Two American Heroes Pass On

This morning, Medal of Honor recipient Nick Bacon, 61 died from throat cancer. Bacon was awarded the Medal of Honor for gallantry in combat during the Vietnam war. Here is a brief description of his actions:

On Aug. 26, 1968, while commanding a squad of the first platoon of Company B, 4th Battalion in an operation west of Tam Ky in Vietnam, Bacon destroyed several enemy positions with hand grenades. When his platoon leader was wounded, Bacon led the platoon to destroy remaining enemy positions. Bacon also took command of a second platoon (3rd Platoon, Bravo Company) when its leader was killed and rallied both platoons against the enemy. Providing cover for evacuation of wounded, Bacon climbed a tank to fire at the enemy, a move that exposed himself to enemy fire. He was credited with killing at least 4 enemy soldiers and destroying an anti-tank gun.

Rest in Peace, Sergeant Bacon and thank you for your service

Earlier this week Medal of Honor recipient Vernon Baker, 90 died from brain cancer. Baker was awarded the Medal of Honor for gallantry in combat during World War II. At great risk to his personal safety Baker took out several German machine gun posts. Here is a brief description of his actions:

While serving as second lieutenant in the unit in 1945, he and his men were ordered to launch an assault against Castle Aginolfi, a mountainous German post near Viareggio, Italy. After executing the attack, his company was bombarded with fire from several machine gun emplacements. Baker crawled to one of the posts and destroyed it, killing three Germans. Thereafter, he attacked an enemy observation post and killed two of its occupants.

After teaming up with another soldier in the company, Baker attacked two more machine gun posts, killing or wounding four enemy soldiers who were occupying it. He then organized the evacuation of all of the wounded soldiers in his unit by situating himself in an exposed position and drawing the enemy’s fire.

The following day, Baker led a battalion advance and finally secured the mountain for American soldiers. Baker and his platoon killed a total of 26 Germans and destroyed two observer posts, four dugouts and six machine gun nests.

Rest in Peace, Lieutenant Baker and thank you for your service.

On a related note, we have less than 100 living Medal of Honor recipients and none from our current conflicts. We have been at war since 11 September 2001 and I can not believe that no soldier, sailor or Marine has merited our highest award for bravery. I have read hundreds of accounts of incredible bravery in the face of enemy fire over the past nine years some of these awards need to be reviewed and considered for upgrading.