There are heroes in America who too often go unsung. The 109 living recipients of the Congressional Medal of Honor are determined to correct that.
Led by Paul Bucha, a decorated Vietnam veteran, the Medal of Honor Society announced in a press conference on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial this morning that it is calling for nominations of heroes for a new medal: the "Above and Beyond Citizen Honors."
The announcement featured former Secretary of State Colin Powell; broadcaster and former NFL star Tiki Barber; Holly Petraeus, wife of General David H. Petraeus; and Louis J. Horvitz, an Emmy Award-winning television director.
"What we want to do with this program is illustrate how Americans have answered that call to gallantry in a civilian capacity when that call has come," Gen. Powell said.
The new honor, created by the Medal of Honor Society and by Congress, will be part of a larger, patriotism-themed Constitution Hall event in March that will be telecast on NBC and hosted by Brian Williams.
Some of the performers mentioned for the event include Toby Keith, Gary Sinise and Joe Perry of Aerosmith.
For more information, see www.aboveandbeyond365.com.
— Rob Gutierrez, intern, The Washington Times
Comments (3)
This is a noble idea, however, it should not devalue the past. With the integration of civilian roles and military in today's asymmetrical warfare environment we need to maintain the definition of valor at the same value as earned by those in the past. These guys were willing to sacrifice everything, everything in the pursuit of their oath to the country and the Band of Brothers that surrounded them. Civilians do not have liberties taken away when they take the job, the military does, granted that is their choice. Every time we revise the past relative to the present, we devalue the ideals of the past. We have developed medals for civilian agencies in the past (Merchant Marine) that represent their sacrifices, and both the military and the Merchant Marine knew the value of those medals. If we need it in the present, do the same, but don't mix them.
Posted by Larry Stone | October 10, 2007 4:20 AM
I went to the site.
There isn't any information posted on the proceedures to nominate someone. Please advise.
Posted by Michael | October 10, 2007 12:21 PM
I agree with Larry Stone's comments above.
Posted by Helen Laverdure | October 14, 2007 1:56 PM