Today’s remarks by President Obama in his weekly address to the nation, were particularly important, particularly poignant, because—on the occasion of Memorial Day 2009—he paid tribute to our fallen heroes and honored “the servicemen and women who cannot be with us this year because they are standing post far from home – in Iraq, Afghanistan, and around the world.”
In his address, the President reconfirmed that “Our fighting men and women – and the military families who love them – embody what is best in America. And we have a responsibility to serve all of them as well as they serve all of us.”
And admitted that,
… all too often in recent years and decades, we, as a nation, have failed to live up to that responsibility. We have failed to give them the support they need or pay them the respect they deserve. That is a betrayal of the sacred trust that America has with all who wear – and all who have worn – the proud uniform of our country.
But, he declared, as our new President, he is committed to keeping this “sacred trust.”
We have already seen some tangible indications that President Obama indeed intends to honor that sacred trust.
His rebuilding and re-dedication of the Department of Veterans Affairs to “provide our veterans with the support and benefits they have earned, and expand quality health care to a half million more veterans,” is just one such indication.
However, Mr. President, support for our living heroes and honor for our fallen heroes means more than just new clinics, more staff, better benefits, improved equipment, bigger budgets, nice speeches, laying a beautiful wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier—as you rightfully did on March 25, National Medal of Honor Day.
It also means recognizing and rewarding their heroism, their sacrifices, their acts of valor in the way it has been done during and after every war and every conflict our nation has been engaged in since the Civil War: With our nation’s highest military awards, including the Medal of Honor, where and when so called for.
Mr. President, when you laid that wreath at Arlington National Cemetery, there were 35 Medal of Honor recipients attending that solemn ceremony.
Every one of those heroes was from a previous war or conflict.
There were no Medal of Honor recipients from the battle fields of Iraq and Afghanistan present to assist you to lay the wreath.
None!
None, because each of the Medal of Honor recipients from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan was killed in action or died from the wounds received in action.
That is, in a way, understandable. Many Medal of Honor recipients sacrifice their lives while performing the heroic, unselfish acts that earn them this highest honor.
But, Mr. President, what is not understandable is that the number of Medal of Honor recipients from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan— after seven years of fighting—can be counted on one hand.
Yes, only five of our Iraq-Afghanistan heroes have been awarded the Medal of Honor to date—all posthumously.
Only five out of the almost two million U.S. Army, Air Force, Navy and Marine troops who have served and fought bravely in Iraq and Afghanistan.
According to the military newspaper, the Air Force Times,
With the exception of the 1991 Persian Gulf War, no other major conflict in modern military history has failed to produce a living recipient of the nation’s highest award for valor. And no war has ever produced so few Medal of Honor — or service cross — recipients.
In contrast, there were 245 Medal of Honor recipients during the Vietnam War, and 27 Medals of Honor were awarded for the single World War II battle of Iwo Jima.
Again, the Air Force Times:
From World War I through Vietnam, the rate of Medal of Honor recipients per 100,000 service members stayed between 2.3 (Korea) and 2.9 (World War II). But since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, only five Medals of Honor have been awarded, a rate of 0.1 per 100,000 — one in a million.
It isn’t as if there is a shortage of heroic deeds by our military deserving of this highest honor.
I simply refuse to believe that in seven years of fighting two wars, there haven’t been more than five instances of “conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of life,” as the citation for the Medal of Honor reads.
I know for a fact of one hero deserving, without a doubt, the Medal of Honor, albeit sadly posthumously: Marine Sgt. Rafael Peralta.
As a matter of fact, Marine Sgt. Rafael Peralta was nominated for the Medal of Honor in 2004 by none other than the Commandant of the Marine Corps and by the Secretary of the Navy.
Sgt. Peralta gave his life in Fallujah, Iraq, on November 15, 2004, when, as a scout leader, Company A, 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, during search and attack operations:
While clearing the seventh house of the day, the point man opened a door to a back room and immediately came under intense, close-range automatic weapons fire from multiple insurgents. The squad returned fire, wounding one insurgent. While attempting to maneuver out of the line of fire, Sergeant Peralta was shot and fell mortally wounded. After the initial exchange of gunfire, the insurgents broke contact, throwing a fragmentation grenade as they fled the building. The grenade came to rest near Sergeant Peralta’s head. Without hesitation and with complete disregard for his own personal safety, Sergeant Peralta reached out and pulled the grenade to his body, absorbing the brunt of the blast and shielding fellow Marines only feet away. Sergeant Peralta succumbed to his wounds.
The above is from the citation accompanying the award, not of the Medal of Honor, but rather of the Navy Cross—the service’s second highest award for heroism—eventually awarded to Sgt. Peralta in 2008.
The story behind this “switch” can be read at “Stolen Valor at the Highest Levels: The Case of Sgt. Rafael Peralta.”
Several U.S. Senators and Representatives, including virtually the entire California Congressional delegation, and numerous other groups and individuals have petitioned the Secretary of Defense and President Obama to review and reverse this decision.
Some of the concluding words of President Obama’s Memorial Day address to the nation were:
That is what Memorial Day is all about. It is about doing all we can to repay the debt we owe to those men and women who have answered our nation’s call by fighting under its flag…
It’s about remembering each and every one of those moments when our survival as a nation came down not simply to the wisdom of our leaders or the resilience of our people, but to the courage and valor of our fighting men and women…
Mr. President, in the case of Sgt. Rafael Peralta, it is now up to you to do “all [you] can to repay the debt we owe” this U.S. Marine.
In the case of so many other Iraq-Afghanistan heroes who may be deserving of the Medal of Honor, please remember and recognize their “courage and valor,” too.
The author is a retired U.S. Air Force officer and a writer.