Alexander's Column
Principled commentary from Mark Alexander, Publisher.
Profiles of Valor: COL Joe Marm (USA)
"The leader of the stranded platoon was killed, and his whole chain of command were killed or wounded."
Profiles of Valor: CPT Florent Groberg (USA)
"It was the worst day of my life. ... I lost four of my brothers."
Profiles of Valor: LTC George Hardy (USAF)
"Someone was looking out over me. I feel it. Someone up there likes me, and I was able to make it out alright."
Profiles of Valor: CSM Robert Patterson (USA)
The day a man rushed five NVA bunkers, destroyed them and the enemy within, and lived to tell about it.
Profiles of Valor: CPT James Allen Taylor
"My mission ... to encourage our countrymen, especially our youth, to understand the cost of freedom and to become worthy citizens."
Profiles of Valor: CSM Gary Lee Littrell (USA)
"I'm wearing this medal for the 400 and some people that died those four days. I'm their representative."
Profiles of Valor: SP4 Larry Dahl (USA)
Responding to desperate calls for help, three Gun Trucks — Brutus, The Untouchable, and The Misfits — raced into the kill zone...
Profiles of Valor: ENS Donald McPherson (USN) — The Last Ace
"I squeezed the trigger, and ... then I turned and did a lot of violent maneuvers to try to get out of there without getting shot down."
Profiles of Valor: LTC Harold Arthur Fritz (USA)
"America — love it or leave it. Many have died to protect it."
Profiles of Valor: SSgt Johnny 'Joey' Jones (USMC)
"Courage is knowing the consequences, not wanting those consequences, but choosing to do it anyway because it needs to be done."
Profiles of Valor: SP4 Michael Fitzmaurice (USA)
"With complete disregard for his personal safety ... he then threw his flak vest and himself over the remaining charge."
Profiles of Valor: SSG Clint Romesha (USA)
"I felt like that day was the first day in 10 years of military service that I did my job. This was the ultimate test of everything I had done in the service..."
Profiles of Valor: MSG John Baker Jr. (USA)
"Five-foot-two John Baker was a giant. ... Once you got to know him, you realized he's exactly the giant we expect to see on the battlefield. He was larger than life."
Profiles of Valor: CWT Oscar Peterson (USN)
"After being adrift four days, thanks in large measure to Peterson's actions, all 138 survivors were rescued by the USS Henley, and they scuttled the Neosho to prevent it from falling into enemy hands."
Profiles of Valor: Graham Hoffman (KCFD)
"This is a senseless act that has taken a young man from his family, friends and coworkers and deprived our city of a dedicated firefighter who only wanted to serve and protect those in his community."
The Independence Day Medals of Honor
We are devoted to something much larger than our own self-interest, something eternal, not temporal — a willingness to sacrifice all in defense of Liberty, for ourselves and our posterity.
Profiles of Valor: MCPO Edward Byers (USN)
"Very few people can say they died doing something they love, and he'll forever be remembered in the pages of history as being a truly great hero."
Profiles of Valor: SSgt Bobby Wayne Abshire (USMC)
"His courage in the face of hostile fire and his compassion for his wounded comrades were an inspiration to all who observed him."
Profiles of Valor: Col Harvey Barnum (USMC)
"There is no one here worthy of being a United States Marine. ... There isn't anybody here I want in my Marine Corps."
Profiles of Valor: MSgt John Chapman (USAF)
"Our nation is rich with blessings, but our greatest blessings of all are the patriots ... who, like John, carry our freedom on their shoulders..."