In May of 1898, during the brief Spanish American War at Cuba, the navy was on a mission to do some sounding in or near the harbour at Cardenas. This was a method of measuring the depth of the water, a critical piece of information to determine what size vessels could enter to do their business. On one such mission the navy were briefly harrassed by three Spanish gunboats that made a nuisance of themselves then hurried off to the protection available to them inside the harbour. 

The US took acception to this and decided that they would later run into the harbour to find them. The harbour was mined with underwater torpedoes and there were several gun batteries on shore. Some of these were hidden under brush and actually between buildings along the shore line. Some would later say the pieces were portable and when discovered they would simply move them down the street.  Smaller cannons were even mounted in buildings with the  barrel stuck out the window when fired.

This picture is of the USS Winslow a 150 foot long torpedoe boat that carried three torpedoe tubes and a heck of a wallop if you were on the wrong end. In fact even on the right end the boat would not shield you from the incredible noise and  rocking of the vessel  when one of these torpedoe  tubes was fired.

On entering the harbour one of the three American  vessels went along one side, the second along another and the third, being a slower moving ship hung back in the centre.

The Winslow  very quickly found one of the gunboats after a shot was fired from a 2nd floor window cannon. "The shell went hissing over our heads and then the warf boats and shore batteries started firing against us." according to an interview carried in the NY Times. The first shot may have been a signal shot that tell  to start the battle. Very quickly the enemy had destroyed the Winslow's steering gear and rendered her helpless in the water. Another shot tore through the hull and damges about 70 of the funnels found within the boiler. She was then powerless and began to drift with the tide..CLOSER to the enemy who took advantage of the situation and greatly increased its pounding on her. 

The 2nd US navy vessel.. the USS Hudson got permission to come to her mate's aid.  It would take nearly a half hour under incredible bombarding to secure a line and attempt to haul the Winslow out of harms way. But at one point all those attempting to fasten a rope were killed when a shell blew up in their faces. An officer here was killed, and beceame the first officer to die in the war. 

Many of the men on the Winslow  were either killed or maimed, but she was eventually towed to safety. 

This is the conning tower on the Winslow and with a close look you can see some of the damage caused by Spanish cannon fire.

Below deck on this vessel served  a Chief Petty Officer, who was a Chief Machinist by trade. His name was Thomas C Cooney and he was born at Westport Nova Scotia  in the 1850's. 

He would receive the Medal of Honor and his citation would read that ..."his gallantry and promptness in extinguishing the resulting flames saved the boiler from burning out. "

There were several Canadians that earned medals during this war. But Cooney was the only Chief Petty Officer in this war that was non American born. His would be the only Canadian CPO ever to be so awarded.

His mates on the sister ship Hudson received a very special commendation from the President of the US. The congress at his request ordered the stiking of a very special medal called the Cardenas Medal. There were three classes to it and I believe one went to every member of the Hudson.

The Winslow commander... Lt Bernardon  would write in an after action report that..."I have no fault with the Winslow crew. They acted nobly all the way through."  His boss...  was Commander Todd who would write in his report that with regards to the Winslow crew in the hot fire their actions were...  "Highly Commendable."

One of the survivors of the Winslow  would later tell the NY News that all of the men felt they were going to sink if it were not for the Hudson crew.

And one crew member most seem to forget was the mascot... a parrot that..."made himself famous that day of battle by shrieking and chattering like a demon during the whole engagement."

Thomas C. Cooney, a Canadian hero, died 106 years ago today and is buried on the grounds of the most revered US Navy Academy at Annapolis Maryland.

Bart

As promised yesterday, there are five known graves of Canadian Medal of Honor recipients in the state of California. There may be a sixth  and a  7th deserves honourable mention. If at all possible on your next planned trip to California, why not check out these locations and, if at all possible,  making a point of taking a side trip to see one or more of these graves and pay your respects for the services these heroes performed!

In order of the deeds performed resulting in the medal, here are the 7.

The first is short and sweet. It is a fellow from the 27th Maine that you have read much about over the past few blogs. It is believed he moved off to California after the Civil War and remained there for the rest of his life. This  is still being researched. He received his medal for volunteering to stay after his term of serice was up in late  June of 1863.

Ontario born Benjamin Franklin Youngs is buried at the Odd Fellows Cemetery at Los Angeles. He earned his Medal of Honor at Petersburg Virgina 17 June 1864 by capturing an enemy flag. His and others noted today will be covered in more detail in future blogs.

This is an old marker at the grave. It still stands, but beside it there is now an upright Medal of Honor marker.  This was unveiled in a ceremony by Debbie Peevyhouse, of California and myself.  Debbie has spent many years searching for MOH graves in the state, ensuring that they are readable and taken steps to have new markers installed were possible to identify hero status if not already there. Debbie has been responsible for several discoveries in her work and she and I have exchanged research materials over the years. She like I, have been self financed in this work for years.  

John Neil was born in Newfoundland. It is believed by some, and disputed by others that this is his grave and final resting place at the Mare Island Cemetery at Vallejo California.

John was in the navy and as a quarter gunner at Fort Fisher and was one of the brave soles who volunteered to sail a boat full of gunbpowder up into the harbour with the idea of sinking it in such a position that it would trap many enemy ships inside the harbour.  several things went wrong but several sailors  later were awarded the medal of Honor for their bravery, Neil being one of these.

He would stay in the service till in the early 1890's when he died.

John Chapman is buried at the Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery at Coma California.  John earned his Medal of Honor on 6 April 1865 in the battle at Sailor's Creek  by capturing an enemy's flag.

John was thought for years to have been born at Saint John New Brunswick but a few years back Debbie and others determined this was not so. In fact his name was not even correct. The real one is Charles Felix Kauffmann and he was born at Stratsbourg France.

This a picture of Debbie, that I took when we visted his grave a few years back. It was Debbie's work that saw the new portion added with the proper name and MOH status.

Austin Denham was British Born, but moved to Canada and by the age of 12 had moved off to the US. He is buried at the Cavalry Cemetery at Los Angeles California. This is on the same street at the cemetery were Youngs rests, and the two of them grew up within a handful of miles in Ontario.

They probably knew each other.

Austin earned his medal at Greytown Nicarauga in 1872. His Commanding Officer and several others were in a small boat that capsized. He and others went to their rescue but most died. Others were saved and further loss of life was prevented because of their bravery, and thus the award of the Medal of Honor a few months later.

Colonel Lewis Millett is buried at Riverside National Cemetery at Riverside California.

He earned his Medal of Honor In Korea, had served in Vietnam and also in WW11.

Millett served briefly in the Canadian Army then after the US joined the WW11 efforts he went back to them to serve, as he had done previous to his Canadian service.

Much has been written about the Colonel on this site in varius blogs and more will come in the future.

It is hoped that with the display of these markers, that at some time in the future, if you visit the State of California, you will try and visit one or more of these heroes to pay your respects for all they did to preserve our freedoms on both sides of the 49th parrallel.

Bart

This is the third and last part of the story of the 27th Maine Volunteer Infantry and the famous Purge of 1917. For new readers, please read the last two blogs to get up to date on the subject.

Pullen's book  gives a very detailed timeline of events leading up to and even past the Purge of 1917. It tells of the story of why the  27th were promised medals and the ultimate buffoonery that resulted in about 500 medals being made, engraved and sent off for distribution that were not authorized.

This was not corrected by the appropriate authorities and over time did much to downgrade the medal.  Indeed it still does so today, despite the fact that those telling the story often do not know the whole story.

That aside, other matters also led to the unevitable Purge of 1917.

One of these was the constant pressure by powerful groups to have all of the 27th medals cancelled and to have a national roll of honor created to identify those who were actually legitimate recipients.

One of these groups was the Grand Army of the Republic, a most powerful fraternity of close to 500,000 veterans  in its best days, and with posts in every state of the country and even outside, including a handfull in Canada.  Many members were very senior officers and including Presidents past and future.  When they talked folks usually listened. 

But for all the good they did they also caused problems with the very badge  they issued to membership.

This is their badge. As you can see looking at it and the photo above it is a very good likeness. Off at a distance it is most difficult to tell apart, and in photos of veterans it is even more difficult to note the difference.

Again with thousands  of these being worn on a regular basis, this served to downgrade the Medal of Honor.,. though no doubt there was no such intention of this very honourable group. 

In 1890 another group of veterans, but these being those who  had been awarded the Medal of Honor, formed an association. It was called the Medal of Honor Legion. It also grew to be a most influentional group of heroes that would advocate on behave of veterans across the nation and work to preserve the integrity of the medal. 

They and the GAR advocated numerous times in various ways to have all of the 27th Maine medals revoked. They felt firstly that about 500 of the medals should never have been issued and that further, the reasons for the issue to the remaining members of the unit were far below the standards of the deeds they performed to earn their own medals. 

Ever pushing for higher and higher standards for the awarding of a medal is one thing, but the concept of applying new rules to old awards was unfair to the earlier recipients. In their day, as today it is the chose of the President who will be awaded a medal, granted he or she still having rules to follow  in doing so. Rules today were not in force in the 1860's and to go back and throw out those not meeting today's standards is not fair... nor is it legal as you shall soon see.

These groups and many individuals over the years constantly asked that the government produce lists of medal recipients. It has been suggested in some books that they did not even have these until the mid 1880's or 90's and this letter to the left is evidence of poor record keeping. The 27th sent reports to DC during the war,  but obviously they got lost in the shuffle. Thus 27 years later they write asking for a list of the 27th who stayed on after their service had elapsed.

When lists were finally produced, as any researcher will quickly admit, these were often riddled with ommissions or vagueness or other errors .

Regardless, by 1897 the President tightened up the requirements for the medal. The rules drastically changed from Civil War days.  They reduced the problem the War Department was having by being bombarded for requests for medals from CW days till 1897.  It now required services..."performed in action of such conspiculous character as to clearly distinguish the man for gallantry and intrepidity  above his comrades. There needs to be statements from  witnesses and recomendations from the commanding officer and from that day forth no further applications would be considered a year after the event took place.  These were massive changes to the rules from  CW days. 

In 1896 a new ribbon was introduced for the medal. The following year a rosette or bow knot was designed and circulated to be worn in lieu of the medal on less formal ocassions. In 1903 a new medal was designed. In each of these events, more pressure was exerted to either cancel the 27th medals or at least at these new developments just not issue the new items to the 27th recipients.  Efforts that failed.

In April of 1916 Congress passes an act that created the Medal of Honor Roll. This layed out further strict requirements for the awarding of the medal, created a small pension and also directed that those holding medals that did not meet the new requirements were to return them to the War Departments and their names were to be delisted from the roll.

In June of that year an act to reorganize the army was created called the National Defence Act. At section 122 it ordered the creation of a Board of retired Generals to examine all army (no mention of navy) Medals of Honor and strike from the list any that did not meet the current criteria for the award. It directed that the board be started within 6 months and to order the return of all medals failing to meet the new criteria. It added that those displaying or wearing it that did not meet the new rules would be committing a Misdemeanor.

The new board had a problem with the directives given.  First, the bill passed by Congress created the new Honor Roll. It did not contain provisions for striking names or demandeing return of medals. The board asked that the bureaucrats that added the latter requirements take them back to Congress for approval before they moved forward. The request was not actioned. They then requested that Congress mellow the current requirements to such an extent that the 300 of the 27 and a few others would still qualify, but got no answers. They thus held meetings for a few hours every second week for several months and finally produced a report and later the names of over 900 were removed from the list.  And today, when you ask how many medals were issued, these men who's names have been removed will probably not be in the numbers you get.

During the Board's deliberations it and others consulted several sources with regards to the legality of removing the names of these men and demanding the retund of medals.

A former President, a future President, several  Ajudant General's, a Judge Ajudant General and the Supreme Court all gave the same opinions. You can not do what you are doing. One opinion said that..."an act done by one president of the US, vesting a right in a citizen is not subject to review by his successor."  A supreme court ruling on a very similar matter issued the statement that....  No person shall be deprived...of property... without due process of law. (Constitution Amedment 5)

A  Secretary of War, later a President, stated that ... the 27th medals had been legally awarded."

It is interesting to note that while being told to have the medals returned, the War department ultimately only sent out about 150 letters making the request, and at that, did not really follow up on geting them back. And in fact were given no funds to actaully police that portion of the directive.

In recent years several of the rescinded medals have been restored. (But none from the 27th)

One might ask if it is not time to revist the 300 in the 27th who did there duty as asked, and have these medals returned to families. That said, this blog is not advocating the return of any of those medals that went to those who did not stay behind.

With the purge of 1917, the government created a new pyramid of honor so that today, there is no doubt an award most befitting to the type of bravery being considered. That in itself was a major breakthrough that resulted from this story that so unjustly has placed a cloud over the heads of the 27th Maine, many of which later went on to provide most distinguished services, some still laying on those battlefields and at least one coming away witrh a second Medal of Honor, as you read yesterday.

Bart

Now I'm sure you've heard that one before.  But can you image getting a letter from the Adjutant General's office of the Department of War telling you that back on such and such a day (perhaps as long ago as 50 years, you were awarded a Medal of Honor.  And then that same authority had the gaul to say... but we want it back.  And we want it now!  And if you don't return it, and get  caught wearing it  you will be committing a misdemeanor.

Well folks, that's pretty well the way many of our heroes  were treated back in 1917!

First, I should explain the 50 yr delay. Many men were nominated for the Medal of Honor by their superiors without their knowledge. As many disappeared after their military service was over. They relocated across the country or maybe even beyond. The system often did not know where they were for many years and one could ask in some cases, how hard they tried to find them.

That being said, when the letters went out many learned for the first time that they had been awarded the MOH and in the same letter, that it was being rescinded. But I am getting ahead of myself.

Yesterday's blog introduced the story of the 27th Maine and how they were asked to stay on and continue serving in the army after their legal contracts had expired. They were only a 90 day unit. When the call came to move to the Capitol the unit had no legal requirement to do so. The government knew this full well. They had already had  to deal with about 300 from the 2nd Maine whom they called deserters after those men left the field of battle AFTER their terms elapsed. There were other examples of the same sort of thing. The troops of the 27th were no different in that they needed to get back to their famiies and farms and other legal obligations, had done their bit and wanted to go home.

A letter I have discovered from one of the men in the 27th noted that the unit was ordered to join the march towards Gettysburg and were on route when the authorities heard enough of the grumbling, that they changed the order to a request.  The Colonel then received a request forwarded by both the President and Secretary of War to please stay on for a few more days until the result of Gettysburg were known. If they would march to the Capitol and protect it, each man doing so would be awarded the Medal of Honor for their service.

The men voted and just over 300 decided that they would stay, and as the soldier's letter tell us...  "The Young blood of patriotism and inexperience in our regiment was hot and rebellious at the idea of running away while a real fight... it might be a decisive one... was pending. But a large portion of the regiment were men of family and business responsibilities. They had served their time and they wanted their quittance, glory or no glory. I do not know if I now blame them very much." 

The letter continued with the note that...  " I do not suppose men ever wanted to go into action more than we did, and it was for the offer to do so after our term expired that we were awarded the Medal of Honor. Not a great thing to do, Perhaps not, yet putting your head into the lion's mouth is all the same when making up your mind to try it, whether the lion chews it off or not. You do take an ugly chance."

The federal government ought to have been aware of units having terms expiring and could very well  have  made  better arrangement and the soldiers of the day had a right to complain about the lack of better management of resources.  If you were to examine one of the very first battles, that of Bull Run you will discover that not one but two units actual walked off the battlefield  the very day their terms expired. 

Above you can see that the offer of medals for extended service was not limited to the 27th, whom for years have carried the brunt of criticism  re a massive issue of Medals of Honor. This General Order clearly shows that several regiments were entitled to the same offer, but it appears none of these were acted upon. 

The MOH in Civil War days was the only medal that government had to award a soldier or sailor who clearly distuinguished himself in some manner or other. Bravery being only one of these posible situations. The medal was not thought of nearly as highly as it is today, and thus when some hear what bloggins did to get one they shudder when compairing the action to those needed today for an award to be made.  Today, as a result of a Purge that you will read of later, a soldier or sailor or marine or coast guard or airman or woman can earn up to 32 different awards for various levels of heroism.  Back in the 1860's there was one medal!  Then and today do not compare, and thus comparing  of deeds performed then and now ought not to be made.

Back to the 27th. In 1865 the government finally came to realize that 1 1/2 years earlier it promised medals to the 300 or more in the 27th who remained on duty after their enlistment terms expired. Letters were written to the unit for nominal rolls  and records at HQ were examined and bureaucrats got confused and ultimately medals were engraved for every man in the regiment.

About 850 of these medals were engraved for the soldiers of the 27th. There should have only been just over 300 made. They were then shipped of to the Governor of the state of Maine, who in turn sent them off to the former Colonel of the regiment. He was livid at the numbers forwarded, ensured that those ENTITLED to the medal, who actually stayed behind, were given them. The rest were sent back to the Governor who simply then again sent them back to the Colonel. He then thought that if they were sent back to DC that some bureaucrat would simply then send them out at a later date to those NOT QUALIFIED. So he did the next best thing. He hid them in his barn.

At the right is one of the medals issued. Please note that unlike most, it does not have a date enscribed on it.  James Brown is not one of those who stayed behind after his term was up.

A few years ago the late John H Pullen wrote the excellent book called A Shower of Stars: the Medal of Honor and the 27tth Maine. This book is a very good read and is no doubt available at many libraries and is still available for purchase on the net. It goes into incredible detail about the 27th, the purge you are about to read more on and the ultimate demand that over 900 medals be cancelled and returned to the government of the day. I would highly encourage anyone the least bit interested in the medal to beg borrow or steal this book and read it cover to cover. It is highly informative, and  great read to boot.

As noted within, the title is derived from the events that happened after the colonel hid the extra medals in his barn. Later someone broke into the barn and stole some of these medals and started handing them out to some of those who served but did not warant them. Some even had the guts to show up at reunions wearing the medal, to their own shigrin when they stood in front of their former Colonel who ordered they be removed. Not long after The Colonel died in 1897 the rest of the medals disappeared.  The book goes on to tell that the kids in the neighborhood soon found handfulls of then and plays cops and robbers wearing the badges as if they were the town sherriff... and thus... so many floating about... like a shower of stars. 

This blog is getting too long. I will leave the rest of this story till tomorrow, and promise to move on to other matters the following day,

cheers

Bart

Many of us have heard the cute phrase that when you have a question for a lawyer or a politician, put five in the room and ask the question. Then it is just a process of jugling the TEN answers you got!

No offence meant to these two professions.

I am often asked ..."How many men earned two Medals of Honor?"  The standard answer to that is 19. That's the number you will get at any number of websites on the subject. The trouble of course is that the answer is 100% wrong. Now if you asked how many are currently credited, the answer would be correct.

Breveted Major General George Washington Mindil was awarded two Medals Of Honor, despite what 99% of the sites and reference sources indicate today.

As a Captain in the Infantry during the Civil war he was performing duties as an Aide camp to a senior officer. When his troops fought at Williamsburg Virgina in May of 1862 it fell to him to lead his regiment in a charge that resulted in piercing the enemy's front lines, silencing several heavy cannons and then in fact forcing the Confederates  to abandon their position. For this he was awarded a Medal of Honor.

Later, as the colonel of the 27th New Jersey, he was in command in mid June of 1863 when the unit's term of service elapsed. Many regiments had short terms of service..be they 90 days, 3 months, I year or 2 years and finally 3 years service. This unit's elapsed and he requested the unit volunteer to stay back and not return home. The unit actually ended up staying for about another two weeks in the field of battle.

For this volunteering, he was awarded a 2nd Medal of Honor. (Years later, if awarded a 2nd medal, you did not get the actual medal but simply a bar that would be affixed to the ribbon above the medal.)

The general no doubt was quite proud of his troops and his own accomplishments and one would expect that at public or  military events he would show up wearing his two medals. But then the government that awarded him two medals came along, WITHOUT LEGAL AUTHORITY, and said give us one back. After almost 55 years they wanted it back!  Daaaaa!

He wasn't the only one treated that way. There were more than 900 others who would receive demands for the medal being returned to government.  Many told government what they could do with that request. 

Here's another double recipient that most in the know, do not know about.

This one came to me through the great work of the Medal of Honor Historical Society of the US, of which I am a proud member doing my bit. But before I bring this story I should note that what appears in my blog is not necessarily the opinion of my colleagues in the field of Medal of Honor research. There have been, and will no doubt be times in the future when we politely agree to disagree. And this is good as it brings more opinions to the table.

So, lets move on and talk about Adam McCulloch, or McCullock, or McCullough.  All three are the same guy. Go figure!
As McCulloch, Adam served a short term with the 27th Maine... same number different unit than above.  In July of 1863 the Confederates were posed to engage in a major battle at what would become famous as Gettysburg. The 27th were not far away from the Capitol at the time but their term of service, as above was coming to an end on the 17th. This was a major problem for the North, because they had sent most of the available troops to Gettysburg to greet the men of the South.

In the event that the south were victorious, they would of course then make a move on the Capital at DC. Thus the President and Secretary of War dispatched a request for the 27th to move to DC and remain until Gettysburg outcomes were known. Thus some did and some did not. The unit was promised Medals of Honor to each soldier who did stay, but documentation of those staying, and further babbling at DC ended up with every man in the unit getting a Medal of Honor. All were withdrawn in the same action that removed the 2nd medal held by General Mindil. More on this in tomorrow's blog.

But the story continues. For over 50 years McCulloch was the proud owner of a Medal of Honor. But to this he added a second for his bravery after his service ended with the 27th, when he entered the navy. He served on the USS Lackawanna at Mobile Bay in August 1864, and in the battle was wounded in the leg but refused to leave his battle station until the fight was won. He (and three Canadians) and many others would later be awarded a MOH for their bravery in the battle.

But this was now McCullock's 2nd MOH. (Note the spelling difference while in navy)  Again the first medal would be later withdrawn, but more tomorrow on this.  So you can see that while he was definately a double recipient, the normal sources do not disclose that. And that does little to portray the real history of the medal.

More on this tomorrow, Please come back, and bring your friends also.

Bart









 

It has just been announced in the last few days that a new documentary about the Medal of Honor will be produced. It will be shown for the first time at the annual conventional of the Congressional Medal of Honor Society at their 2014 convention in Knoxville Tn.

While many documentaries have been produced on the subject, they have tended to focus on the great heroes over the years that have been awarded the medal and their stories of bravery. But this documentray is supposed to have a new twist.

It will tell the story of the medal... and not the recipients. It will presumably go back to the days before the Medal was proposed and will hopefully touch on the most interesting history of the Badge of Merit and the Badge of Military Merit that go back to the days of General Washington and the Revolutionary War. The production would also get into the details of some of the hickups over the awarding of the medal over the years, how some were withdrawn, and how some of these were reissued and even how the medal itself got redesigned a few times and why.

I would hope that while researching and making the video considerable time be spent on what became known as the Purge of 1916-17 in which over 900 medal recipients were told to return their medals after holding them for about 50 yrs in some cases. And perhaps they can have a look at how that all came about, and how the demands that medals be returned violated the Constitution.  One can only hope!

Future blogs on this site will cover the issue.

The above mentioned society is called the CONGRESSIONAL Medal of Honor Society of the US, and its members consist of the actual medal recipients. The term CONGRESSIONAL was used as it was the body that approved the creation of the society. That body then sent  a request for the President for his approval. This was granted on 5 August 1958.

Readers however should not be confused with the use of the term. It applied to the society and NOT to the medal which is simply called the Medal of Honor.

Over the years the media has often been calling the medal by the wrong name and continues today to do so in many cases. Over the past few weeks there was a news clip, about the late, General  Norman Schwarzkopf who had just passed away. A few days later another story told the world of the passing of the great baseball player Roberto Clemente. Just yesterday yet another story told us about a recent  dedication of a statute to Mary Walker, the only woman in the history of the medal to be so awarded.

In the first and the last newsclips the medal was referred to as the Congressional Medal of Honor, in error. The ball payer's medal was called the Congressional Medal of Honor. There is of course no such thing. What Roberto was presented with was a President's GOLD Medal, which of course is an entirely different medal.

The media have been told repeatedly by researchers including myself about the incorrect use of these terms but  in so many cases they just don't seem to get it. That is unfortunate, because it takes away from otherwise good coverage in many of these same cases.

I trust that readers understand that the research work I am doing is very much still on-going.  The number of recipients that I am working on have increased from 54  some 12 years ago and now are tinkering on 107. That's a lot of work. One of the tools I use almost daily is the Google search of daily news about anything to do with the Medal of Honor.  Thus my learning of the above two stories.

I would now like to talk about a third, and in a few minutes a fourth story. The third is an item about all the hot stories of 2012 and therein was of course the article about how the family of the late Sgt Leslie H Sabo Jr. were finally getting the Medal of Honor earned by Leslie back in 1970. Leslie was killed in Vietnam while saving the lives of many of his comrades. He was recommended for the MOH but the system then went and lost the paperwork.... for 30 years. It took another 12 to fix it.

The article also said that the US government has finally "closed the books on Vietnam".   Bet the families haven't!

Anyone who has had the pleasure of investigating these stories of heroism knows that there are times, in fact far too many when the stories get all balled up. Someone has recorded the wrong name, or the wrong home town or place of birth or age. Someone has lost the paperwork. It goes on and on and on. One fellow actually wrote a book about the medal, and noted that his was a compedium of corrections to mistakes he found in a government produced book with over 600 mistakes in it. In a future blog I will be arguing that there are no less than 6 DOUBLE medal recipients that are currently not credited for these incredulous acts of courage.

The point I am trying to make is that for whatever reason, mistakes have happend far more than should have. And to suggest now that the government is closing books when it has such a record of getting it wrong seems nothing short of ridiculous. One must ask how many others are out there waiting to be recongnized?

The books should NEVER be closed on these heroes!

It is also interesting to note that whilst a US citizen, Leslie was in fact born in Austria. Kudo's to the US government since Civil War days in opening up its borders to those who want to become good citizens of their new country, and many of which put their lives in danger so that the rest of us can enjoy the freedoms we do. And many of these same heroes have give up their lives in the process.

This site is not to rain on the parade of our American cousins south of the border, but on the other hand it is to shine the light on those north of that border that did their best to also help to ensure the freedoms we all enjoy today. Many do not realize it but, if you look at the entire number of Medal of Honor recipients you would find that one in every five went to someone who was not born in the United States. Pick up 20 stories on the medal and count how many times you are given that fact.  

And finally to story number four. This is a shortie.

Not sure how many war heroes can claim having flown 55 combat missions in WW11 and then another 51 in Korea..but Charles L Loring of Portand Maine did so.  In his last mission, his plane was shot down but he had the bravery and tenacity to fly right into a gun emplacement to detroy  enemy guns possing incredible danger to the allied troops in the immediate area.

Loring would die in this final act of bravery and was later awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously. The family would erect a small memorial park in his honour and it was there that just a few days ago five 12 inch wreathes were stolen. Apperently the thief did not take the time to read the words...heart... presence...integrity  and spirit  engraved on the markers at the park.

I have a suggestion for this needy culprit. Escort him or her to the nearest recruitment centre and ship him or her off to a theatre of war where he or she can experience first hand what it is like to be in harm's way for your country.

Perhaps then he..or she.. will learn that freedom does not come from he end of a pen.  It comes from the end of a riffle!

Bart

If the bullet did not do its job George might have lived a few more years.  In fact if he were still alive today, he would be singing Happy Birthday to me,  Happy birthday to me..  But he wouldn't be singing too loud.  It is probably hard to sing when you are 158 years old... today.

George Horace Morgan was a miltary man, as was his father, and several previous ancestors. 

Pictured here's is his dad,  George Nelson Morgan. He was born along the St lawrence and by the age of 13 was serving with the British during the 1837 rebellion in Canada. (George Horace's grandfather fought in the War of 1812 and his Great Grandfather fought in the Revolutionary War)

G Nelson would later move to the St. Catherines area of Ontario, get married, have two kids, teach music and when his son G Horace was only one he moved the family to the US.

When the Civil War started G Nelson joined up with a unit as a private, and over the next 5 years would be in at least 20 battles. He would end the war as a Brig. General,  one of 8 Canadian generals in the war, dispite lesser numbers found elsewhere on the net today.

In another blog I will tell you about another Canadian that served in his unit, and would earn the Medal of Honor during the Civil War. But for now I will leave G Nelson Morgan by noting that there is a street today in the city of  Minneapolis that carries his name.

George Horace Morgan began a lengthy military career with his appointment in 1876 as a student at the famous US Military Academy at West Point, and is pictured here in his uniform whilst studying there. By the time his military career ended he would have served in the Indian uprisings, in Cuba and the Philipines and also in WW1. During that period of time he would receive many awards of valor and be wounded twice in battle.

After graduation from West Point Morgan was commissioned and then assigned to the 3rd US Cavalry. He would be part of one of the several companies called out to capture some natives in mid 1862.

They had been responsible for killing four police officers, including the chief from a place called San Carlos Arizona. The white residents were demanding military action, so some of the 3rd Cavalry responded. The natives were followed to a place along the East Clear Creek and a four hour battle ensued that would later become known as the Battle at Big Dry Wash.

While leading his troops in battle Morgan was shot in the arm. It blasted through and entered his body near his heart.  He lay there chilled and in horrible pain and thought he was dying. Later the medical authorities did what they could for him, but they refused to remove the bullet. It was too close to the heart and thought the risk was to great to attempt removal. So it stayed there, and he managed to survive the battle, the Indian Uprisings,  further service in the Spanish American War, the Phillipines and even WW 1.  He would retire with the rank of full Colonel.

In 1892, almost ten years to the day after the battle, Morgan and three others were awarded the Medal of Honor for their bravery.

This monument near the battle sight in Arizon reminds the reader of the great battle so many years earlier.

In September 2008 the US Government opened up a new army camp in Bosnia and Herzegovina and named it camp Morgan in honour of Canadian born Colonel George Horace Morgan.

A few years after retirement Morgan took ill and was being treated at the Walter Reid Hospital. The family tells me that he was a someone stubborn old fellow, being a Colonel and all.  When the nurses tried to help him he would often try to get along without them. On his final day of life, he had to get up to go to the bathroom. He refused to call for help, stumbled out of the bed, fell and dislodged the bullet that was shot into him over 65 years earleir. He died on the spot.

Family have many keepsakes of this hero. Two of these are held with family in Nova Scotia.  When I visited a few years back I was shown the two items. Very rare and most colourful  Navajo blankets.

And no... they wouldn't let me have one.  hehe

Bart