Books |
Medal of Honor
Peter Collier
By
Published: Jan 01, 2007
Category:
Non Fiction
War changed half a century ago, when armed conflict stopped being about nations and started being about “liberation.” And at that point, the targets of violence changed — from soldiers to civilians. Consider the Algerian rebels in Battle of Algiers. Their targets weren’t the French soldiers; they were French colonists. A snack bar, a travel agency — these bombings of women and children both inflamed the French and broke their will.
“Medal of Honor” is thus a book of nostalgia, twice over. Most of the 116 living Medal of Honor winners profiled here are veterans of the last “good” war — they’re the Greatest Generation soldiers of World War II. For another, their deeds of valor occurred in combat with enemy soldiers, not against civilians who have taken up arms against us. So, regardless of your politics, you’ll find this book revealing — and perplexing.
This large, handsome coffee table book (and companion DVD) is meant to be soul-stirring, and it is. Each winner gets a two-page spread. On the left, a full page picture of the Medal of Honor winner as he is today. On the right, an account of what he did.
Their stories are true — you don’t get the highest award we give to soldiers on a brag — but not at all believable. That is, they’re literally amazing. Lucian Adams, for example. He and his men were ambushed by Germans. Three of his comrades were killed immediately; six were wounded. Adams pressed on, firing from the hip, until he had cleared out the German patrol. And this wasn’t the first time — a few months earlier, he had single-handedly wiped out a German machine-gun position.
Joe Cavaiani was reported dead after spraying a unit of North Vietnamese with grenades and small arms fire. And he played dead when North Vietnamese overran his position and set his bunker on fire. Though shot in the back and badly burned, he walked through the jungle for 11 days — until he was captured and sent to the “Hanoi Hilton”.
Even heroism needs texture. This book gets it in the profile of Raymond Clausen, Jr., a Marine who was such a discipline problem he lost every promotion he got. In violation of orders, he jumped out of a helicopter in Vietnam to rescue wounded men. Six trips, 18 Marines saved. And then a lecture for violating orders.
William Crawford walked into enemy fire and killed Germans — it’s more elaborate than that, but the essentials suffice to stun you. He’s now a janitor at the Air Force Academy. It took years for anyone there to know what he’d done; these days, he gets an ovation at special dinners.
A father-and-son pair are featured — the son won the Medal, but thought it should go to his father. And there’s a man who joined the military to avenge his brother’s death. The stories are brutal and fascinating, and in addition to making you ask yourself if you could do any of these things, they make you ask a better question: How could anyone?
It might have been nice if each profile included a paragraph about the Medal of Honor winner’s life after leaving the military. But that, I fear, might have been a downer — few of us get more than one chance at heroism, most of us lead ordinary lives. And the Medal of Honor is about superhuman moments, which even the winners cannot fully explain.
The men who fought in World War II are dying fast; Vietnam vets are aging. As Veteran’s Day approaches, I suspect they would greatly value this book. And for those who think war is like a video game, it’s quite the wake-up call.
To order “Medal of Honor” from Amazon.com, click here.
