Courage Under Fire

 
Since 06-08-02

From: Otis Willie moderatingstaff@instruction.com
Sent: Wednesday, May 22, 2002 2:51 PM
Subject: [vetissues] Courage Under Fire, by Lloyd Grove Washington Post Staff Writer

Courage Under Fire, by Lloyd Grove Washington Post Staff Writer

(EXCERPT) Tuesday, May 21, 2002; 1:10 PM

CBS "60 Minutes" correspondent Mike Wallace, who at 84 is still "up to my knees in all kinds of things," is in Washington today promoting "Medal of Honor," a book on which he collaborated with 32-year-old historian Allen Mikaelian.

So this morning we asked Wallace--who served three years in the Navy during World War II but didn't come under fire until later, during his trips to far-flung war zones as a broadcast journalist--if he believes that he'd have shown courage in battle.

"You would ask that question, wouldn't you?"

And his answer?

"You never know," he told us. "You simply do not know how you're going to perform."

The book, featuring narrative by Mikaelian and commentary by Wallace, chronicles not only acts of bravery but also the prosaic post-war lives of 11 recipients of this country's highest military award, dating back to Mary Edwards Walker, the only female Medal of Honor winner whose work as a pant-wearing Union army officer and physician, tending wounded and diseased soldiers during the Civil War, persuaded President Andrew Johnson to sign her citation in 1865.

"Could it just be a fluke? No, I don't think so. I think the medal goes to the person's character," Wallace said, pointing to the case of World War II medal winner David Shoup, a lieutenant colonel who was wounded eight times in the bloody battle of Tarawa, in which 1,000 U.S. Marines and 4,800 Japanese soldiers were killed. Later, Shoup became Marine Corps commandant and, as an adviser to Lyndon Johnson, a fierce opponent of the Vietnam War.

"The medal is not awarded for following orders, no matter how coura...

U.S. and friendly nation laws prohibit fully reproducing copyrighted material. In abidance with our laws this report cannot be provided in its entirety. However, you can read it in full today, 22 May 2002, at the following URL. (COMBINE the following lines into your web browser.) The subject/content of this report is not necessarily the viewpoint of the distributing Library. This report is provided for your information and discussion.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A50985-2002May21.html

   Otis Willie
   Associate Librarian
   The American War Library
   http://www.americanwarlibrary.com

Military and Veterans Resource Guides

     http://members.aol.com/veterans/warlib6.htm

World's Largest Online Personnel Registry

     http://members.aol.com/veterans/warlib46.htm