Vietnam Veteran's Medal of Honor on hold during p**********l t***sition
Jul 31, 2017 15:56:03 #
slatten49
Loc: Lake Whitney, Texas
I was proud to see Jim McCloughan awarded it today on television, about 50 years after his heroic actions.
By: Meghann Myers, Army Times; January 15
When President Obama signed the National Defense Authorization Act two days before Christmas, 2016, he also signed off on a provision buried down in the weeds to allow a Michigan man to receive the Medal of Honor five decades after the actions for which he earned it.
After years of wait-and-see and a push from his local congressional representatives, former Spc. Jim McCloughan, 70, was authorized to receive the military's highest award for his actions as a medic in Vietnam -- but now that the executive branch is knee-deep in a t***sition from the Obama to Trump administrations, the award is again on hold.
"We're just waiting to see what the next situation is going to be," McCloughan, who lives in South Haven, Michigan, told Army Times in a recent phone interview.
Army Secretary Eric Fanning signed McCloughan's Medal of Honor certificate on Dec. 27, according to his spokesman.
A photo of the signed certificate made the rounds online after a friend of Fanning's posted it publicly. Those posts have since been deleted from social media.
It is authentic, though, Maj. Christopher Ophardt confirmed.
The hitch is that once Fanning signed the certificate, it was sent to outgoing Defense Secretary Ash Carter's office for approval. The next step would be a final signature from the president, but with less than a week left in office, officials don't expect to pull off a Medal of Honor ceremony at the White House.
"Secretary Fanning is doing his part to keep that process moving forward, and was sharing the story of this remarkable soldier," Ophardt said. "The decision is the president's to make, and no official decision has been made."
McCloughan had not been told that Fanning had signed off on his award, but said he was staying patient.
"I’m anticipating that it will not be President Obama because of the lack of time that he has left in office," he said. "I just am waiting."
In May 1969, McCloughan was a 23-year-old private first class medic with Company C, 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment during the Battle of Nui Yon Hill, a gruesome two-day battle that left dozens k**led, wounded or missing in action.
McCloughan survived with some grenade shrapnel and a bullet wound in his arm, but managed to save 10 people, he told the Detroit Free Presslast year.
He also earned two Purple Hearts, two Bronze Stars with V device, the Vietnam Service Medal with three battle stars, and the Republic of Vietnam Cross of Gallantry with palms and one oak leaf, among others, according to a December release from the office of Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., who lead the charge to push through the award for McCloughan.
His former platoon leader put him up for a Distinguished Service Cross years later, after McCloughan returned home to teach high school. Carter bumped it up to a Medal of Honor last year, but the nomination ran into a stumbling block because the law requires the award to be given within five years of the service member's actions.
That's when Stabenow, Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., and Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., stepped in, adding language in the 2017 NDAA to grant McCloughan an exception.
Stabenow and her fellow Michigan lawmakers made a similar exception earlier in 2016 for retired Lt. Col. Charles Kettles, who received the Medal of Honor in July for his actions in a 1967 ambush in Vietnam.
McCloughan knew that President Obama signed the NDAA, he said, but no one had called to let him know that Fanning had signed his certificate.
Still, he said he trusted that Stabenow's office would continue to advocate for him once Trump and the prospective defense secretary, retired Marine Gen. James Mattis, take office.
A member of Stabenow's staff confirmed to Army Times that the senator will keep pushing to get the award into McCloughan's hands.
"It’s been nearly 48 years," McCloughan said. "I think I can wait a few more weeks."
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
He got it, as I said, today. And, he was presented it in front of a national audience. Military medical personnel took a deserved bow today.
By: Meghann Myers, Army Times; January 15
When President Obama signed the National Defense Authorization Act two days before Christmas, 2016, he also signed off on a provision buried down in the weeds to allow a Michigan man to receive the Medal of Honor five decades after the actions for which he earned it.
After years of wait-and-see and a push from his local congressional representatives, former Spc. Jim McCloughan, 70, was authorized to receive the military's highest award for his actions as a medic in Vietnam -- but now that the executive branch is knee-deep in a t***sition from the Obama to Trump administrations, the award is again on hold.
"We're just waiting to see what the next situation is going to be," McCloughan, who lives in South Haven, Michigan, told Army Times in a recent phone interview.
Army Secretary Eric Fanning signed McCloughan's Medal of Honor certificate on Dec. 27, according to his spokesman.
A photo of the signed certificate made the rounds online after a friend of Fanning's posted it publicly. Those posts have since been deleted from social media.
It is authentic, though, Maj. Christopher Ophardt confirmed.
The hitch is that once Fanning signed the certificate, it was sent to outgoing Defense Secretary Ash Carter's office for approval. The next step would be a final signature from the president, but with less than a week left in office, officials don't expect to pull off a Medal of Honor ceremony at the White House.
"Secretary Fanning is doing his part to keep that process moving forward, and was sharing the story of this remarkable soldier," Ophardt said. "The decision is the president's to make, and no official decision has been made."
McCloughan had not been told that Fanning had signed off on his award, but said he was staying patient.
"I’m anticipating that it will not be President Obama because of the lack of time that he has left in office," he said. "I just am waiting."
In May 1969, McCloughan was a 23-year-old private first class medic with Company C, 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment during the Battle of Nui Yon Hill, a gruesome two-day battle that left dozens k**led, wounded or missing in action.
McCloughan survived with some grenade shrapnel and a bullet wound in his arm, but managed to save 10 people, he told the Detroit Free Presslast year.
He also earned two Purple Hearts, two Bronze Stars with V device, the Vietnam Service Medal with three battle stars, and the Republic of Vietnam Cross of Gallantry with palms and one oak leaf, among others, according to a December release from the office of Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., who lead the charge to push through the award for McCloughan.
His former platoon leader put him up for a Distinguished Service Cross years later, after McCloughan returned home to teach high school. Carter bumped it up to a Medal of Honor last year, but the nomination ran into a stumbling block because the law requires the award to be given within five years of the service member's actions.
That's when Stabenow, Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., and Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., stepped in, adding language in the 2017 NDAA to grant McCloughan an exception.
Stabenow and her fellow Michigan lawmakers made a similar exception earlier in 2016 for retired Lt. Col. Charles Kettles, who received the Medal of Honor in July for his actions in a 1967 ambush in Vietnam.
McCloughan knew that President Obama signed the NDAA, he said, but no one had called to let him know that Fanning had signed his certificate.
Still, he said he trusted that Stabenow's office would continue to advocate for him once Trump and the prospective defense secretary, retired Marine Gen. James Mattis, take office.
A member of Stabenow's staff confirmed to Army Times that the senator will keep pushing to get the award into McCloughan's hands.
"It’s been nearly 48 years," McCloughan said. "I think I can wait a few more weeks."
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
He got it, as I said, today. And, he was presented it in front of a national audience. Military medical personnel took a deserved bow today.
Jul 31, 2017 16:16:33 #
slatten49
Loc: Lake Whitney, Texas
A followup to the original thread...
WASHINGTON — President Trump will confer his first Medal of Honor on a Vietnam combat veteran who risked his life on nine separate occasions to rescue wounded comrades, the White House said Tuesday.
Former Specialist Five James C. McCloughan exhibited conspicuous gallantry during 48 hours of close-quarter combat near Don Que, Vietnam, on May 13-15, 1969.
McCloughan, then a 23-year-old medic, "suffered wounds from shrapnel and small arms fire on three separate occasions, but refused medical evacuation to stay with his unit, and continued to brave enemy fire to rescue, treat, and defend wounded Americans," the White House said in a statement.
Trump will present the Medal of Honor to McCloughan on July 31.
Now a retired coach and teacher, McCloughan told WOOD-TV of Grand Rapids, Mich., last year that he refused to leave the battle when wounded because the only other medic there had been k**led.
“I knew that they were going to need me,” he said. “I wasn’t going to leave my men. Nope. I thought that would be my last day on Earth, though.”
By law, the Medal of Honor must be awarded within five years of the act justifying the award, but Michigan’s congressional delegation secured an amendment to last year’s defense policy bill giving McCloughan a waiver.
Secretary of the Army Eric Fanning signed off on the medal last December.
Surviving the war, McCloughan went on to spend nearly 40 years teaching and coaching sports at South Haven High School in Michigan, teaching psychology, sociology, and geography and coaching football, wrestling, and baseball.
"McCloughan is a member of the Michigan High School Coaches Association Hall of Fame; Michigan High School Football Association Coaches Hall of Fame; the Michigan High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame; and the Olivet College Athletic Hall of Fame," the White House said.
In his interview with the Michigan television station, McCloughan said there were many comrades he couldn't save.
“I’m not a hero," McCloughan said. "I just did my job. I’m not a hero. There’s a bunch of heroes there, a bunch of heroes. You know, any veteran will tell you the real heroes, they’re not here with us.”
WASHINGTON — President Trump will confer his first Medal of Honor on a Vietnam combat veteran who risked his life on nine separate occasions to rescue wounded comrades, the White House said Tuesday.
Former Specialist Five James C. McCloughan exhibited conspicuous gallantry during 48 hours of close-quarter combat near Don Que, Vietnam, on May 13-15, 1969.
McCloughan, then a 23-year-old medic, "suffered wounds from shrapnel and small arms fire on three separate occasions, but refused medical evacuation to stay with his unit, and continued to brave enemy fire to rescue, treat, and defend wounded Americans," the White House said in a statement.
Trump will present the Medal of Honor to McCloughan on July 31.
Now a retired coach and teacher, McCloughan told WOOD-TV of Grand Rapids, Mich., last year that he refused to leave the battle when wounded because the only other medic there had been k**led.
“I knew that they were going to need me,” he said. “I wasn’t going to leave my men. Nope. I thought that would be my last day on Earth, though.”
By law, the Medal of Honor must be awarded within five years of the act justifying the award, but Michigan’s congressional delegation secured an amendment to last year’s defense policy bill giving McCloughan a waiver.
Secretary of the Army Eric Fanning signed off on the medal last December.
Surviving the war, McCloughan went on to spend nearly 40 years teaching and coaching sports at South Haven High School in Michigan, teaching psychology, sociology, and geography and coaching football, wrestling, and baseball.
"McCloughan is a member of the Michigan High School Coaches Association Hall of Fame; Michigan High School Football Association Coaches Hall of Fame; the Michigan High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame; and the Olivet College Athletic Hall of Fame," the White House said.
In his interview with the Michigan television station, McCloughan said there were many comrades he couldn't save.
“I’m not a hero," McCloughan said. "I just did my job. I’m not a hero. There’s a bunch of heroes there, a bunch of heroes. You know, any veteran will tell you the real heroes, they’re not here with us.”
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