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Valor overlooked ?

Marine Corps Times’ March 30 cover story, “Honor denied,”noted that no campaign in modern history has produced so few Medals of Honor — just five, and all of them posthumously — as the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Readers’ responses:

I have to say, from experience, that Fred Borch’s assertion that “it’s pretty hard to be a hero against an IED” certainly betrays the fact that he’s never faced such an incident.

On May 11, 2005, the armored vehicle my squad and I were riding in struck a large improvised explosive device that instantly set the vehicle on fire, along with many of us that were riding in it. One of my Marines, then-Lance Cpl. Mark Camp, was one of those set on fire. Despite that, he extinguished his own flames and made repeated attempts to rescue some of the Marines who were trapped inside, even after he was further wounded by exploding ordnance inside the vehicle. Eventually, in his weakened state, he was pulled away by other Marines who came to our aid and was evacuated from Iraq to have his injuries tended to.

Though we were on a combat operation at that time and had been engaging enemy fighters off and on for days, there were none present at that time — only the buried and well-set-up IED. Eventually he was awarded the Silver Star, and he is still serving in the Reserve as a sergeant.

It would seem that the military as a whole has put a stop to the giving of higher awards. When it comes to something like a Bronze Star or higher it has to go through the chain.

While in Iraq, my platoon sergeant put me in for a Bronze Star and it was downgraded [to an Army Commendation Medal] by my company commander and went no further. Whatever the deal was, it is hard for me to swallow.

The problem is that when you look at what people like [World War II hero] 2nd Lt. Audie Murphy did and you try to compare that with what Sgt. 1st Class Paul Smith did [in Iraq], there is no comparison. Modern warfare is how we fight now and the battleground is nothing like the fields of Germany. The art of war has changed, but the criteria have not.

I know of people who did great things while in Iraq or Afghanistan but were given a Silver Star because their commander did not feel that it warranted a Medal of Honor. It all comes down to the new rule: If I do not have the award, then why should my soldier?

I was shocked and dismayed by the shabby treatment of Sgt. Rafael Peralta’s family and memory. As a young captain, I was detailed to assist in President Gerald Ford’s Amnesty Program. As a veteran of two tours in Vietnam I was hardly enthusiastic, but came to realize that the president’s instincts for reconciliation were sounder than any desire for revenge — or even justice.

To deny the Medal of Honor to a young Marine who threw himself on a grenade for his buddies, in the unselfish service of his new country and our own, is nothing less than a national disgrace.

I, too, as a 25-year veteran and now an Army historian, have been greatly troubled by the recent process and awarding of the Medal of Honor. I agree that we need living awardees. The last living recipients were from Vietnam, who are now in their late 50s or older. In 30 or so years, they will be gone, and then what? Who will carry the torch of valor?

Marine Corps Times’ analysis of numbers of recipients in different wars is an interesting way to understand it, but as the newspaper says, it is not perfect. What needs to happen is a review of the process and determination of realistic expectations. I have read about Distinguished Service Cross and Navy Cross accounts that, in my opinion, carried the same weight and significance as any citation in any era.

Over nearly 50 years of attending various military-linked ceremonies, I have noted that the presence of a Medal of Honor holder always generates a standing ovation — as do survivors of the Pearl Harbor attack and the sinking of the heavy cruiser Indianapolis, with medals or without.

The British and French experience might well be examined in a review process, as would Joseph Stalin’s revival of decorations during Russias’ life-or-death struggle against Germany and its allies on the Eastern Front. Visiting Russia convinced me that they take their veterans seriously, with no lack of understanding as to commemorating services performed by the Red Army.