Thursday, October 8, 2015

Medal of Honor Recipients by Andy Pickard

               Thomas W. Bennett is an American hero. He puts the life of his comrades in front of his own, and had a complete disregard for his own safety. On February 9th Bennett’s platoon was ambushed by the North Vietnamese. His platoon fell under heavy fire and were even under mortar and rocket fire. Three men went down wounded on the battlefield, and were sure to die with their position. However, Corporal Bennett had the bravery to run through the heavy fire to the wounded soldiers. He was a medical aidman, so managed to give all three of the soldiers lifesaving help. But his heroism didn’t end there, he continued to pick up each of the soldiers and carried them to safety so they could be evacuated and taken to safety. He took numerous trips back into heavy fire to carry the three men out. He continued to go back in to treat numerous more soldiers and recovering the bodies of many of his fallen comrades. The platoon was completely outnumbered, so five more men were wounded. Bennett ran to continue helping the men, he made it to the first. As he was going to the second man he was stopped and told that there was nothing he could do and the position of the fallen soldier was impossible to reach. He disregarded this remark and continued to save another life, as he was running he was wounded. Thomas W. Bennett died February 11th. He died an American hero and was awarded with the Medal of Honor on April 7th.

               William E. Adams was another American hero who risked his life to aid his fellow soldiers. He was a helicopter pilot who volunteered to fly a helicopter to evacuate three badly wounded soldiers. He was fully aware that the enemy force had a clear view of all routes as well as possessing numerous antiaircraft weapons. Adams was taking heavy fire but was not phased, he was determined to save the fallen men. He helped direct attacks of gunships while under heavy fire. He made it to the soldiers and waited for all of the men to get on. Shortly after he took off, Adams’ helicopter was hit by an antiaircraft weapon. Adams remained in relative control as he guided the aircraft down for a controlled crash. However, he was not able to control the helicopter. His helicopter exploded on May 25th, and everybody aboard was killed. Adams is an amazing human who has the courage to help others regardless of his own life, similar to Thomas W. Bennett.
http://www.history.army.mil/moh/vietnam-a-l.html#BENNETTTW
Major William E. Adams

10 comments:

  1. Both Bennett and Adams were very brave. It is so courageous that they risked their own lives to save other soldiers and did not give a second thought to their safety. I could not imagine what I would do if I was in their position, I probably would not have been as brave as them and would be more worried about my safety.

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  2. Both of these amazing men, deserve this medal because without them so many people would have died and they never put themselves first! They were brave, bold, and courageous! These men are true heroes and deserve this prestigious award!

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  3. Both of these men definitely deserved the Medal of Honor. They were completely selfless when it came to saving others. They put their lives in danger to save the lives of others. They are true heroes.

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  4. Both of these stories are touching and filled with valor. My dad had told me about someone he found to be a role model, Joe Hooper. My father had always wanted to be a part of the Armed Forces, he ended up making a career out of it for sometime. He had done a lot of research since he especially loved history. He came across Joe Hooper who happened to be one of the most decorated soldiers in U.S. military history. He received the Medal of Honor, two Silver Stars for gallantry, six Bronze Stars for heroism, and eight Purple Hearts along with several other awards. At one point in time, he was stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. This just so happens to be where my dad spent the most of his military career and where I had grown up during the early years of my life which I find pretty cool.

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  5. I honestly think more people should be awarded the medal of honor, it just doesn't feel right to me that usually the receive the award after they have passed. Sure that makes their family feel better, and more at ease, but I feel like that's very disrespectful. I just feel like more people helped out in many ways, to achieve these feats these winners did, so you just can't give all the credit and recognition to one person.

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  6. These men are true heroes to our nation. They both put their life on the line to possibly save others lives. No guarentees these people will make it even if they were to be rescued but they didnt care, all they knew is that they were giving them a chance at survival.

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  7. It's worth noting that Thomas W. Bennett was a conscientious objector due to his religion (Southern Baptist), but he enlisted as a conscientious objector willing to serve. He is one of only three conscientious objectors to be awarded the Medal of Honor.

    Source:

    http://www.historynet.com/a-conscientious-objectors-medal-of-honor.htm

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  8. What both of these men did is well deserving of their medals. I believe that the public should be more in the loop of men like this instead of never hearing about these people.

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  9. After reading the chapter about Norman and how he "almost" won a medal and reading your blog post, I look at war medals a different way. They really are important and can mean a lot to others and the soldiers receiving them. The stories behind them are amazing and I want to read more!

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  10. There are a lot of these stories in the wars today but like someone said above they just don't get the recognition. Everyone is focused on reality tv and other things about celebrities lives it doesn't make much sense to me.

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