Oops. I missed that he said Korea.
I thought Col. Kurtz was based on Joseph Conrad’s Kurtz, from Heart of Darkness.
Yes and no. The movie was based on Heart of Darkness, and he was given the name Kurtz from the book. But Tony Poe was more like the Brando character than the Brando character was like the one in the book. Google “Tony Poe,” maybe even “Anthony Poe,” and you’ll find some stuff on him.
One Tony Poe story that he refused to confirm or deny was that he kept a jar full of ears under his bed. What WAS known was that he would pay the locals $1 for every enemy ear they brought him but stopped when he started noticing regular locals missing their ears. That much is true. What he actually did with them he never did say, only grinning when asked about the jar story.
Actually, 18 percent of the awards were given posthumously, according to the numbers given by the Medal of Honor Society statistics page. That includes the 9 unknown soldiers awarded the medal.
But to me, the most surprising statistic is that 19 individuals hold two Medals of Honor, 14 of them for separate events. Heroes among heroes. The most valiant of the valiant. I wonder that we don’t even know their names. No special list on the site for double dippers.
Tris
Just one more comment and then I’ll end the hijack. A couple stories on Tony here and here. In the first one, he goes into the ear story, but it’s a little different from how I’d heard it.
Tris, I happen to know the name of one of those ‘double dippers:’ Smedley Butler.
And his actions outside the theater of operations are just as impressive, IMNSHO. Not only was he a voice against military adventurism in support of American capitalism, he also ratted out a conspiracy that tried to get him to lead or support an anti-Roosevelt coup.
FWIW, while I a great of respect for Audie Murphy, it’s worth noting that at least some of his fame lies in that he wrote a very readable account of his experiences, and he got to star as himself in the movie made from the book. I don’t know how much of that was dependent upon the fame garnered from any War Bonds tours that he might have made, but at a point fame does become a matter of someone being famous for being famous.
I know it’s not CMOH, but I was recently reading up about the Dieppe Raid, and was hugely impressed by the courage of one of the chaplains there: John Weir Foote. Not only did he help to evacuate a large number of wounded soldiers (ISTR one source claiming over thirty soldiers evacuated this way.) while under intense fire, he then left the evacuating landing craft, because he felt that his duty to his comrades called him to minister to those who were going to be going into captivity. ETA: Oh, and as such ended up being one of the very few non-combatants to ever be awarded the Victoria Cross.
One more thought about Medals in general.
In order for someone to qualify for a medal, esp the CMOH, the action involved has to have been witnessed and reported to higher command for consideration. Which I think is a rarer circumstance than simply the standard for “uncommon valor and heroism.” And the reasons for failure to report can be active, as well as passive (consider the batch of awards to people of several minorities about ten years ago that were ‘upgraded’ because it was felt that higher command had been reluctant to issue the higher award to blacks or hispanics.) which leaves me with the assumption that the actions that should be considered for such awards include more than just those we know about.
Then you may have people who look at combat risks as part of the job. Consider Capt. Donald “Kirby” Ross, awarded the CMOH for his actions at Pearl Harbor aboard the USS Nevada. It is possible to describe his actions as simply those of someone working in a hazardous environment, and doing the best he may. And as such not meeting the criteria of uncommon valor. I don’t agree with that, myself - I’ve been aboard a modern ship while a small fire was burning. Anyone who can keep his mind and remain at his duty stations in such a situation is a hero. Esp. in one of those old battlewagons with their lack of escape trunks. But without the morale need for heros to be found at Pearl Harbor, I’m not sure that the board would have awarded Capt. Ross his CMOH later in the war, for similar experiences.
For that matter, to the best of my knowledge neither the Bunker Hill, nor the Benjamin Franklin, two ships that were hugely damaged during latter battles, and in grave danger of sinking at the time, ever had any CMOH for Damage Control work associated with them. In his account U-505 RADM Daniel Gallery bitches for several pages that he couldn’t get CMOH for all the men who boarded a U-Boat with its scuttling scuppers opened by the original crew, not just the officer in charge, Lt. Albery Leroy David. (scroll down for the citation, and see whether you can seriously argue that its wording, unchanged except for name, couldn’t apply to the other men in that boarding party.)
Please don’t mistake my frustration with the medal process for any kind of criticism of these men, or anyone else who has received a similar award. But medals are at least as much political as they are based on any specific individual actions. How else can a rational person explain this Medal of Honor: Rear Admiral Kidd.
Here is a list of double recipients. A couple of interesting things. One of the double recipients was Thomas Custer, George Armstrong Custer’s brother. Thomas won both awards for separate actions during the Civil War. He died with his brother at Little Big Horn. Several of the double recipients won two MOHs for the same action. They were all Marines who were awarded both the Army and Navy versions. I am assuming this happened because at the time they were under the overall command of the army. Such a thing can not happen now. In fact I know of at least one Marine who many believe should have won two medals in WWII but he received a MOH and Navy Cross (John Basilone). They set some arbitrary limits on the awarding of the MOH in WWII.
It seems like they have tightened up the criteria again. Seems like you are required to die and you must sacrifice yourself to save fellow soldiers, not just defeat the enemy. Makes better copy. When I read what this guy did it made me realize that things had changed.
I don’t believe that I’ve ever actually met in person anyone who won the MOH. But I did write to one once.
Parade Magazine once did an article on MOH winners and it mentioned the town where Adm. James Stockdale(ret.) lived. That let me find his address on line and I sent him a note. See, in 1992 I voted for the Perot/Stockdale ticket, based largely on how Stockdale answered questions during the Vice Presidential debate. I wanted to tell him that, and to thank him for his military heroism.
I also included a notecard, in a SASE, and asked, if he would, to sign his autograph and return it to me, which he did. I treasure that card.
I’m not sure I understand your question. Caesar won the Civic Crown as a young soldier, before he even entered the Senate. In fact, he wasn’t even old enough to enter the Senate, but under Sulla’s law, because he’d won a major crown, he could. So, he wan’t a “leader.” He was being recognized for his actions as an individual soldier.
I never said that. I said that military heroes should be acknowledged and celebrated. How does giving someone who won the CMoH a standing ovation make one subordinate to them? 
Well, call me . I have always heard it called that, and it’s referred to as the CMOH all over the place (including in this very thread)…
My bad.
Well, here’s what you said:
So, you approve of a law that forces the civil officials to stand and applaud a military hero, regardless of whether they approve of that person’s politics and how they won their military fame. I’m sorry to disagree, but that sounds too much like the military is the prime power. It’s the combination of compulsion and the idea that the civil power must always stand and show respect to the military representative whenever the military representative enters the halls of the civil legislature. What is the combined symbolism of that? That the military is the superior power, has the power to interrupt the deliberations of the Senate simply by showing up, and that the Senators must rise to acknowledge the military representative, even if they are personally opposed to the military policies that person represents.
The civic authorities always have to be in control. To me, compelling the civil power to stand for the military is directly contrary to that principle.
As to the “Congressional” prefix: "Congressional" Medal of Honor - Factual Questions - Straight Dope Message Board
One of my all-time heroes, and a worthy recipient of the Medal of Honor: Yahoo | Mail, Weather, Search, Politics, News, Finance, Sports & Videos
My husband, during his Air Force Sergeants Association days, had a friend who had won the MoH in Vietnam, who later grew his hair long and liked to wear really outrageous clothing (light blue tuxedo, anyone?) to events. But my husband reports that all sneers would immediately disappear when folks saw that blue ribbon around his neck. Unlike a lot of MoH winners, apparently he would actually wear it in public on appropriate events. I can’t get his name right now, since Papa Tiger is at an out-of-town conference and unavailable for the rest of the day, but when I can, I’ll see if I can find out what he did. I’m sure it’s a tale worth telling, as with all MoH recipients.
Please do, Mama Tiger!
Oh, for God’s sake. Saying “I could go along with something like that” does not equal “Do this exactly the way the Ancient Romans did.” For the most part, military power eventually meant political power back then, but it doesn’t always mean it now…otherwise, we’d have President Patton and Schwarzkopf.
The government recognizes them with the MoH. It would be nice if other outlets did as well. Am I mandating a federal law be passed dictating that MoH winners be awarded standing ovations wherever they go? Of course not. But as pointed out upthread, we hardly know who they are these days. A little more coverage by the media (not federally mandated, natch) would be nice.
It wasn’t me!
Apologies if you already know this, but there is a series on the History Channel (at least here) celebrating the winners of the Victoria Cross. The episodes I have seen though deal mainkly with the few living holders- or if they can interview a relative of the winner.
The V.C. I think is the equivalent of the MOH.
Well, I have a question: I’ve been watching HBO’s Rome miniseries, and I gotta ask . . . for a great man, why do you come across as such a weasel? 
You heard of Bruce Hornsby and The Range “it’s Just The Way It Is”? 