Biden awards Medal of Honor to 7 veterans of Vietnam and Korean Wars
Richard Cavazos' name is already recognized across the U.S. Army. He forged a path through service in Korea and Vietnam to become the first Hispanic four-star general, leading to a legacy that included the renaming of Texas' Fort Hood for him. It's now Fort Cavazos.
But on Friday, he finally received the nation's highest military award, the Medal of Honor.
Cavazos, who died in 2017, earned the award for actions during the Korean War in 1953, when the young first lieutenant led his company through multiple rounds of assaults to destroy an enemy outpost — all while facing heavy fire. After his company was ordered to pull back, Cavazos returned alone several times to rescue missing soldiers, even though he had also been wounded.
Cavazos, along with six other veterans, received the Medal of Honor for their actions in Korea or in Vietnam.
President Biden awarded the seven medals during a ceremony at the White House Friday, noting, "These are my final days as commander-in-chief."
"It's been the greatest honor of my life to be entrusted with the greatest fighting force in the history of the world, the finest military in the history of the world," Mr. Biden said, as he expressed gratitude for the veterans' "integrity, their patriotism and their courage."
"They "not only fought for our nation, but ... embody the very best our nation has to offer," the president added.
One of the recipients, Kenneth W. David, who earned the honor for heroism in Vietnam, received the award in person, while the families of the other deceased recipients accepted the award in their honor.
Some of the families worked for decades for the recognition. Cpl. Fred B. McGee's daughter, Victoria Secrest, had advocated for him to receive the award since the early 1990s.
"The odds are against you, and I started to look like the crazy lady with the clipboard everywhere I went. And then with the computer, the laptop everywhere I went. And then with the iPad everywhere I went. And here we are in 2024, about to step into 2025, and we've made it." Secrest told reporters at a media roundtable late last month.
McGee received the award posthumously for commanding his squad unit in Korea after its leader and several others were wounded during an assault on an enemy post. He eventually had to order his unit to withdraw, but he voluntarily stayed behind to evacuate the wounded and dead, despite facial wounds he sustained.
In the 1950s, McGee received an unusual form of recognition for his heroism. He was honored in a comic book, but there was an error. "They forgot his melanin," Secrest said. The comic portrayed McGee as White, even though he was Black.
Others have been honored in their home communities. A statue of PFC Charles Johnson at the high school he attended in Arlington County in New York depicts him saving Donald Dingee, a fellow Arlington High School classmate. Johnson was killed in action in Korea while saving the lives of as many as 10 wounded soldiers, including Dingee.
Johnson posthumously received the Medal of Honor for the actions he took in June 1953.
Although the honors are about 70 years in the making, it's clear these veterans had an immediate impact on their communities.
Charles Allen, the nephew of Medal of Honor recipient Pvt. Bruno R. Orig, during the media roundtable told Richard E. Cavazos' son Tommy that his father "is indeed a hero."
"I did get a chance to meet your father." Allen told Cavazos. "He was already a retired four-star (general). He was a mentor, senior mentor, 'Gray Beard,' as we affectionately called him… And when he spoke, everyone listened, everyone listened, and he impressed me then."
Allen's uncle received the award for actions he took near Chipyong-ni, Korea on Feb. 15, 1951, to administer first aid while under attack and firing at the enemy while Orig's platoon safely withdrew.
Capt. Hugh R. Nelson Jr., who served in the Vietnam War, was the commander of a Huey helicopter conducting a search-and-destroy reconnaissance mission in June 1966 when it was struck by a large volume of enemy fire. Nelson and the pilot were able to crash land the helicopter and then Nelson helped evacuate the other wounded members of the crew from the helicopter. He used his body as a shield to cover one of his crew members from intense enemy fire, sacrificing his own life to save them.
And finally, PFC Wataru Nakamura received the Medal of Honor for actions he took near P'ungch'on-ni, Korea on May 18, 1951, when he alone rushed enemy forces with a fixed bayonet and drove the enemy from several bunkers they had captured. He withdrew to restock on ammunition then continued to charge at the enemy, killing four in two bunkers. He was killed by an enemy grenade.
Nakamura's nephew, Gary Takashima thinks that his uncle, if he were alive, would react to receiving the award with humility. Takashima told reporters his uncle "would have been greatly honored to receive the Medal of Honor but would have felt all of this was too much for doing what he was supposed to do."
