Here are some excerpts and links to stories about a number of heroes from the War on Terror. All deserve our thanks. Follow the link at the end of each item for more information.

Staff Sergeant Michael Bock – Silver Star

Bock was honored for his service at a ceremony in Bellevue, NE. Bock served his country and was killed fighting in Afghanistan back in August. His commanding officer described him as a hero.

“But what makes a hero? You are not born with it. In my opinion. No way. You train, it is installed from mom and dad values and courage. Then you marry it. Serving others while serving one self can be noble. But a special type of nobility attaches itself to those who serve others at a cost to themselves. That can define with hero means but Michael Bock was a hero,” said Lt. Col. Bain.

Fox 42 News

On March 7, 2010, Private Cook was killed on a remote mountain in Afghanistan when insurgents attacked his unit.

“The mission that we had to do was important, and it turned to tragedy when he fell,” says Sgt. First Class James Pozin, who was Private Cook’s platoon leader.

Sgt. Pozin says Cook wasn’t with their platoon for long, but that he left an impression on the men he served with.

“I think everyone in that squad calls him a friend or a brother,” says Pozin. “His leadership loved him. I enjoyed having him on the missions I was on.”

NBC montana.com

Capt. Matthew Martin and his wife, Michelle, pose in their Hampstead home.

Capt. Matthew Martin – Bronze Star with V (second award)

The story of how he earned the two medals reflects how warfare has evolved in recent years. The first was for his part in actions to capture and hold two bridges in Iraq, a combat story that could almost have come from the World War II movie “Saving Private Ryan.”

The second Bronze Star, which he expects to receive next month, is for the how he led a company into a lawless area of Afghanistan, destroying poppy fields and holding meetings, or “shuras,” with village elders.

Star News online

“I’ll never forget that day,” Vandesande said. “It was my first patrol in Afghanistan. We were returning home to our base when they came up behind us. Two of my Marines were hit and both went down. They called for me and that was pretty much it.”

One of the Marines had been shot in the right thigh and again in his left thigh, shattering his femur, Vandesande said. The other was hit with shrapnel in the back of the head.

Under heavy enemy fire and unable to move the injured Marines, Vandesande stayed with them and treated their injuries as best he could until a medical evacuation helicopter arrived.

“I was kind of in the middle of it all,” Vandesande said. “So I pulled them about 10 or 15 feet into a ditch and waited for everyone to catch up.”

Both Marines survived, according to the citation.

Island Packet

The challenge issued by a flight attendant during a recent commercial air flight seemed innocuous enough: “Name just one of the five Medal of Honor recipients from the current engagements in Afghanistan or Iraq, and get a free drink coupon.”

But the passengers’ response – more specifically, the inability of all but just one to respond – revealed how little the average American knows about its military heroes.

Bombarded by superhero lore almost from birth, many Americans grow to revere fictional heroes as well as sports and celebrity icons. But silence descended over the cabin of a flight bound from Jacksonville, Fla., to Baltimore when the conversation turned to those who had earned the nation’s highest honor for valor – even when a free cocktail hung in the balance.

Dale Shelton, an Annapolis, Md., resident who served five years as a Navy intelligence specialist, was the only passenger to press the button over his seat to beckon the attendant. Shelton’s response: Army Sgt. 1st Class Paul R. Smith, the first Medal of Honor recipient in the global war on terror and in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Smith received the highest military honor for valor posthumously on April 3, 2005, two years to the day after saving more than 100 soldiers in the battle for Baghdad’s airport. His young son and widow accepted the award on his behalf during a solemn White House ceremony.

The flight attendant gave free drink coupons to Shelton, as well as his wife, Jean, and two other traveling companions. Then he returned to crew area to announce over the intercom that only one person had correctly answered the challenge.

This time, the attendant offered a second challenge: “Name an ‘American Idol’ winner.” The cabin lit up like a pinball machine as 43 passengers scrambled to push their attendant call button. Passengers named various Idol winners.

The attendant announced that he wasn’t going to award drink coupons for that answer, telling the passengers that “naming an Idol winner was not worth a free drink,” Shelton recalled.

“He concluded his announcement with the question: ‘What’s wrong with our country when out of 150 passengers, only one can name a Medal of Honor recipient, but 43 can name an American Idol winner?’”

Later during the flight, Shelton shared with the attendant his own frustration over “the current lack of appreciation of our military heroes.”

The attendant asked Shelton if he knew the names of the other four Medal of Honor receipts from the current military operations. Shelton said he was able to name three: Navy Lt. Michael Murphy, Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael Monsoor and Army Spc. Ross McGinness.

All were killed sacrificing themselves to protect their comrades during enemy attacks.

Murphy, a Navy SEAL, died June 28, 2005, trying to save his team members during Operation Red Wing in Afghanistan. Monsoor, also a SEAL, died in Iraq on Sept. 23, 2006, using his body to absorb a grenade blast that likely would have killed two nearby SEALs and several Iraqi soldiers. McGinnis died Dec. 4, 2006, after throwing himself on a hand grenade in Iraq to save four fellow soldiers when insurgents attacked their Humvee.

Shelton said he regretted that he had forgotten the name of Marine Cpl. Jason Dunham. Dunham died April 15, 2004, using his body to shield fellow Marines in Iraq from a hand grenade.

The flight attendant didn’t hold Shelton’s memory lapse against him. “He gave me all the remaining drink coupons he had in his possession and shook my hand,” he said.

DoD
By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service

Department of Defense site for these heroes