Uncommon Sense - Victoria Advocate

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Memorial Day Weekend
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CG23Sailor - > Uncommon Sense -> Memorial Day Weekend

Memorial Day Weekend

As I went around my business on Friday I asked people I saw in drive thru's, or checkout lines, a question;

"What are you going to do for Memorial Day Weekend?"

The answers I got are typical and to be expected.

Bar-b-Que

Drinking

Hang out with Friends

Wash the Car

Mow the Lawn

I then asked them, "Can you name me a hero?"

I got a lot of responses from that. the two biggest heroes of our time apparently are;

Iron Man

and Indiana Jones

Go figure!

I then asked a final question, "Name me one Medal of Honor recipient from the last 20 years."

[crickets]

"Just one" I asked.

[blank stares]

"How about Michael Monsoor? heard of him?"

[lights on, nobody home]

"Gary Gordon", I prompt, "Randy Shughart?"

[BINGO, a look of recognition]

"Hey! wasn't that first guy a comic strip hero way back in the 30's or something?"

{{{sigh}}} No that would be FLASH Gordon.

SFC Randy Shughart and MSG Gary Gordon were Delta Team Snipers assigned to Operation Gothic Serpent (Battle of Mogadishu, AKA Black Hawk Down)

Both has repeatedly asked for permission to be inserted at the second crash site to protect the crew from the mobs that were about to overrun them. Command had denied them, stating that it was too dangerous and there was no telling when their backup would get there. Both men explicitly understood the dangers and again requested permission to be inserted. Command reluctantly allowed it.

Randy and Gary were both killed in action. Their actions however saved the one surviving crewman, the Pilot, Michael Durant.

A few years later Michael Durant was to be a speaker at the Medal Of Honor Ceremony for Gary Gordon, in Gary's hometown. Mike Durant stopped by the local Library to find some information on Medal Of Honor recipients. There he found a book that listed those who had been awarded the Medal Of Honor.

According to the Checkout sleeve attached to the book, it had not been checked out in nearly 20 years. The last person to have checked it out...

Was the nations newest recipient...

one teen-aged Gary Gordon.

Petty Officer Second Class Michael Anthony Monsoor was a U.S. Navy SEAL killed during the Iraq War and posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.

Monsoor was sent to Ramadi, Iraq in 2006 and assigned to train and mentor Iraqi army troops. As a communicator and machine-gunner on patrols, Monsoor carried 100 pounds of gear in temperatures often exceeding 100 degrees. He took a lead position to protect the platoon from frontal assault. The team was involved in frequent engagements with insurgent fighters.

During an engagement on May 9, 2006, Monsoor ran into a street while under continuous insurgent gunfire to rescue an injured comrade. Monsoor was awarded the Silver Star for this action. He was also awarded the Bronze Star for his service in Iraq.

On September 29, 2006, the platoon engaged four insurgents in a firefight, killing one and injuring another. Anticipating further attacks, Monsoor and three SEAL snipers and three Iraqi soldiers took up a rooftop position. Civilians aiding the insurgents blocked off the streets, and a nearby mosque broadcast a message for people to fight against the Americans and the Iraqi soldiers. Monsoor was protecting his SEAL comrades, two of whom were 15 feet away. His position made him the only SEAL on the rooftop with quick access to an escape route.

A grenade was thrown onto the rooftop by an insurgent in the street below. The grenade hit Monsoor in the chest and fell onto the floor. Immediately, Monsoor fell onto and covered the grenade with his body, saving the lives of his three comrades. Monsoor was critically wounded and, although evacuated immediately, died 30 minutes later. Two SEALs next to him were injured by the blast but lived.

To all who read this blog, your mission should you chose to accept, Is to respond with a Name, A Medal Of Honor Recipient. And what they did to earn forever our gratitude.

Here is the catch: You can quote the details off of the net, but the Name has to be someone you have heard of, a Name you know. You cannot look up a name off the net.

I know of Gordon, Shughart, and Monsoor

I did quote some passages that told what happened to them to save time typing it all out and to get the details like dates and such, but the Names I knew.

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Tags: memorial day, Michael Monsoor, Gary Gordon, Randy Shughart, Military, Iron Man, Indiana Jones, Medal Of Honor

posted by CG23Sailor on Saturday, May 24, 2008 at 11:28 AM
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6 comments from 5 users

posted by SugarMagnolia on May 24, 2008 at 07:22 PM

Sailor -thank you for sharing these important stories on Memorial Day Weekend. The name that came immediately to mind for me is not a soldier, but Dr. Michael DeBakey of Houston. He just recieved the Congressional Gold Medal as a citizen and M.D. who has made priceless contributions to our nation. Besides being a pioneer in heart surgery, and a world-renowned physician, he is also the brainchild behind the concept and development of the earliest MASH units, or mobile army surgical hospitals. Thanks to his efforts, and countless others who worked by his side, soldiers in the battlefield are able to receive comprehensive surgical care at the point of battle, thus saving countless lives that before the advent of the MASH units might have been lost. There is interesting information about Dr. DeBakey here.

I applaud Dr. DeBakey today, along with all our men and women in uniform. And I remember and honor those who have given the ultimate sacrifice. My grandfather saw action in Germany in WWII with the Army, and earned 3 Bronze Stars, and, I think, a Silver Cross (does that sound right? I am not a military expert). He is gone now but I give my thanks to him and all military personnel for my freedom.

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posted by Riverboat on May 24, 2008 at 02:08 PM

I'm proud to say I met him while he was signing books in Victoria.

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posted by CG23Sailor on May 24, 2008 at 01:55 PM

Roy Benavidez was born in Cuero, DeWitt County, Texas on August 5, 1935.

On February 24, 1981, President Ronald Reagan presented Benavidez with the Medal of Honor. Benavidez is one of the 43 Hispanic Americans among the 3,400 recipients of the Medal of Honor since the award was created in 1861.

During the ceremony President Reagan turned to the gathered press and said, "you are going to hear something you would not believe if it were a script." He then read Master Sergeant Benavidez's citation:

BENAVIDEZ, ROY P.Rank and organization:Master Sergeant. Organization: Detachment B-56, 5th Special Forces Group, Republic of VietnamPlace and date: West of Loc Ninh on 2 May 1968Entered service at: Houston, Texas June 1955Born:5 August 1935, DeWitt County, Cuero, Texas.Citation:Master Sergeant, then Staff Sergeant, United States Army. Who distinguished himself by a series of daring and extremely glorious actions on 2 May 1968 while assigned to Detachment B-56, 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne). 1st Special Forces, Republic of Vietnam. On the morning of 2 May 1968, a 12-man Special Forces Reconnaissance Team was inserted by helicopters in a dense jungle area west of Loc Ninh, Vietnam to gather intelligence information about confirmed large-scale enemy activity. This area was controlled and routinely patrolled by the North Vietnamese Army. After a short period of time on the ground, the team met heavy enemy resistance and requested emergency extraction. 3 helicopters attempted extraction, but were unable to land due to intense enemy small arms and anti-aircraft fire. Sergeant Benavidez was at the Forward Operating Base in Loc Ninh monitoring the operation by radio when these helicopters returned to off-load wounded crew members and to assess aircraft damage. Sergeant Benavidez voluntarily boarded a returning aircraft to assist in another extraction attempt. Realizing that all the team members were either dead or wounded and unable to move to the pickup zone, he directed the aircraft to a nearby clearing where he jumped from the hovering helicopter, and ran approximately 75 meters under withering small arms fire to the crippled team. Prior to reaching the team's position he was wounded in his right leg, face and head. Despite these painful injuries he took charge, repositioning the team members and directing their fire to facilitate the landing of an extraction aircraft, and the loading of wounded and dead team members. He then threw smoke canisters to direct the aircraft to the team's position. Despite his severe wounds and under intense enemy fire, he carried and dragged half of the wounded team members to the awaiting aircraft. He then provided protective fire by running alongside the aircraft as it moved to pick up the remaining team members. As the enemy's fire intensified, he hurried to recover the body and classified documents on the dead team leader. When he reached the leader's body, Sergeant Benavidez was severely wounded by small arms fire in the abdomen and grenade fragments in his back. At nearly the same moment, the aircraft pilot was mortally wounded, and his helicopter crashed. Although in extremely critical condition due to his multiple wounds, Sergeant Benavidez secured the classified documents and made his way back to the wreckage, where he aided the wounded out of the overturned aircraft, and gathered the stunned survivors into a defensive perimeter. Under increasing enemy automatic weapons and grenade fire, he moved around the perimeter distributing water and ammunition to his weary men, reinstilling in them a will to live and fight. Facing a buildup of enemy opposition with a beleaguered team, Sergeant Benavidez mustered his strength, began calling in tactical air strikes and directed the fire from supporting gun ships to suppress the enemy's fire and so permit another extraction attempt. He was wounded again in his thigh by small arms fire while administering first aid to a wounded team member just before another extraction helicopter was able to land. His indomitable spirit kept him going as he began to ferry his comrades to the craft. On his second trip with the wounded, he was clubbed with additional wounds to his head and arms before killing his adversary. He then continued under devastating fire to carry the wounded to the helicopter. Upon reaching the aircraft, he spotted and killed 2 enemy soldiers who were rushing the craft from an angle that prevented the aircraft door gunner from firing upon them. With little strength remaining, he made one last trip to the perimeter to ensure that all classified material had been collected or destroyed, and to bring in the remaining wounded. Only then, in extremely serious condition from numerous wounds and loss of blood, did he allow himself to be pulled into the extraction aircraft. Sergeant Benavidez' gallant choice to voluntarily join his comrades who were in critical straits, to expose himself constantly to withering enemy fire, and his refusal to be stopped despite numerous severe wounds, saved the lives of at least 8 men. His fearless personal leadership, tenacious devotion to duty, and extremely valorous actions in the face of overwhelming odds were in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service, and reflect the utmost credit on him and the United States Army. Roy Benavidez is also one of an extremely rare breed of Medal of Honor recipient. He survived the actions that resulted in his being honored with the MoH. Far too often the actions taken that results in a MoH takes the lives of those who undertake them.

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posted by CG23Sailor on May 24, 2008 at 01:41 PM

Yes, Darlin64, I too had studied "Long Tranh" Or "White Feather" as the Vietnamese called Hathcock. I read his Biography which was an excellent book.

Tom Berenger's character "Beckett" was modelled after Carlos Hathcock in the movie Sniper (1993)

And the scene in Saving Private Ryan(1998), Sniper Jackson takes out a German Sniper by firing through the enemy's scope, is based on a real encounter Carlos had with his arch nemesis, a North Vietnamese sniper who went by the English nickname of Snake.

Carlos had sighted a glint of sunlight off of something not natural, normally refusing to take a shot he was unsure of, he "KNEW" that he was about to die. Taking the shot, he struck the enemy sniper through the lens of the enemy's scope. During this battle, Carlos' spotter had taken a round earlier into his canteen, thinking he was shot. This too was referenced in a scene from Sniper (1993) when the same happens to Billy Zane's character.

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posted by VietnamVet on May 24, 2008 at 01:35 PM

Local guy: Roy Benavides.

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posted by darlins64 on May 24, 2008 at 12:28 PM

I don't know of any MOH receipients, but I know of one who should have received it: Carlos Hathcock. Everyone knows who he is and what he did during the Vietnam conflict. He sustained serious wounds while pulling 7 of his comrades out of a burning tank. For that he was awarded the silver star. Carlos continued to serve our country after active duty by establishing a scout and sniper school. He taught snipers for many years, despite the constant pain he was in from his injuries. Hathcock did receive the 3rd most prestigious award for his service: The Silver Star

No, I didn't look t his up.... I took Dr. Stephen Hardin's US History class at VC.... Carlos Hathcock was the subject of the book I read for one of Hardin's infamous "book-tests".....

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