The Medal of Honor is the U.S nation’s highest award for battlefield valor, and every citation can be an emotional rollercoaster, even written in dry, bureaucratic language.All recipients, living or dead, are proven heroes, but the list of people can be daunting to go through.Here is a sampling of recipients…
Army Master Sgt. Gary Gordon and Sgt. 1st Class Randall Shughart, Somalia
The streets of Somalia, Mogadishu, were filling with armed insurgents, American troops were pinned down, and a Black Hawk helicopter was just shot out of the sky. Yet Gordon and Shughart volunteered for what would be a suicide mission to rescue the doomed helicopter pilot.
Gordon and Shughart, Army Delta Force snipers, were circling over the Black Hawk crash site when they saw a growing mob of armed militia troops getting closer. After three frantic requests back to headquarters, their mission to rescue the helicopter pilot was approved. Gordon and Shughart knew there was no backup. There was no one who would be able to save them.
The plan was to maneuver Gordon and Shughart’s helicopter onto the crash site, but that was quickly scratched. A barrage of insurgent gunfire and rockets hit their own helicopter. Gordon and Shughart were forced to jump out 100 meters away from the downed Black Hawk while their helicopter pilot flew the injured bird back to base. Chief Warrant Officer 3 Michael Durant, the severely injured helicopter pilot, recounts his experience saying, “I never saw where they came from … it was a surreal feeling. I mean it was like this awful situation that you just realized you’re in is now suddenly over.”
As the militia mob encompassed them, Gordon and Shughart shot in every direction. It is unclear who died first, but Durant recalls a Delta operator “sounding almost irritated” when he was hit. The remaining operator had no option but to continue clearing the streets of the militia. He went to the downed helicopter, found extra ammunition, and took to the streets. For as long as he could, the remaining operator did everything possible to overcome the mob. Eventually, the opposition was too much and the remaining Delta operator was killed.
According to Durant, “Without a doubt, I owe my life to those two men and their bravery. Those guys came in when they had to know it was a losing battle. If they had not come in, I wouldn’t have survived.” Gordon and Shughart were posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor on May 23, 1994.
Army Master Sgt. Roy Benavidez, Vietnam War
In May 1968, 12 special operators were sent deep into the jungle to gather information on enemy movement. Helicopters dropped the team into the dense forest, but quickly after beginning their patrol, they met heavy resistance. The radios lit up, “Get us out of here!”
Benavidez was at a nearby base and is said to have volunteered to rescue the special operators without anyone asking. “I’m coming with you,” Benavidez screamed as he raced toward the helicopter preparing to launch a rescue mission. He didn’t even bring his M16, only a bowie knife, according to reports.
The special operators were surrounded. Benavidez grabbed his medic bag and jumped out of the helicopter, racing toward the wounded men. Before reaching them, he took a bullet in the leg and shrapnel to the face. Continuing on, he reached the troops and started to dress wounds and hand out ammunition. He then called in “danger close” airstrikes. As the battle progressed, Benavidez was coughing blood. A soldier reportedly asked him, “Are you hurt bad, Sarge?” He replied, “Hell no.”
When the rescue helicopter landed, Benavidez famously said to his fellow soldiers, “Pray and move out.” Benavidez took seven major gunshot wounds, 28 pieces of shrapnel, and both arms had been slashed. Benavidez was told that his one-man battle was extraordinary. He replied, “No, that’s duty.” After years of bureaucracy, Benavidez was presented with the Medal of Honor Feb. 24, 1981. He died Nov. 29, 1998, at 63.
Army Spc. Ross McGinnis, Iraq war
McGinnis saved the lives of four fellow soldiers on patrol when his vehicle was attacked in Northeast Baghdad on Dec. 4, 2006.
While McGinnis was manning the .50-caliber machine gun on top of the vehicle, an insurgent threw a fragmentation grenade inside. McGinnis, age 19, yelled “grenade … it’s in the truck!” At this moment, he had the choice to either jump out of the vehicle or cover the grenade and prevent others from injury. Without hesitating, he jumped on the grenade. McGinnis’ platoon sergeant, Cedric Thomas, recounts how he saw McGinnis quickly “pin down” the grenade. Thomas said, “He had time to jump out of the truck … he chose not to.”
McGinnis, a private first class at the time, was posthumously promoted to specialist. Doing what he did was a matter of kindergarten math, McGinnis’ parents said. “The right choice sometimes requires honor.” He was awarded the Medal of Honor on June 6, 2008.
Ongeza @introvert kwa hio list .
Nimesoma!!!
Uncle, piga Savco pasi kesho kazi.
Always, ALWAYS! take what the US propaganda machine churns out.
These guys will kill kids from Apaches and then claim they neutralised Abu Baghdadi himself.
(Na sijasoma so nisamehe).
Ive been waching tv bila sound for the last 30+mins .am i ok
Yea they kill civilians… But Some actions are worth recognition… Few will sacrifice their lives in such situations
:(:(yet again more africans worship americans who kill their kind for sport ati “hawa ndo wanaume” clearly propaganda is working on you