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Something Worth Defending

MEDAL OF HONOR (Army)	MEDAL OF HONOR (Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard)	MEDAL OF HONOR (Air Force)

From 1863 to 2000, the Medal Of Honor has been awarded to 3,432 persons, most of them posthumously. Awarded for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of life, above and beyond the call of duty, in action involving actual conflict with an opposing armed force. The Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration the nation can bestow.

The Civil War, Georgia, 1862 The first glow of light appeared in the eastern sky as the big iron locomotive steamed northward. The General was on its daily run from Atlanta to Chattanooga, ordinarily a routine 14-hour mail, freight, and passenger route. But this was no ordinary day. At 6 a.m. the General rolled to a stop at the town of Big Shanty, Georgia. The crew and most of the passengers got off for a 20-minute breakfast stop. Twenty “passengers” stayed aboard. After waiting a few moments, two of them climbed down, disconnected the rear portion of the train, then joined the others in the front. Within seconds the train was rolling once more, now under the command of 33-year-old Virginian smuggler-turned-spy James Andrews. His plan: dash northward, tearing up track and destroying bridges along a 111-mile route to prevent the Rebels from reinforcing a planned Union attack on Chattanooga. The General’s conductor, William Fuller, leaped from his breakfast at the clattering of the departing train. His blood boiled: No one messes with my train. Since Big Shanty had no telegraph, he sprinted two miles to the next station, where he found a handcar. Back in Big Shanty, he picked up six more men and set off in hot pursuit. The Great Train Chase was on. The Yankees pulled up a rail behind them, but Fuller and his men lifted their handcar over the gap and kept coming. Around 9 a.m. they reached the town of Etowah and found a locomotive, but it faced south. Fuller’s team jumped aboard and set off, racing along in full reverse. Andrews’ men lifted another rail and threw ties onto the track behind them. But still Fuller came on. By 10 o’clock he had closed the gap to within 20 miles of his quarry and traded his backward-facing train for another that pointed north. When Fuller encountered another section of broken track, he and his men once again raced ahead on foot. After a mile he flagged down a southbound train and headed north, backward once more. At about 10:20 a.m. Fuller spotted Andrews’ men ahead on the track, trying to lift another rail. Forced to abandon the effort, the Yankees jumped on the General and sped off. Now the race was neck and neck. Andrews’ Raiders dumped ties on the track and tried to burn bridges as they passed, but Fuller kept coming. At 11:10 a.m. the Yankees, unable to stop for wood, ran out of fuel for the General’s boilers. Still 15 miles from Chattanooga, Andrews and his men abandoned the train and made a run for Union lines. Within a week all the Raiders were captured. Eight were hanged, eight managed to escape from prison, and the rest were eventually traded for Confederates held in the north. Although their mission failed to destroy any track, it generated enormous enthusiasm in the north. Nineteen of Andrews’ Raiders were among the first recipients of the Congressional Medal of Honor. Andrews was not among them. As a civilian, he was ineligible.

What Is The Price Of Freedom?

What values do we cherish, and how do we pass them on to our children? Since 1863, the Medal of Honor - the nation's highest award for valor in combat - has been awarded to 3,432 persons, most of them posthumously. One hundred and fifty-four recipients are still alive. When it comes to physical courage, these are the bravest of our brave. They risked their lives in ways most of us can scarcely imagine. Nearly all have been shot or grievously injured. We wondered if these warriors might have a special perspective on the values we cherish as a people.

James B. Stockdale

The navy aviator, spent nearly eight years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam after being shot down in 1965. Because he led the prisoners' resistance to interrogation and their refusal to take part in propaganda exploitation, he repeatedly was confined to solitary, beaten and tortured. Finally, in an effort to kill himself and thereby underscore to the foe his refusal to capitulate, Stockdale gouged his wrists with shards of glass.

By the time he made it home from Vietnam, Stockdale wrote 20 years ago, "freedom had long since ceased to be an abstraction for me." The Declaration of Independence had even greater meaning for him. It "remains one of the most stirring documents in history," he wrote. "No one had to remind our Founding Fathers of the cost," he added. "Fifty-six of them knowingly laid their lives, liberty and honor on the line when they signed that Declaration. And they paid their dues. In the ensuing war, nine were killed in action, five died as prisoners of war, 12 had homes burned, several lost sons, one man's wife died in prison, and 16 went broke. The legacy of these men was summed up very simply by Thomas Paine: 'Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it.' The nation has come a long way since then," wrote Stockdale, "and the milestones are littered with human sacrifice." More than a million Americans have been killed in battle since the Revolution. Stockdale, who was awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroism in Vietnam, is an American whose words have a special resonance because of what he went through.

Ray Davis

Whose heroism as a Marine lieutenant colonel helped save two regiments from destruction in Korea in 1950 - said that the liberty we treasure must be accompanied by a willingness to defend it. "Freedom is not free," he declared. "We paid an awful price for it in the 20th century." And if there's one lesson we've learned, Davis added, it's that we cannot become complacent: "It's lack of readiness that causes wars, which cost lives."

Freedom also demands vigilance back home. Its obligations are everyone's responsibility, said the outspoken John William Finn, who received his medal for standing out in the open and firing at length upon the Japanese Zeroes attacking Kaneohe Naval Air Station on Oahu prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor. "Wake up," he tells his fellow citizens, "and demand that your representatives in Washington do their job and follow their oaths to uphold and defend the Constitution."

Thomas Hudner

A Korean conflict veteran, stressed that our cherished ideals must be defended on two fronts: "Freedom means responsibility, and that means knowing what the issues are and then speaking out," he said. "You can have tolerance for others' ideas, but you also should be intolerant of ideas you know to be wrong and work to change them."

Hiroshi Miyamura

Whose feats of bravery in Korea are astounding, is married to a Japanese-American who spent three years with her family in an internment camp during World War II before she met Miyamura. But, he said recently, "I never resented anything. I was in no position to say if they were wrong or right [about interning Japanese-Americans]. We all felt we were Americans. That was the way we were brought up."

For Hiroshi Miyamura, it starts with the flag. "It is important to teach our children-and for everyone-to respect that flag," he said. "You don't have to agree with everything our government does, but you should show respect for the flag, because it represents our American way of life and all those who died fighting for it."

Vernon Baker

Who is black, resented the discrimination he was subjected to, but he laid his life on the line many times in Italy during World War II. Asked why, Baker replied: "This was the only country I had. I knew things would get better. I just felt it in my heart. We've come a long way. We've got a little ways to go, but we're going to get there. I mean, look at Gen. Colin Powell."

A Salute To The Flag

For all the medal recipients, the American flag is a powerful symbol of freedom and sacrifice. Teach your children well: All agreed that we must pass on the values of freedom to future generations. All see the Fourth of July as an opportunity to reinforce the values we share as a nation and to ponder the meaning-and implications-of freedom.

William Barber

As a Marine lieutenant in World War II, Barber witnessed one of the most famous moments in U.S. history-the raising of the flag on Iwo Jima on Feb. 23, 1945. Barber, who received the Silver Star for valor on Iwo and would later earn the Medal of Honor for his service in Korea, recalled the moment when American soldiers planted the flag on the summit of Mount Suribachi: "Somebody said, 'There's the flag.' We looked back and saw it. There is no way to describe what it meant to us." Sixty-one hundred Americans and 22,000 Japanese were killed in the 36-day battle for Iwo.

We can never emphasize enough the fact that people have made tremendous sacrifices over the last 200 years and more. I saw a lot of casualties and wounded in Vietnam, and not a day goes by that I don't think of them.

- Robert Modrzejewski a Vietnam veteran

Harvey Barnum Jr.

Harvey Barnum Jr. thinks it is vital for adults to familiarize young people with the great documents and literature of our history, such as Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, the Preamble to the Constitution and Thomas Paine's pamphlets. Another way to bring the past to life for young persons is to take them to Civil War battlefields, such as Shiloh or Gettysburg. "We need to pause and reflect and give thanks," he added.

As Barnum put it: "It's a reminder of what our country is, how it started, where it's been and where we're going. I always tell people the last gesture of a grateful nation is that we drape the warrior in the flag as he is carried to his resting place," said Barnum, a Vietnam veteran. "What greater honor can a country confer? So people should pause whenever they see our flag and think about what it stands for."

Like so many of us, these men will gather with their families or friends for reunions on the 4th. "I tell people to go ahead and have a good time but to take the time to pause and reflect and rededicate themselves to something," Barnum added. "And when they hear those fireworks go off, just remember they're friendly because a lot of us sat under them as incoming artillery fire and lost our lives."

Larry Smith. PARADE Magazine. July 2, 2000.

Medal of Honor: Profiles of America's Military Heroes from the Civil War to the Present The Congressional Medal of Honor, established during the Civil War, pays tribute to a person who has "distinguished himself conspicuously by gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty." Washington Literacy Council board member Mikaelian spotlights 11 of the 3,456 soldiers who have received this legendary honor, while 60 Minutes' Wallace supplies historical context with his introduction and brief, general commentaries on various U.S. wars. The book's lively vignettes not only describe the battles faced by the men (and one woman), but also trace the ways the Medal affected their later lives. The book profiles Hiroshi Miyamura, a Korean War marine who fought back Chinese soldiers when he and fellow troops were isolated in a mountain pass on the Chinese-Korean border; as well as Dwight Johnson, a celebrated Vietnam vet deeply conflicted about his role in the war and especially about his recruitment of fellow young black men into the armed services. The practice of Mary Edwards Walker, a Civil War doctor who is the only woman to have won the Medal, fell into controversy after the war, leading the government to revoke her Medal toward the end of her life when she was an isolated eccentric and, literally, a sideshow curiosity. This absorbing set of accounts should appeal to military history enthusiasts and anyone interested in the heroic exploits of ordinary Americans.

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