We all enjoy a good holiday, but too many of us don't quite know what it's about. Memorial Day is one of those. Many are not quite clear on the difference between Veterans Day and Memorial Day. Veterans Day celebrates all who served, and we thank them. None of those we honor on Memorial Day are around to be thanked. This day we set aside to appreciate those who gave their lives for our freedom. On this day, I like to pull out Congressional Medal of Honor stories. Some are remarkable. Here are two of them.
William Hawkins was a Marine at the Battle of Tarawa in 1943. His platoon was pinned down on Betio Island. Wounded by shrapnel, Hawkins advanced to single-handedly take out six machine gun nests. When he ran out of ammunition, he threw grenades and satchel charges. On the seventh nest he was wounded in the chest but managed to destroy it. A medic patched him up and told him to leave, but he refused. He was shot and killed hurling a grenade into the eighth machine gun nest. His last words were, "Boys, I sure hate to leave you like this."
Jason Dunham was a Marine corporal serving in Iraq in 2004. His patrol was ordered to intercept some cars exiting a fire fight. As he approached a vehicle to search it, an insurgent jumped out and wrestled with him. He took him to the ground, then saw that the insurgent had pulled the pin on a grenade and dropped it. Without hesitation, Cpl Dunham put his helmet over it and covered it with his body. He saved the lives of the two Marines with him, but died from his wounds eight days later.
People have done extraordinary things in defense of the country they love and the people with whom they serve. These things serve as rare glimpses into people who can put themselves behind others in importance and seek their best instead, sometimes at the cost of their own lives. These are the people we honor on Memorial Day. Not all Medal of Honor recipients died in action. These did. All of them went above and beyond, but not all went so far as to die for their cause. These did. We appreciate that level of sacrifice. Or, at least, we ought to.
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