A Tribute to Special Operations Medal of Honor Recipients

Sergeant First Class Leroy Petry.

Special Forces are considered the military’s elite – the Rangers, Green Berets, and Navy SEALS among others.  And the elite of the elite are the Special Forces who have been awarded the Medal of Honor.

Two of them were recognized this week and their names added to the Special Operations Memorial Wall of Honor at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa.

Sergeant First Class Leroy Petry, an Army Ranger, watched as his name was unveiled. It is one of 45 names etched into the black granite tiles.

His Medal of Honor citation states that Petry risked his life above and beyond the call of duty and “undeniably saved his fellow Rangers” on May 26, 2008.

“I still look at the day and I’m still in amazement that I’m here,” Petry told reporters after the ceremony. “My youngest son (Landon) said it the best. He said ‘I’m really proud of my dad but more happy that some of his friends are still alive.’”

Petry was on his sixth deployment to Afghanistan. His team was attacked while clearing a compound of suspected insurgents. He was shot in both legs, took cover and fired back. Then a grenade hit wounding two Rangers just behind him. Petry turned and spotted a second grenade next to his wounded men. He picked it up to throw it as hard as he could.

Petry lost his right hand throwing away the enemy’s live grenade but he saved two fellow Rangers.

“As soon as my hand opened up, the grenade exploded and I sat back up and my hand was completely gone at the wrist like it had been severed with a circular saw,” Petry said with the analytical calmness of a professional soldier. “It went through my mind for a split second, why isn’t the blood squirting into the air, then reality kicked in. I got back to my good medical training put on a tourniquet, called up on the radio, checked on my younger guys.”

Petry remained coherent,  insisting his fellow Rangers be cared for first. He wanted to get back in the fight.

Daniel Inouye: Courage on the Battlefield and in Congress

Photo credit: Sen. Daniel Inouye bio page

I have been remiss not marking the passing of another WWII Veteran, U.S. Senator Daniel Inouye.

He fought both on the WWII battlefield being awarded the Medal of Honor and in the halls of Congress earning voters’ continued approval since he was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 1962.

Of all the comments memorializing the long-serving senator, one of the most heartfelt came from Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki:

“Senator Daniel K. Inouye stood among the ‘greatest’ of our ‘Greatest Generation.’  Recipient of the Medal of Honor, our Nation’s highest award for valor; distinguished service as a long-serving member of the U.S. Senate; and role model to generations of Americans of Asian-Pacific Islander heritage, especially those growing up in his beloved Hawai’i, Senator Inouye made public service a noble and honorable calling.

Dan Inouye’s courage on the battlefield and in Congress, his passion for making a difference in the lives of average Americans, and his intense modesty spoke volumes about a remarkable American, who embodied the bedrock values and quiet virtues of our Nation.

On behalf of America’s 22 million Veterans, I salute the memory of a brave man, a great patriot, a devoted public servant, an unwavering benefactor to Servicemembers and Veterans of every generation, and my friend and mentor.  I extend my deepest personal condolences to the entire Inouye family.”

Florida Governor Recognizes Medal of Honor Recipient Miller

U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Robert James Miller was killed by Taliban insurgents Jan. 25, 2008, while protecting his Operational Detachment Alpha teammates during combat operations near the village of Barikowt, Nari District, Konar Province, Afghanistan.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott today, Dec. 12, 2012, will honor the Oviedo family of Green Beret Staff Sgt. Robert Miller. His name will be included in Florida’s Wall of Honor in Tallahassee.

The Special Forces soldier was killed during a battle in Afghanistan in January 2008. Miller was awarded the Medal of Honor in 2010 for his heroism and valor during that combat.

Miller deliberately moved forward making himself vulnerable as he engaged several enemy positions to provide suppressive fire, buying time for his teammates to take cover. Exposing his position repeatedly, he drew fire from more than 100 enemy fighters, ultimately saving the lives of his fellow Green Berets and 15 local ANA Soldiers.

Staff Sgt. Miller’s previous military decorations include: the Bronze Star Medal, the Purple Heart, the Meritorious Service Medal, two Army Commendation Medals for valor, the Army Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, the Afghanistan Campaign Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, The Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, the Noncommissioned Officer’s Professional Development Ribbon, the Army Service Ribbon, the NATO Medal, the Combat Infantryman Badge, the Parachutist Badge, the Special Forces Tab and the Ranger Tab.http://www.army.mil/article/45005/been prese

Military Child Month: A Video Honoring Their Service

Two quick things about this video that celebrates April as Military Child month.

First, it is produced in remembrance of U.S. Army Sergeant First Class Jared C. Monti, Medal of Honor (posthumous) 2009.

Second, watch for the daughter of Off the Base contributor Jackie Dorr. Paisley appears in the video 3:18 in holding her “Daddy Doll.”

Sending a virtual hug to all the children of military parents, in my experience, you can never get enough hugs!

Medal of Honor Recipient Dakota Meyer on 60 Minutes

Susan Price, mother of fallen Marine GySgt. Aaron Kenefick.

One of Dakota Meyer’s biggest supporters is Susan Price, mother of Gunnery Sgt. Aaron Kenefick, who is one of the Marines Dakota tried to save during the Ganjgal Valley Ambush, Sept. 8, 2009.

It’s been a big week for Susan who helped organize a Tampa ceremony honoring Dakota and remembering her son on Thursday.

She spent Sunday night with friends watching the 60 Minutes story. Susan and the wife of another of the fallen were interviewed about their efforts over the past two years to have the ambush investigated because air and artillery support were delayed during the six-hour fire fight. She emailed me the comments afterward.

Medal of Honor Tampa Ceremony Honors Fallen Marine

Gunnery Sgt Aaron Michael Kenefick, USMC KIA Kunar Province, Afghanistan 9-8-09. Photo courtesy of Susan Price.

At the same time that Marine Sgt. Dakota Meyer is presented the Medal of Honor by Pres. Obama, USMC Gunnery Sgt. Aaron Kenefick will be remembered at a Tampa ceremony Thursday at noon on Patriots’ Corner, Bayshore and Bay to Bay boulevards.

Kenefick’s mother, Susan Price of Riverview, is one of the organizers of the side  ceremony. She said she’s responding to Meyer’s request.

She also shared these words written by her son, one of the five fallen during the ambush and six-hour fire fight in Kunar Province Afghanistan. Although five were killed, Sgt. Meyer is credited with saving dozens of U.S. and Afghan soldiers.

Words by   Aaron Michael Kenefick, Gunnery Sgt, USMC

KIA Kunar Province, Afghanistan, September 8th, 2009

“I’m a laid back guy who try’s not to take himself too seriously.  I’ve experienced many things in life, both good and bad and I have to say, it’s made me the strong man that I am today.  I cherish my friends and family more then anything in this world as they have always been there for me through the good times and the bad times.  I’ve been all over the world, pick a place and I’ve probably been there but my days of traveling are far from over.

                         I have a competitive spirit and I am driven, my ambitions which includes first and foremost, happiness and whatever that encompasses.   I’m not afraid to take chances or risks.  No risk no reward but I do understand that for every action there is a consequence.”

             

Medal of Honor Recipient Dakota Meyer: Honor the Fallen

Sgt. Dakota Meyer (Ret.) Photo courtesy of the USO website.

Two years ago today – Sept. 8, 2009 – there was a fierce battle in a valley south of Ganigal Village, Kunar Province Afghanistan. A Marine Embedded Training Team and Afghan soldiers were ambushed and pinned down in a fire fight with Taliban insurgents. It  lasted six hours.

Marine Sgt. (then Cpl.) Dakota Meyer will receive the Medal of Honor for his actions that day that saved the lives 13 Marines and 23 Afghan soldiers. He made several trips into the valley to retrieve wounded, help the troops break out and then went back for his missing and fallen teammates. And it is they who Meyer wants to honor.

One of the fallen was Gunnery Sgt. Aaron M. Kenefick, USMC whose mother Susan Price lives in Riverview. She is honoring the wishes of Meyer, that ceremonies be held honoring the five fallen warriors in their home communities at the same  he is awarded the Medal of Honor from President Barak Obama.

• Gunnery Sgt. Edwin Johnson, 31
• Gunnery Sgt. Aaron Kenefick, 30
• 1st Lt. Michael Johnson, 25
• Navy Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class James Layton, 22.
• U.S. soldier, Sgt. 1st Class Kenneth Westbrook, 41, died Oct. 7, 2009, at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington from medical complications related to wounds sustained in the attack.

Sgt. Meyer wears wristbands engraved with the names of the fallen. Photo courtesy of the USO.

Sgt. Dakota Meyer is scheduled to receive the Medal of Honor a week from today – Thursday – Sept. 15 at noon.

Also at noon that day, a service will be held in Tampa at the corner of Bayshore Blvd. and Bay to Bay Blvd – also known as Patriots Corner. A chaplain will open the ceremony, some military representatives are set to speak, and the American Ideals Foundation Military Heroes Project will present a portrait and read a poem in tribute to GySgt. Kenefick.

Here is a portion of a letter written by Susan Price, Kenefick’s mom:

Dear Friends,

As you know that the death of my son, Fallen American Hero, Gunnery Sgt Aaron Michael Kenefick, USMC, is tied into the next Medal of Honor award to be presented to Dakota Meyer, USMC by President OBama on Thursday September 15th 2011, as Dakota rescued the fallen body’s of our heroes and allowed for us families to lay our loved ones at rest at home where they belong…. Per Dakota Meyer’s request, he is asking that we all gather together in honor and respect of our fallen in the in the communities in which our brave men last lived or are laid to rest, as Dakota receives his award he is doing so in the names of these 5 men, not for himself.

He has asked that the Patriot Guard Riders as well as the Media and Military Speakers come forth to participate in this first time in 41 years that a Marine receives such a high and outstanding military award on behalf of the brave men who lost their lives in the Ganjgal Ambush, Kunar Province Afghanistan, September 8th 2009.

Dakota wants the world to know that it is because of our fallen that he receives this medal for them not himself and wants communities to be fully aware of the Ganjgal valley tragedy!

You can read and view of Meyer’s first interviews about being named for the Medal of Honor with the Marine Corps Times.

In this second Marine Corps Times interview, Meyer describes his actions that day.

Dakota Meyer, A Marine to Receive Medal of Honor

Then-Marine Corps Cpl. Dakota Meyer poses for a photo while deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan’s Kunar province. Meyer will receive the Medal of Honor from President Barack Obama on Sept. 15, 2011, making him the first living Marine recipient of the nation’s highest award for valor in combat since the Vietnam War. Meyer was assigned to Embedded Training Team 2-8 advising the Afghan army in Afghanistan’s eastern provinces bordering Pakistan. Courtesy photo

The following is an account of Dakota Meyer’s actions in a remote Afghan village on Sept. 8, 2009:

“Though bleeding from shrapnel wounds in his right arm, Meyer, aided by fellow Marines and Army advisors from Embedded Training Team 2-8, braved a vicious hail of enemy machine-gun and rocket-propelled grenade fire in the village of Ganjgal to help rescue and evacuate more than 15 wounded Afghan soldiers and recover the bodies of four fallen fighters – 1st Lt. Michael Johnson, Gunnery Sgts. Aaron Kenefick and Edwin Johnson Jr., and Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class James Layton.

ETT advisor Army Sgt. 1st Class Kenneth Westbrook died at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., Oct. 7, 2009, from wounds suffered in the firefight.

Meyer charged through the battle zone five times to recover the dead Marines and injured Afghan soldiers, risking his life even when a medical evacuation helicopter wouldn’t land because of the blazing gunfire.

“There’s not a day – not a second that goes by where I don’t think about what happened that day,” Meyer said. “I didn’t just lose four Marines that day; I lost four brothers.”

Read the full American Forces Press Service article HERE.

The Marine Corps “story behind the Marine” is available HERE.

The following is from a White House news release announcing the award:

A former Marine Corps corporal will receive the Medal of Honor from President Barack Obama here Sept. 15 for conspicuous gallantry almost two years ago in Afghanistan, White House officials announced today.

Dakota Meyer will be the third living recipient – and first Marine – to be awarded the Medal of Honor for actions in Iraq or Afghanistan.

Meyer is receiving the nation’s highest military honor for actions Sept. 8, 2009, while he was serving with Marine Embedded Training Team 2-8, Regional Corps Advisory Command 3-7, in Afghanistan’s Kunar province.

Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day

My personal thanks to the website War on Terror News for remembering this day and for reminding us to recognize all Vietnam War veterans. Below is a part of the website entry as well as videos marking the significance of the sacrifices made by veterans from Vietnam War.

From War on Terror News

March 30 marks the anniversary of the day in 1973 that Congress ended combat and combat support unit operations in South Vietnam.  It is also recognized as “Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day”

Below you will find a few videos I found for my tribute to our Vietnam Veterans.

Thank you for your service.  Welcome Home!  God Bless You All.

It’s unimaginable to those who have never seen combat what extent humans can endure to help another – especially a battle buddy. The following video is a bit long, but worth watching as it chronicles the sacrifice of a Medal of Honor recipient Green Beret Master Sgt. Roy P. Benavidez known as Roy P or call sign (Tango Mike Mike).

USS Jason Dunham Commissioned

Sailors man-the-rail of the newest Arliegh Burk-class destroyer USS Jason Dunham. (U.S. Navy photo Specialist 1st Class Martin Cuaron.)

The U.S. Navy has posted photographs from Saturday’s commissioning of the USS Jason Dunham in Port Everglades, Florida.

The Arliegh Burk-class destroyer is named after Medal of Honor recipient Marine Cpl. Dunham. He died after  a grenade attack by insurgents in Iraq, April 2004.

During the attack, Dunham covered a live grenade with his body shielding two other Marines from the blast. For his actions, Dunham was awarded the country’s highest honor for heroism in January 2007.

Marine Commandant Gen. James F. Amos at the commissioning of the USS Jason Dunham. (U.S. Navy photo Specialist 1st Class Martin Cuaron.)

Within two months of being awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously, the U.S. Navy announced it would name a destroyer after Marine Cpl. Dunham. The ship was christened in 2009 in Bath, Maine and officially commissioned Nov. 13, 2010 at Port Everglades, Florida.

Gen. James F. Amos, 35th Commandant of the Marine Corps, gave the keynote address at the commissioning ceremony.