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Thread: NATIONAL MEDAL OF HONOR DAY – March 25

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    Two more Vietnam MoH's awarded...

    Trump Signs Bill Approving Medal of Honor for Battle of Hue Marine
    30 Jan 2018 - The Medal of Honor has been authorized for Marine "Gunny" John L. Canley.
    Fifty years after Battle of Hue City, retired Marine John L. Canley has moved a step closer to receiving the Medal of Honor for his "above and beyond" actions in the house-to-house fighting. On Monday night, President Donald Trump signed a bill passed by Congress to waive the five-year limit on recommendations for the nation's highest award for valor and authorized the upgrade of Canley's Navy Cross to the Medal of Honor. The bill (H.R.4641), sponsored by Rep. Julia Brownley, D-California, "authorizes the President to award the Medal of Honor to Gunnery Sergeant John L. Canley for acts of valor during the Vietnam War while serving in the Marine Corps." No date has been set for the formal award, but Canley has the backing of Defense Secretary Jim Mattis.

    In a letter to Brownley last month, Mattis said, "After giving careful consideration to the nomination, I agree that then-Gunnery Sergeant Canley's actions merit the award of the Medal of Honor." The 80-year-old Canley, of Oxnard, California, who retired as a sergeant major after 28 years of service, will be Brownley's guest of honor Tuesday night at Trump's State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress. Canley "is a true American hero and a shining example of the kind of gallantry and humility that makes our armed forces the best military in the world," Brownley said in a statement Monday night. "It is my great honor that he will be attending the State of the Union with me tomorrow -- 50 years to the day of the start of the Tet Offensive, where his bravery and courage saved many lives," she said.


    Marine "Gunny" John Canley, originally from Arkansas, now lives in Oxnard, Calif.

    In a statement to Brownley after Trump signed the bill, Canley said, "This honor is for all of the Marines with whom I served. They are an inspiration to me to this day." He earlier told Military.com that in the grueling 1968 fight to retake Hue from the North Vietnamese Army and the Viet-Cong: "The only thing I was doing was taking care of troops, best I could. Do that, and everything else takes care of itself." Canley also thanked Brownley and a member of her staff, Laura Sether, "for their effort and work to make this happen." They worked closely with the survivors from Alpha Co., 1st Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, who fought with Canley at Hue and mounted a 13-year effort to get past the red tape to upgrade his Navy Cross to the Medal of Honor. John Ligato, a private first class in Alpha 1/1 and a retired FBI agent who was part of the effort to upgrade the medal, said of Canley: "This man is the epitome of a Marine warrior."

    At Hue, Canley took command of Alpha 1/1 when Capt. Gordon Batcheller, the company commander, was wounded and evacuated. He fought alongside Sgt. Alfredo Cantu "Freddy" Gonzalez, who had taken command of Third Platoon, Alpha 1/1, and was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. Canley's Navy Cross cites his actions from Jan. 31 to Feb. 6, 1968, when he had command of Alpha 1/1 before being relieved by then-Lt. Ray Smith, a Marine legend who earned the Navy Cross, two Silver Stars, a Bronze Star and three Purple Hearts during his tours in Vietnam and retired as a major general. "On 31 January, when his company came under a heavy volume of enemy fire near the city of Hue, Gunnery Sergeant Canley rushed across the fire-swept terrain and carried several wounded Marines to safety," the citation states.

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    A Marine's Heroic Sacrifice During the Tet Offensive
    On Sunday morning, Feb. 4, 1968, Marine Corps Sgt. Alfredo Cantu "Freddy" Gonzalez and his buddies were striding uneasily through Hue City, as the Tet Offensive raged like a forest fire all across the Vietnamese countryside. Tet took U.S. military commanders by total surprise, because it was a holiday for the Vietnamese—their New Year.
    Gonzalez was a member of Alpha Company, when the roughly 100 men arrived from nearby Phu Bai to check things out--to find out if intelligence reports of an enemy build-up there were accurate. They were joined by Australian troops, with a total number of about 200 men in the ancient imperial city of Hue. Gonzalez was given the Medal of Honor posthumously, after being killed defending his platoon—3rd Platoon, AKA Third Herd—even after being ordered by his company commander, through combat hardened vet, Gunnery Sgt. John Canly, to evacuate for medical treatment. “Sgt. Canly…I told him to go relieve Gonzalez and later he came back to me and said `Lt. Smith, I will go and follow Gonzalez around if you want me to, but Gonzalez is in command of third platoon,’” said Ray Smith, now a retired Marine Corps general. Canly was tough, and even he was impressed by Gonzalez and his leadership qualities at a critical moment in the Vietnam War.

    Into Enemy Fire

    When the platoon of 30 or so men reached the St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church inside Hue, they were hit hard on all sides by the enemy forces. To help distract enemy fire away from his pinned-down platoon, Gonzalez grabbed a dozen or so light anti-tank weapon (LAW) rockets from his men, climbed a stairway of the church school, and ran through an open school room door. He fired all his rockets, suppressing enemy fire long enough to save the platoon from total annihilation. Then, the NVA fired back and hit him in the mid-section, blowing his body in two pieces—the legs were on one side of the small room, and his torso and head on the other, as Navy Corpsman Jim O’Konski arrived on scene to assess damage. “He was still breathing, and his eyes were open, but he tried to say something and he knew he was a goner, and while he was still alive I administered morphine and then more enemy rounds were hitting all around the doorway, so I ran out to get away. I’ve always been haunted by that moment, leaving him while he was not yet gone,” O’Konski said, in an October 2006 meeting with Gonzalez's mother in her hometown of Edinburg, Texas. He cried and hugged Ms. Gonzalez, and said later it seemed like she absolved him of all guilt.

    "He Gave One Hundred Percent"

    Ms. Gonzalez, now almost 90, only had one child and the father was married with another family, so she raised Freddy alone and on the wages of a waitress and a farm worker. They were very close. “I was 16 when he was born,” Ms. Gonzalez said. “I almost died after the delivery, and so did he.” But her boy would grow up to be fearless, and strong. “He was the soul of our football team,” said former Edinburg High coach Fred Akers—also a legendary coach in later years at University of Texas at Austin. “He wasn’t fast, or big, but he gave one hundred percent on every play,” Akers said, remembering Gonzalez. “He was the best player I ever coached because of his heart, and he gave his all, and so the team rallied around him when the times were bad.”


    Marine Corps Sgt. Alfredo "Freddy" Garcia, Medal of Honor recipient.

    Marine Corps top brass has announced that Sgt. Canly, now 80, will soon be given the Medal of Honor—a step up from the Navy Cross he received for courageous actions at Hue. Somewhere Gonzalez must be smiling. He was the type of guy who would have been horrified to be given the top medal when he saw so many other fellow marines, like Canly, doing brave things daily. Some gave their lives, and Gonzalez was there to see it. This only hardened his resolve.

    The following is Canly’s account of the actions he saw up close, when he had time to observe Gonzalez:

  2. #12
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    Kentucky WWII veteran to get Medal of Honor...

    Trump to Award Medal of Honor to World War II Infantryman
    29 Mar 2018 - President Donald Trump will soon award the Medal of Honor posthumously to an Army lieutenant who directed artillery fire from an exposed position for three hours while fending off "fanatical German infantrymen" during a 1945 battle near Houssen, France.
    Garlin Murl Conner, then a first lieutenant, will be the third service member to be awarded the military's highest combat award since Trump took office. According to a White House statement released Thursday, Conner's widow, Pauline Lyda Wells Conner, and other families will be present at the medal ceremony. The date for the ceremony has yet to be announced. In January 1945, Conner was serving as an intelligence officer with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division, according to information released by the White House. "Then-First Lieutenant Conner voluntarily left his position of relative safety to place himself in a better position to direct artillery fire onto the assaulting enemy infantry and armor," the White House announcement said. "He remained in an exposed position, which was 30 yards ahead of the defending force, for a period of three hours." During that time, enemy soldiers came within five yards of him and he was constantly at risk from friendly artillery shells, the announcement states. Despite all that, "he continued to direct the fire of friendly artillery, which ultimately repelled the assaulting enemy elements." Conner survived the battle and would be discharged from the Army on June 22, 1945.

    He had first entered the service as an enlisted soldier in 1941, according to released information, and would ultimately participate in an amphibious assault landing on French Morocco and serve in combat operations in Italy and elsewhere in continental Europe. He received a battlefield commission in June 1944 and became a lieutenant. Trump's announcement comes a day after the Lexington Herald-Leader of Lexington, Kentucky, reported that Pauline Conner, 88, had received a call from Trump notifying her of the award. According to the publication, Conner was a native of Clinton County, Kentucky. He died at age 79 in 1998, the outlet reported. According to a report from the Army Board for Correction of Military Records reviewed by Military.com, Conner had received an astounding four Silver Stars, one Bronze star and three Purple Hearts during his brief but intense Army career. He also received the Distinguished Service Cross, according to the report.


    This undated photo provided by the family's attorney, Donald Todd, shows Lt. Garlin Murl Conner, of Albany, Ky. Conner left the U.S. Army as the second-most decorated soldier during World War II, earning four Silver Stars, one Bronze Star, three Purple Hearts and the Distinguished Service Cross for his actions during 28 straight months in combat. Now, he's been nominated for the Medal of Honor.

    The Distinguished Service Cross was awarded for the Jan. 24, 1945, act of heroism now being recognized with the Medal of Honor. The citation for that award, posted by the Military Times Hall of Valor, is striking in its dramatic description of the fight. "First Lieutenant Conner ran 400 yards through the impact area of an intense concentration of enemy artillery fire to direct friendly artillery on a force of six Mark VI tanks and tank destroyers, followed by 600 fanatical German infantrymen, which was assaulting in full fury the spearhead position held by his battalion," the citation reads. According to the citation, Conner unspooled telephone wire to set up an observation post, which he then bravely manned for hours of fighting. "He was individually credited with stopping more than 150 Germans, destroying all the tanks, and completely disintegrating the powerful enemy assault force and preventing heavy loss of life in his own outfit," the citation reads. "First Lieutenant Conner's intrepid actions, personal bravery and zealous devotion to duty exemplify the highest traditions of the military forces of the United States and reflect great credit upon himself, the 3d Infantry Division, and the United States Army."

    The Herald-Leader reported Conner had twice been rejected for the Medal of Honor, in 1997 and 2000, by an Army review board. But in 2015, according to the report, the Board of Correction for Military Records decided Conner's actions deserved a recommendation for the award. Trump has previously awarded two Medals of Honor. On July 31, 2017, he presented the award to James McCloughan, a 71-year-old former Army medic who served in Vietnam; and on Oct. 23, he presented the medal to another Vietnam Army medic, 70-year-old Gary Michael Rose. Trump has also approved the Medal of Honor for a Marine who served in Vietnam, John L. Canley. A date for that presentation has yet to be announced.

    https://www.military.com/daily-news/...fantryman.html

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