Heroism Past, Present
MOH recipient Tom Kelley with a duty to perform today for Lt. Michael Murphy, and thoughts on recognizing heroism. Gelzinis at Boston Herald:
Tom Kelley, this state’s Secretary of Veteran’s Services, will be out of the office this morning. The White House has asked Kelley to participate in that rarest of ceremonies - a moment of honor he personally experienced some 40 years ago.
After President George W. Bush awards the Medal of Honor to the family of U.S. Navy SEAL Lt. Michael P. Murphy in the Rose Garden this morning, Tom Kelley will present them with a specially embroidered blanket signifying their entrance into a confraternity of heroes formally known as the Medal of Honor Society.
“I will tell Lt. Murphy’s parents there’s nothing we can do to make up for their loss,” Kelley said, “but if it is some small consolation, their son’s supreme sacrifice has been appropriately recognized for the heroism it was. And then I will welcome the Murphy family into our society and let them know that they will always be with us, as we will be there for them.”
On June 28, 2005, Murphy, raised in a small town on Long Island, N.Y., led a four-man SEAL team on a mission to locate a key Taliban leader in the mountains near Asadabad, Afghanistan. Murphy and his unit came under withering fire from a larger Taliban force that surrounded them after their position had been given up by local goat herders.
In order to radio his location to a rescue force, Murphy, as described in his medal citation, “moved away from the protective mountain rocks and knowingly exposed himself to enemy gunfire. While continuing to be fired upon (Murphy) calmly provided his unit’s location and the size of the enemy force, while requesting immediate support for his team.”
Murphy is just the third soldier to receive the Medal of Honor during the current war on terror. As was the case with Army Sgt. 1st Class Paul Smith, and Cpl. Jason Dunham, USMC, all three medals were awarded posthumously.
It is a fact that troubles Tom Kelley. He is a gentleman who bristles at being called a hero, yet rightly earned the designation while commanding a rescue mission on a river in Vietnam where he lost one eye and a significant chunk of his head in the process.
“I don’t want to put myself in the same league with Lt. Murphy, or Sgt. Smith, or Cpl. Dunham,” Kelley said with a customary humility, “but it does seem to me, as well as many of my colleagues in the (Medal of Honor) society, that the criteria now being used to award the medal has been set extraordinarily high. Much higher, I believe, than it was back in my day.”
Kelley says he’s aware of “extraordinary acts of bravery and sacrifice” worthy of the award, made by soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq who barely survived. “There is nothing in the criteria for the medal that states you have to be dead to receive it,” Kelley said. “And frankly, that’s what bothers me as well as the other 108 living members of our society.”
Asked why the country’s highest military honor has been so scarcely awarded during a combined conflict that has lasted longer than World War II, Tom Kelley said, “There’s a reluctance to remind the country that we happen to be engaged in a war where only a small amount of the population is being asked to pay the price.
“Truly amazing and valiant things are being done,” Kelley said, “but it’s only the brother soldiers or the families who are truly aware.”
Kelley explained that he’s had senior military officials actually make the point to him that, “Well, it’s not a real war like you guys fought in Vietnam or Korea, with major battles.”
“My response was I don’t care if it’s a so-called skirmish, or a roadside bomb in Baghdad, or house-to-house operation in Fallujah, any time an enemy is throwing rounds at you, it might as well be the Battle of the Bulge.”
Today, one unassuming Navy hero of the past will take the morning off to stand in solemn tribute to Lt. Michael P. Murphy, a Navy hero of the present.
More on Murphy and the action in which he was killed here. More on Kelley, his career and the action in which he earned the Medal of Honor here.
Topics: Afghanistan, courage, military
Posted by Jules Crittenden at 9:18 am on Monday, October 22, 2007
8 Responses to “Heroism Past, Present”
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October 22nd, 2007 at 12:58 pm
“Truly amazing and valiant things are being done,” Kelley said, “but it’s only the brother soldiers or the families who are truly aware.”
And this is a loss for the society at large. It’s one of the reasons why so many in our society feel our country isn’t worth the effort, because they have no clear idea of what’s being accomplished.
October 22nd, 2007 at 3:45 pm
It isn’t only the MOH that isn’t being issued, but the other medals as well–to the shame of those officers sitting in Florida and DC, to my mind.
October 22nd, 2007 at 5:51 pm
Did the NYTimes ever mention this? If so, how far back in the paper?
October 22nd, 2007 at 7:39 pm
I offer a salute to LT Murphy, who most certainly earned his MOH.
It isn’t only the MOH that isn’t being issued, but the other medals as well–to the shame of those officers sitting in Florida and DC, to my mind.
That was certainly the case back in 2005, salty. I doubt it has improved much.
October 23rd, 2007 at 2:23 am
Banjo
Try http://www.nypost.com/seven/10132007/news/nationalnews/the_new_york_crimes.htm
Cheers
October 23rd, 2007 at 2:27 am
Banjo
Or you might have done some research:
http://www.julescrittenden.com/2007/10/13/medal-of-honor/#more-2083
Cheers
October 23rd, 2007 at 11:20 am
Anchors Aweigh Lieutenant. May God rest your soul and comfort your family.
February 29th, 2008 at 1:44 pm
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