re: 'It's a Lifelong Burden': The Mixed Blessing of the Medal of Honor

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Not to be a jerk, but one doesn’t win the Metal of Honor, one receives it.

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Medal

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I know a guy in his early sixties whose father fought in WWI. His dad was 72 when he was born

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I'm 50 and both Grandfathers fought in WWII.
Wife is 48 and her Dad fought.

My older brother was part of the 1st Cal in Vietnam and toward the end of his tour, got shot through the shoulder by a sniper. That’s all he told us about his time in the war. He gave all his keepsakes that he’d collected over there to our mom including his purple heart, because he wanted to forget about it.

My mom passed away almost a year ago and we were cleaning out her house to get it ready to sell and my older sister found the box that my mom put all his keepsakes in, it was in the spare bedroom closet. She called out to my brother to come over, she handed him a picture out of the box, asked him if he recognized it, the look on his face was something I never want to see again. He sat down at the kitchen table with the picture of his two buddies that never made it home, he completely shut down and cried for about an hour.

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That is a bad, bad, bad man...

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Couldn't have said it better.

Taken from his Wiki bio:

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The six-hour battle left Benavidez with seven major gunshot wounds, 28 fragmentation holes, and both his arms were slashed by a bayonet. He had fragments in his head, scalp, shoulder, buttocks, feet, and legs, his right lung was destroyed, and he had injuries to his mouth and back of his head from being clubbed with a rifle butt. A bullet shot from an AK-47 entered his back and exited just beneath his heart.[4]

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My grandfather received two Purple Hearts, a Bronze Star and a Silver Star in Korea. To this day, no one know where they are. To him, they were just reminders of some truly bad days.

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My dad was awarded the bronze star in World War II but I never knew it until I cleared out his bedroom clothes closet after he passed away.

I found a small cardboard box on the top shelf above the clothes rack and when I opened it, there was the bronze star along with the citation for the award.

He never once mentioned it to me. I regret he didn't want to talk about it with me but I respect his reason for not doing so.

An uncle was awarded the Medal of Honor during WWII, the citation stating (paraphrasing) that he saved the lives of 12 men under his command. He only talked about to his son, my cousin, the one time. He said that 21 men under his command were killed that day, and that is what he remembered the most about his Medal of Honor. He was always a mild mannered gentleman post war, but any reference, mention, of anything to do with Japan and he always lost it, his hate almost a physical thing.

Some really good stories being shared here. Let me add some humor to this very serious thread, especially since we are approaching Memorial Day. My stepfather was a WWll veteran and a Purple Heart recipient. I found a box with his ribbons and medals in it one time and there was also a Good Conduct medal in it. I asked him about it and his response: “ They just gave that to you if you didn’t get the clap” !!!

Happy Memorial, all, and God Bless America

(no message)

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I found a box with his ribbons and medals in it one time and there was also a Good Conduct medal in it. I asked him about it and his response: They just gave that to you if you didn’t get the clap” !!!

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You really have to frick up to not get a GCM.

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frick off, cocksucker. I even gave a suggestion on his possible age and that I thought that it was interesting in a subsequent post. Yet, you feel the need to be a bitch about it

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Internetting is serious business man.