Men of D-Day~Incredible photo collection

[mickeyd]

Anyone a WWII or D-Day history buff? 127 great pics.

Normandy 1944: Photographs - Then and Now

[GusLevy]

Just watched For Love of Liberty on PBS last night about the history of black soldiers and also have been reading again about the most decorated regiment in US history, the 442 Regiment comprised of the Japanese-American soldiers who were led by a Korean-American (how about that for multiple layers of irony!). It is astounding to think that the small regiment had 21 Medal of Honors - they ain't that easy to get since the Congressional oversight of that medal. I have always loved Truman's quote which he apparently whispered into the ear of a recipient as he placed the Medal around his neck: "I would rather have a Medal of Honor than be President of the United States."

Humanity is myopic by nature probably somewhat correlated with the fact that as animals we have present physical needs (i.e. food, shelter, etc.) and that Time is a force of the universe that is impossible for us to grasp beyond the immediate. Anyway, each era including our present one has it's end of the world nightmares (global warming - 50 days to fix it or it's all over!), it's market gyrations (the mkt will crash and you will have to move to a mountain to survive the chaos), etc. but the enormity of the destruction and chaos that resulted from WWI to WWII eras is really beyond - for the vast majority of us who did not experience it - our ability to comprehend.

When I look at the pictures in the link it does remind me that human beings are a crazy species but we are a very resilient one nevertheless. Amazing to see the contrasts from then and now...

[mickeyd]

Quote:

they ain't that easy to get since the Congressional oversight of that medal.

It has always been my understanding that Congress has nothing to do with the MOH. Its all the DOD/POTUS who decide on issuing it. Are you aware of some congressional oversight that I have missed?

[GusLevy]

Greetings. The official website is: CMOHS.org - Official Website of the Congressional Medal of Honor Society

The main points are that the award was originally created as a Congressional Bill during the Civil War primarily for the Navy and Marines. A similar Bill was then introduced for the Army and subsequently all Armed Services members were eligible though the history of the MOH includes slight variations for some Forces as opposed to others. The MOH is presented to the recipient by the POTUS in the name of the US Congress: The awarding and due diligence is done by the Armed Services but the award is officially the Congressional Medal of Honor.

The MOH has two significant historical markers/evolutions: 1) The Medal of Honor Legion in 1916/1917 cleansed the Award of less than meritorious recipients which greatly enhanced the MOH for valid recipients before and after that event as it became an extremely rare award, and 2) The MOH has slowly evolved to the point today where a recipient basically has to die in battle to be awarded one.

It is unofficially an expected tradition that senior officers up to the Commander of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the POTUS must salute any and all recipients of the MOH. President Obama created a tad bit more than a shock by being the first President to ever not show for the MOH Inaugural Ball in Jan 2009.

[RonBoyd]

Interesting tidbit on the MOH sidebar: There was, at least, one survivor of the Battle of the Greasy Grass (Custer battle).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Thompson_(soldier)