Commit to Courage

The Medal of Honor
The Medal of Honor is the highest military award for bravery that can be given to any individual in the United States of America. The medal was conceived in the early 1860's and first presented in 1863 to represent the valiant efforts of the armed services. Over the years the medal has become an historic symbol of the bravest of the brave, in honor of all who have earned it.

In honor of Veterans Day...
On Monday, September 14th, Jack and I had the honor of attending a reception honoring 58 Congressional Medal of Honor winners. This event was held at the Union League of Chicago. Jack had read about this event in the club magazine and had suggested we attend, again as part of our "out of the rut" campaign. At first, I was not too enthusiastic about the idea. Really, coming home from work and then heading directly downtown...on a Monday?? I had to get myself up for it. And boy, was I glad I did! It was such a moving evening and so energizing. The evening began with the arrival of the honorees and their families. There is a video of a portion of this at the bottom of this post. The main entry of the Club was lined with active members of every branch of the military and the lobby erupted in applause when the honorees entered. Everyone then went upstairs to the Main Lounge where, throughout the room, there were special chairs designated for the Medal winners. We were encouraged to spend time visiting with these men and their families. We met so many interesting people. The man in this picture with Jack is Jim Pritzker. He founded the Pritzker Military Library in Chicago and has a real heart for the veterans, having served in the military himself. He was there to honor the Medal winners also.

One highlight of the evening was visiting with John Finn. Finn was the oldest veteran there and just turned 100! He received his Congressional Medal of Honor for his bravery on December 7, 1941... Pearl Harbor! He manned a machine gun under heavy enemy fire for several hours, despite being wounded. I love this picture of Jack and John Finn.

It was fascinating to watch the interactions between the various younger military folks who were present at this event. The two gentlemen in the picture below, Medal winners from the Vietnam war, were surrounded by a throng of young guys most of the night.

I got to visit with a fellow named Sammy Davis (no, not that Sammy Davis, as he pointed out). He won the Medal of Honor because on Nov 18, 1967, while under heavy enemy attack, Sammy ignored "repeated warnings and disregarding his inability to swim, he picked up an air mattress and struck out across a deep river to rescue three wounded comrades".

One of the conversations that had the most impact on me that night was with John Borling, a retired Air Force Major General, who was part of the Chicago Host Committee. He talked in awe about all of the heroes present in the room. John talked about how every Medal winner had been honored for courage displayed in a defining moment in combat and then compared it to the courage everyone needs in every day life decisions and interactions. That is the message of their group this year, to have the courage to commit to doing the right thing on a daily basis. That is quite a charge. Just think about it, if we were all able to do that consistently. Wow.
The next day when I was skimming through the booklet we had received at the reception, I read something that made me admire John Borling even more. He was not a Congressional Medal of Honor winner, but he had served our country for 37 years and almost 7 of them as a prisoner of war in Vietnam. And he never mentioned that once in our ten minute conversation, never talked about himself.

I couldn't end this post without talking about the courage my parents demonstrated during World War II. My dad was a radioman in the Coast Guard on a submarine chaser in the Pacific Ocean. I love the story of their wartime wedding, my mother taking a train all the way across the country to California at the age of 19 to marry my father. No wonder it's called the Greatest Generation.

And thanks to all those people, past and present, who have worked so hard to defend our freedoms and our great country. That includes you, JD:)!