congressional Gold Medals of Honor, which is the highest civilian honor that Congress can bestow.
Fine, then. Now what about the troops who are fighting the battles and the wars?
To date, two Air Force Crosses, one Distinguished Service Cross, seven Navy Crosses, and an unknown number of Purple Hearts have been awarded. Lots of Silver and Bronze Stars have been awarded. Those men and women deserve our thanks and our gratitude for their courage and valor in the face of the enemy.
I find it very odd that no Medals of Honor have been conferred by Congress during the war on terror; in fact, the last two awarded were to two Army Ranger snipers who volunteered to attempt to rescue their brothers-in-arms from hordes of al-Qaeda combatants and Somali gunmen who had shot down two Army choppers over Mogadishu (October 1993), and were slaughtering the trapped Rangers.
The two Army snipers went in, rescued a number of wounded Rangers and defended them until they ran out of ammunition and were killed in combat. Their actions delayed the enemy advance until international and U.S. troops arrived to rescue the survivors.
I find it hard to believe that in the time our military has been engaged in Iraq and Afghanistan, that no feats of bravery have risen to the level of consideration for the Medal of Honor.
Hopefully the U.S. military brass is getting referrals from the squad level up, and is taking the necessary steps to research the circumstances for the recommendations. Hopefully it won’t take thirty years or more to award a Medal of Honor if it is found to be warranted. Those brave soldiers deserve nothing less.
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