Category: Real Soldiers

Chief Tango send us a link to the story of National Guard Staff Sergeant and Alabama Corrections Captain Kevin J. Bishop who was awarded the Soldier’s Medal for his actions on March 11, 2016 at the William C. Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore, Alabama.

At approximately 9:15 p.m. on March 11, 2016, correctional officers at Holman Prison were called to a disturbance in one of the prison dorms. In the process of breaking up a fight among several inmates, a correctional officer was stabbed.

On receiving the report of the stabbing, the warden, Bishop, and a corrections captain entered the dorm. While assessing the situation, a lone inmate attacked and stabbed the warden multiple times in the back and head. Bishop responded to the attack by deflecting the inmate’s follow-on attempts to stab the warden; shielding him and applying pressure to the warden’s wounds. Bishop was able to hold off the inmate and successfully lead the warden and the other officers out of the dorm to safety.

In addition, Bishop assured emergency medical services and the corrections emergency response team were mobilized in response to the incident.

Despite being injured in the attack, Bishop remained on duty and initiated measures to ensure the disturbance was contained.

I’m sure you know the name of Sal Giunta – he was the first living recipient of the Medal of Honor since Vietnam in 2010 for his actions on October 25, 2007 while he was assigned to B (Battle) Company, 2nd Battalion, 503rd Airborne Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team. From his citation;

While conducting a patrol as team leader with Company B, 2d Battalion (Airborne), 503d Infantry Regiment, Specialist Giunta and his team were navigating through harsh terrain when they were ambushed by a well-armed and well-coordinated insurgent force. While under heavy enemy fire, Specialist Giunta immediately sprinted towards cover and engaged the enemy. Seeing that his squad leader had fallen and believing that he had been injured, Specialist Giunta exposed himself to withering enemy fire and raced towards his squad leader, helped him to cover, and administered medical aid. While administering first aid, enemy fire struck Specialist Giunta’s body armor and his secondary weapon. Without regard to the ongoing fire, Specialist Giunta engaged the enemy before prepping and throwing grenades, using the explosions for cover in order to conceal his position. Attempting to reach additional wounded fellow soldiers who were separated from the squad, Specialist Giunta and his team encountered a barrage of enemy fire that forced them to the ground. The team continued forward and upon reaching the wounded soldiers, Specialist Giunta realized that another soldier was still separated from the element. Specialist Giunta then advanced forward on his own initiative. As he crested the top of a hill, he observed two insurgents carrying away an American soldier. He immediately engaged the enemy, killing one and wounding the other. Upon reaching the wounded soldier, he began to provide medical aid, as his squad caught up and provided security. Specialist Giunta’s unwavering courage, selflessness, and decisive leadership while under extreme enemy fire were integral to his platoon’s ability to defeat an enemy ambush and recover a fellow American soldier from the enemy.

The Star & Stripes reports that yesterday, now-Mr Giunta, the civilian, returned to his unit, the 173rd Brigade and gave them the Medal of Honor that was hung around his neck by the President for the brigades new memorial to the 173rd’s heroes;

In a ceremony marking the 173rd Airborne Brigade’s new memorial to all the brigade’s soldiers who earned the military’s highest award, [Giunta] the former Subway sandwich maker unfastened the medal’s blue ribbon from his neck and handed it over to the brigade commander.

“It can’t be with me because it’s ours,” said Giunta…“I want this to stay in Vicenza, Italy, with the 173rd, with the men and women who earn this every single day through their selflessness and sacrifice.”

Thanks to Parachutecutie for the tip.

MCPO Retired in TN sends us a link at the Department of Defense which reports that they are about to award a Distinguished Flying Cross to Army Capt. James E. Miller who was the first aviator killed in combat on March 9, 1918;

Miller, Maj. M. F. Harmon and Maj. Davenport Johnson began the first combat patrol ever for the U.S. Army Air Services. They flew 180-horsepower, French-built SPAD XIII aircraft. The aircraft, a biplane, is named for its developer, the Société Pour L’Aviation et ses Dérivés.

Harmon’s plane experienced trouble early in the sortie, and so he was unable to continue on the patrol. But Miller and Johnson pressed on together and crossed into enemy territory. There, they fought off two German aircraft, but soon met more. It was then that Johnson’s aircraft experienced trouble with the machine guns.

According to the DFC citation, Johnson was forced to leave Miller to continue the fight against German aviators on his own.

“Miller continued to attack the two German biplanes, fearlessly exposing himself to the enemy, until his own aircraft was severely damaged and downed behind the German lines, where he succumbed to his injuries,” the citation reads. “Miller’s actions are in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, the United States Army Air Services and the American Expeditionary Forces.”

The Army says that one reason for the award is in recognition of the 100th Anniversary of the US entrance into the conflagration we now call World War I.

The United States declared war on Germany on April 6, 1917. On Dec. 7, 1917, the U.S. declared war on Austria-Hungary, Germany’s ally.

“This is the 100th anniversary of [America’s entry into] World War I,” Speer said. “And it’s the 242nd birthday of our Army. But 100 years ago, there were significant changes in terms of the character of war. You had at that time, for the first time, the Army going off to war in foreign lands with our allies, fighting side-by-side with our allies, and representing the United States — which placed the United States into a significant leadership role in the world.”

Captain Miller’s combat patrol was a mere 13 years after the Wright brother’s tenuous first flight, and combat in a machine that would probably be too unsophisticated to be a soapbox derby racer today.

MustangCryppie sends us a link from the Daily Mail which features the story of 56-year-old David Eubank, a former US Army special forces soldier who founded an aide organization “Free Burma Rangers” and he’s currently in Mosul, Iraq helping the folks there caught in the war against ISIS. Anyway, here’s the video of what he’s doing there;

‘I thought, “If I die doing this, my wife and kids would understand”,’ Eubank told the Los Angeles Times.

Wearing a helmet and ballistic vest, Eubank charged into the kill zone and retrieved the young girl, who had her hair tied with pink ribbons.

Eubank returned to find the toddler, but was unsuccessful. Another injured man the team tried to save did not survive.

On Tuesday, two Georgia inmates, Donnie Russell Rowe and Ricky Dubose, overpowered their guards, Sgt. Christopher Monica and Sgt. Curtis Billue while the prioner were being transferred. Rowe and Dubose disarmed and murdered the guards. They’re still on the loose in Georgia.

Billue was an infantry officer before he began working for the Georgia prison system in 2007, according to WSBTV;

Billue was 58 and is survived by his father, five sisters, two brothers and two sons, said Jim Green, an attorney who’s speaking for the Billue family.

“Officer Billue’s family asks for prayers for all of those who are now placing their own lives at risk to bring these men to justice and asks anyone who has information that may assist in apprehending these perpetrators to please contact law enforcement,” Green said in an email.

The White House announced today that the President will be awarding Specialist Five James C. McCloughan the Medal of Honor on July 31st for his actions at Don Que, Vietnam, from May 13 to 15, 1969.

McCloughan was serving with Company C, 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, 196th Infantry Brigade, Americal Division, as a private first class combat medic. McCloughan, then 23 years old, voluntarily risked his life on nine separate occasions to rescue wounded and disoriented comrades. He suffered wounds from shrapnel and small arms fire on three separate occasions, but refused medical evacuation to stay with his unit, and continued to brave enemy fire to rescue, treat, and defend wounded Americans.

After his draft period was paid off, McCloughan went on to teach for more than 40 years. According to the White House, he’s been a hero in Michigan for tons of kids;

McCloughan is a member of the Michigan High School Coaches Association Hall of Fame; the Michigan High School Football Association Coaches Hall of Fame; the Michigan High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame; and the Olivet College Athletic Hall of Fame.

From WOODTV;

“I feel honored to be able to accept this for the 89 men that fought that battle,” McCloughan said, referencing the number of American combatants, dozens of whom were killed, wounded or went missing during the 48 hours of fighting against hundreds of North Vietnamese and Viet Cong.

Then a 23-year-old private first class who was drafted a year earlier after earning a degree in sociology from Olivet College, McCloughan repeatedly entered the “kill zone” to rescue wounded comrades, despite being pelted with shrapnel from a rocket propelled grenade.

“It was a real bad sting,” McCloughan told The Associated Press during an interview at his South Haven home, not far from Lake Michigan. “But at that particular time, I was tending to two guys and dragging them at the same time into a trench line.

“I looked down, and I was covered with blood,” McCloughan said of the wound that prompted a captain to suggest he leave the battlefield to receive aid.

McCloughan had different ideas.

“He knew me enough to know that I wasn’t going, and he better listen to me.”

He did.

McCloughan stuck around until the battle’s conclusion, coming to the aid of his men and fighting the enemy, at one point knocking out an enemy RPG position with a grenade. In all, the Pentagon credits McCloughan with saving the lives of 10 members of his company.

McCloughan called the battle “the worst two days of my life.”

He was initially awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, but it’s been upgraded to the Medal of Honor.

McCloughan has already earned a slew of awards, including the Combat Medical Badge, two Bronze Stars, the U. S. Army Valorous Unit Citation and the National Defense Medal. He also earned two Purple Hearts, having been shot in the arm in addition to taking the RPG shrapnel.

Stars & Stripes reports on the passing of Thomas Kinsman at the age of 72 years. He earned the Medal of Honor on February 6, 1968 in Vinh Long, Republic of Vietnam wile he was a rifleman assigned to Company B, 3d Battalion, 60th Infantry Regiment, 9th Infantry Division, according to his citation at Military Times;

As Specialist Fourth Class Kinsman’s company was proceeding up a narrow canal in armored troops carriers, it came under sudden and intense rocket, automatic weapons and small-arms fire from a well entrenched Viet Cong force. The company immediately beached and began assaulting the enemy bunker complex. Hampered by exceedingly dense undergrowth which limited visibility to ten meters, a group of eight men became cut off from the main body of the company. As they were moving through heavy enemy fire to effect a link-up, an enemy soldier in a concealed position hurled a grenade into their midst. Specialist Fourth Class Kinsman immediately alerted his comrades of the danger, then unhesitatingly threw himself on the grenade and blocked the explosion with his body. As a result of his courageous action, he received severe head and chest wounds. Through his indomitable courage, complete disregard for his personal safety and profound concern for his fellow soldiers, Specialist Fourth Class Kinsman averted loss of life and injury to the other seven men of his element.

Chief Tango sends us a link to the story of the day that Master Sergeant Timothy Kessler rescued an expectant mother and a number of his neighbors from a deadly cloud of anhydrous ammonia. He saw a stranded car in the cloud and selflessly drove his own car into the poison and evacuated Holly Nichols from the car. Then he went around knocking on doors to alert folks in the path of the noxious cloud.

Master Sergeant Timothy Kessler, the Operations Non-Commissioned Officer for the 364th Brigade Support Battalion was awarded the Soldiers Medal for his valor at a sporting event in Busch Stadium between the Cubs and Cardinals.

“Holly was pregnant when she was rescued,” Danny Nichols added. “There isn’t enough you can do or say to thank someone who saves your daughter and grandson.”

“Without his quick response and heroism, we would not have our daughter and grandson today,” Danny Nichols said. “Tim Kessler is a true hero in the eyes of the Nichols family.”

“Words alone can’t describe how grateful we are,” Ruthann Nichols added. “It was a true miracle he (Kessler) was in the right place at the right time.”

Danny Nichols said he and his wife still have medical issues from exposure to the anhydrous ammonia fumes from the leak on April 5, 2016.

[…]

After receiving The Soldier’s Medal, Kessler was given the honor of throwing out the first pitch of the Cardinals vs. Cubs ballgame to St. Louis Cardinal pitcher Alex Reyes acting as catcher.