Marine to receive Medal of Honor for Afghan valor

[Politically_Incorrect12]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Pentagon officials say President Barack Obama will present the Medal of Honor to a Marine who braved enemy fire in Afghanistan in a bid to find and retrieve three missing Marines and a Navy corpsman.

Dakota Meyer, who left active duty in June 2010, will be the first living Marine in 41 years to receive the nation's highest award for valor.

Only two living recipients — Army Staff Sgt. Salvatore Giunta (JOON'-tuh) and Army Sgt. 1st Class Leroy Petry — have received the award for actions in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The decision to present the award to Meyer was first reported Tuesday by Leatherneck, a Marine Corps Association publication, and by the Marine Corps Times, an independent newspaper. Both said Obama called Meyer on Monday to break the news.

news.yahoo.com/marine-receive-medal-honor-afghan-valor-202055591.html

[Politically_Incorrect12]

Does anybody know the criteria to determine MOH recipients? For example, what is left to determine who receives the Silver Star or a lower medal instead of the MOH. Here are some examples, and I honestly don't see why they only received the Silver Star...again not arguing heroics, just trying to figure out criteria and how what these three people did was any less heroic than other MOH recipients?.

www.nytimes.com/2005/06/17/national/17medal.html

WASHINGTON, June 16 - Sgt. Leigh Ann Hester, a military police officer in the Kentucky National Guard, became the first female soldier awarded the Silver Star since World War II, for her role in thwarting an Iraqi insurgent ambush in March, the military said Thursday.

In a 90-minute firefight, Sergeant Hester and handful of other Guard soldiers fought off more than 30 insurgents armed with assault rifles, machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades after the force attacked a supply convoy southeast of Baghdad. The Americans killed 27 and wounded or captured 7 others, the military said. Sergeant Hester, 23, a store manager in Nashville in civilian life, and seven other members of her unit, the 617th Military Police Company, received medals on Thursday in Baghdad from Lt. Gen. John R. Vines of the Army, the American ground commander in Iraq.

She is believed to be the first woman to receive the Silver Star, the Army's third-highest award for gallantry, in more than 60 years, said Martha Rudd, a spokeswoman for the Army. Mary Roberts Wilson was the first woman given a Silver Star, for gallantry at the Battle of Anzio in World War II.

articles.latimes.com/2005/jun/26/local/me-sniper26

Marine Sergeant Wins Silver Star for Iraq Combat


Marksman who killed 32 insurgents in the battle for Fallouja is called a hero as he receives the military's third-highest honor.


June 26, 2005|Tony Perry | Times Staff Writer


Boyish-looking and Midwestern to the core, John Ethan Place loves football games in the fall and traipsing through the woods hunting quail and deer with his dad, a retired school administrator.

Back home in Lake St. Louis, Mo., he's a regular at the nearby Baptist church.

He's also an expert at one of the most difficult aspects of warfare. He's a sniper, able to kill an enemy at 1,000 yards or more with a single shot.
On Friday, the 22-year-old sergeant received the Silver Star, the military's third-highest honor for bravery in combat.

In the battle for Fallouja, Iraq, in April 2004, Place had 32 confirmed kills, from April 11 to April 24, of insurgents who were trying to sneak into position to attack Marines from Echo Company of the 2nd Battalion, 1st Regiment.

Many of the kills came after he maneuvered amid the rubble of the Sunni Triangle city and then waited for hours in a concealed position for just the right moment to pull the trigger. It's likely none of the 32 knew Place had them in his rifle sights.

www.nctimes.com/news/local/article_65b5f505-5489-55a1-8624-71462fde5dd8.html

CAMP PENDLETON —— They said it was like a World War II-era movie: A Marine rushes forward under withering enemy fire, single-handedly destroys a machine-gun nest and turns the tide of the battle for his comrades.

But they also said it was real.

Marines lined up in droves at Camp Pendleton on Friday to shake the hand of former Marine Sgt. Leandro Baptista, who was awarded the Silver Star for valor for leading a counterattack against some 60 insurgents who ambushed his platoon last year near Fallujah, Iraq.

The Silver Star is the nation's third-highest military award.

"It's pure Hollywood," said Col. Rory Talkington, who led the Pendleton-based 1st Reconnaissance Battalion during the siege of Fallujah in April 2004. "What Sgt. Baptista did, what the others did that day, was just that amazing."

Baptista, 25, who is out of the Marine Corps now and was dressed in civilian clothes for the brief award ceremony Friday, stood at attention as a Marine read the award citation signed by Navy Secretary Gordon England.

Read more: www.nctimes.com/news/local/article_65b5f505-5489-55a1-8624-71462fde5dd8.html#ixzz1Skt2K5dA


I am sure there are many more examples that could be found. All of these seem pretty heroic and all of them saved lives....why the difference in awards?

[privateinvestor]

Marine to receive Medal of Honor for Afghan valor

I am not an expert for the awarding of the MOH but did know of one guy who received it for throwing himself on a grenade in the Nam and he was a combat photographer... He died from his wounds and most who did receive the highest award our country can bestow for bravery in combat are usually to those who have risked their lives to save their fellow comrades...a large percentage of the awardees for the MOH are for the most part posthumously from what I recall ..

Recommendations for the Navy Cross, Silver Star, or Bronze Star are all awarded for act of conspicuous gallantry and bravery in combat.. Often those who are awarded these medals performed above and beyond during combat. But usually it is a medal review committee who makes the call as to which medal is appropriate for the individual acts of bravery in combat based on the recommendations of an officer or staff NCO who witnessed the act, and then he submitted his recommendation to the medal review board after getting his COs approval.. The review board will often ask others to submit their recollections of the event or act that is under review..

I am not sure if this answers your question or not but might give you a basic idea about awarding medals in the military... Often it is a judgement call by an individual who witnessed a brave act under fire who then begins the process for awarding a medal for that particular act of bravery.. And of course many acts of bravery are never recorded or recommended for a medal..

[Politically_Incorrect12]

When I was in the military, medals seemed to arbitrary to me. What one person does gets them a Bronze Star or higher, while another person doing the exact same thing gets no recognition, and ArCom or something along those lines. The same seems to go for the Silver Star and the MOH as well.

[privateinvestor]

Jul 21, 2011 20:39:12 GMT -5 Politically_Incorrect12 said:

When I was in the military, medals seemed to arbitrary to me. What one person does gets them a Bronze Star or higher, while another person doing the exact same thing gets no recognition, and ArCom or something along those lines. The same seems to go for the Silver Star and the MOH as well.

Yea but I don't think what you claim is such a big thing in our mlitary..overall the awarding of medals is done very well in most cases. I really cannot recall a single instance of anyone complaining about medals but there were a few cases that I recall for a few guys who were awarded Letters of Commendation who probably deserved a Bronze Star or Silver Star but I think that is the exception rather than the rule..