Marine Corps News, news from Iraq - Marine Corps Times

4 vet centers may bear MoH recipient names

Medal of Honor Day was in March, but the House of Representatives appeared to be celebrating it Monday as lawmakers debated bills that would name four veterans facilities for Medal of Honor recipients.

Under their plan, a Tulsa, Okla., outpatient clinic would be named for Ernest Childers; an Asheville, N.C., medical center would be named for Charles George; a medical center in Iron Mountain, Mich., would be named for Oscar G. Johnson; and a medical center in Albuquerque, N.M., would be named from Raymond G. Murphy.

All four are deceased. Childers and Johnson are World War II veterans, while George and Murphy received their awards for service in Korea.

Childers, Johnson and George all served in the Army. Murphy was a Marine.

The Murphy bill, previously approved by the Senate, goes to the White House for President Bush’s signature. The other bills — HR 366 for Childers, HR 2546 for George and HR 2602 for Johnson — must still be approved by the Senate.

Rep. Bob Filner, D-Calif., the House Veterans Affairs Committee chairman, said naming the facilities for heroic veterans was “a fitting tribute to preserve the memories of these brave service members.”

Childers received the Medal of Honor for action in Italy in 1943, when he charged German machine-gun nests. Despite suffering a broken foot in the assault, Childers’ citation said he single-handedly killed two snipers, silenced two machine-gun nests and captured a German mortar observer. Childers, a Native American, died in 2005.

George received his Medal of Honor for valor in 1952 during the Korean War for a mission on which he was a member of a raiding party seeking to capture a prisoner for interrogation. When the raiding party became involved in intense hand-to-hand fighting, George and two other soldiers remained behind to cover the unit’s withdrawal. He threw himself on top of a grenade to save his comrades and never made a sound that would have given away their position. He died of his wounds.

Johnson received his Medal of Honor for action in Italy. In 1944, as a member of a unit trying to break a German line, he was credited with single-handedly protecting his company’s left flank after his squad was all killed or wounded. In the face of mortar and machine-gun fire, Johnson stood up and used small arms and grenades to repel an attack, and then spent a night stopping infiltrators. At one point, 25 German soldiers surrendered to him. Johnson, who died in 1998, is believed to have fought off five German companies, and when the battle was over, 20 dead German soldiers were found in front of his position.

Murphy, who died in April, was a Marine second lieutenant who received his Medal of Honor for refusing medical aid while continuing to lead his platoon in Korea up a hill in the face of heavy fire. Murphy made several trips up and down the hill as he located casualties and led evacuation efforts. He provided covering fire and organized a search party to make another run up the hill to look for more casualties. He was wounded a second time, again refusing medical attention until his entire unit was evacuated.