My longtime friend, Kevin, inspired this article with his answer to a thread I started in the Cracker Barrel, one of the few forums in which I regularly participate...Kevin pointed out the sometimes questionable circumstances for which certain awards are cited...I decided to post my thoughts here...Thanks Kevin!...
I've studied many of those early awards, and although the service of the recipients was honorable, and the cited action noteworthy, I believe the honor associated with the Medal was diminished somewhat by its wholesale distribution to those who should have been recognized for their service in another manner...In those early days even civilians, such as Billy Dixon, whose actions at the Battle of Buffalo Wallow as a scout doubtlessly qualified for the award, were recipients...The 1917 Review Board revoked Dixon's award citing his ineligibility as a civilian, a technical error later reversed in 1989 by an Army Board of Corrections of Records...Dixon died in 1913 unaware of the discredit heaped on his memory, nor the later restoration of his well earned citation...
Another later recipient of the nation's highest military honor certainly knew of the discredit assigned to him by politicians, many of whom could not claim military service on their own records...But these politically motivated aspirants were happy to deny earned honors from those who did serve and had invoked the wrath of unforgiving partisan officeholders besmirched by other actions of the recipient which were completely unrelated to the cited activity...Theodore Roosevelt, who had resigned his position as Undersecretary of the Navy to accept a commission in the US Army during the Spanish-American War, was nominated for the Medal of Honor for his combat actions at the Battle of Kettle Hill in Cuba...Before the award could be confirmed by Congress, it was blocked for political purposes by those deskbound soldiers who were insulted by the embarrassment heaped on them when Roosevelt published a letter in US newspapers revealing the deplorable treatment of sick and wounded soldiers who were left behind to garrison Cuba and ensure the peace...More than a hundred years passed before the award was presented posthumously by a grateful nation in the office of then President William Clinton...
Valor can also run in family bloodlines as evidenced by another Roosevelt, Theodore III who certainly was not required to volunteer for service in WWII at the age of 56...Yet he not only successfully argued for an Army commission, but despite his own physical infirmities led the Allied invasion of Utah Beach in Normandy on 6/6/1944...His decisive leadership on that beach while under fire, even knowing that his unit's position was far from his approaching reinforcements, contributed greatly to the eventual success of the Allied invasion...Like his father before him he died unaware that the nation had awarded him its highest honor, as he died days later from a heart attack in Normandy...His widow accepted the award on General Roosevelt's behalf in the presence of Allied commanders and the US Secretary of War...
It is certainly true that some presentations of the nation's highest military award may not have been the result of direct combat, but in my opinion were justified as they took place in war zones with the intent of bringing that war to a successful close...Two examples follow another family bloodline, that of Admiral Frank Friday Fletcher and his nephew, later Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher, each of whom were nominated for the Medal of Honor for their actions in battle at Vera Cruz in 1914...Although the citations accompanying their awards seem lackluster in comparison to others, I contend that they are both well within the standards of the valorous service for which all Medals of Honor have been awarded...Both men were in command and performed their duties under fire, exhibiting the conspicuous leadership necessary to inspire the confidence of those men in their commands...In addition both men lent their names to US Navy destroyers after their deaths...
I cannot close this article without pointing out that although some high awards have been said to be overrated, others are severely underrated...Exemplary of this is the service of US Navy Cook 3rd Class Doris Miller...Miller was on board the battleship USS West Virginia when the ship was attacked along with all other ships in Pearl Harbor on the beginning morning of the Pacific War...Although untrained for combat operations nor medical service, his quick, unflinching and decisive actions were instrumental in saving the lives of many wounded...Using his great physical strength he gently moved his ship's captain to a more secure and comfortable position allowing that commander to direct combat operations and die in relative safety...He then assisted two junior officers in operating a .50 Caliber machine gun against the invading Japanese fliers...When they became disoriented in battle and unable to continue, Miller, with no training whatsoever with the heavy caliber gun other than watching the two officers, took control of the gun after seeing they were in a safe position, and was responsible for the downing of at least one, and likely two of the Japanese aircraft...
For his service that day Miller was awarded what was then the 3rd highest Navy decoration, the Navy Cross...The award itself was later upgraded to the Navy's second highest award...The Pacific Fleet's new commander, Admiral Chester Nimitz, himself of above average height, lifted himself on his toes to personally pin the medal on the chest of the towering Miller in a shipboard ceremony...Miller went on to further service, yet still as a Mess Attendant (later Steward's Mate), aboard the escort carrier USS Liscome Bay until that ship was attacked and sunk by the Japanese in the Gilbert Islands...Exactly two years after Miller's meritorious action after the Pearl Harbor attack, his parents were informed by telegram that their son was missing in action and presumed dead along with two thirds of his crewmates...
Miller was further honored in the 1970's when a US Navy frigate was commissioned bearing his name, and most recently it was announced that the keel was laid for America's newest nuclear aircraft carrier, CVN-81, USS Doris Miller...Admiral Nimitz, a man with no political aspirations but one who understood the importance and effect of politics on the Navy, used the award ceremony for Miller to springboard the need for sailors and soldiers to serve in positions for which they were qualified, not just because of the color of their skins...Even in death Miller inspired the work of civil rights leaders of all races to advance the uniform service of all members of the nation's military, regardless of race...Others, convinced that racial qualities should govern service in some areas, argued against the idea...Today that struggle continues, but the weight of the actions of men like Miller, and the influence of men like Nimitz continue to equalize opportunities for all...Perhaps in generations to come it will be decided that Miller's award deservedly be upgraded to the Medal of Honor...Until then I will point out that Miller's Navy Cross citation states that he continued his fight against the enemy until he was ordered to stand down...Such instinctive service in the face of certain death is exemplary of actions taken by all whom have been awarded the nation's highest military honor...
Such after-battle actions by committees are the work of politicians, and the toadies who seek favor from those politicians...Above all that stands the unflinching service of those noted in each citation, none of which asked to be present at the noted scenes of action and sacrifice, nor raised a hand for recognition...This is why I have always argued that awards of merit in our military are never "won," as often stated by misinformed writers...They are instead awarded to the often unwilling recipients by a grateful nation as a small token recognizing the valor of not only those who came home to wear the ribbons and medals, but also those who fell on the fields of honor...
More articles concerning Warriors and Militaria...
