A new hero

Yes, I have been playing around with a new WordPress theme this afternoon. It is much easier than the one I have used for awhile. We shall see how it goes.

President Obama made his first Medal of Honor presentation today. It was to the family of Army Sgt. 1st Class Jared Monti. He died in June 2006 after heroic action in Afghanistan.

The Army has improved its Web site that hosts the information on all of the almost 3,500 service members (from all services, not just the Army) who have received this honor in the wars of our country. I read, including viewing a multimedia presentation on Sgt. 1st Class Monti, through some of the citations this morning, especially of a few whose name rang a bell for me. For example:

PFC Harold C. Agerholm, USMCR, who was killed in action July 7, 1944 on Saipan. Under a heavy Japanese attack, Agerholm single-handedly evacuated about 45 casualties over a three-hour period. He was killed trying to reach two more casualties he believed were Marines. The U.S. Navy destroyer on which I served from 1977-78 in the Pacific was named after Agerholm. The ship was sunk in a missile test off the Southern California coast several years after its decommissioning in 1978.

Army Staff Sgt. Lucian Adams killed nine German soldiers and knocked out three enemy machine guns during a fierce attack on Oct. 28, 1944, near St. Die, France. Adams helped eliminate hostile forces and reopened supply lines for his unit. Adams grew up in a large Hispanic family in Port Arthur, Texas. He died in 1983 after retiring from the Department of Veterans Affairs. Most every time I drive to Port Arthur on U.S. Hwy. 69/96/287 I pass by the road named for Staff Sgt. Lucian Adams, which just this year became home to the newly opened Port Arthur Memorial High School.

There are many more stories of those who were awarded the Medal of Honor. Some of those stories you may recognize and others you won’t. But one will find in those citations some true tales of inspiration. We may wish that we didn’t have to fight wars, but we need be glad we have those like Adams and Agerholm who have whatever that spark of courage is that makes them do what they do.