October 15th, 2013
03:29 AM ET
For Medal of Honor recipient, award is a long time coming
Four years after a brutal battle in Afghanistan in which he was "outnumbered, outgunned, and taking casualties," former U.S. Army Captain William Swenson will become the sixth living recipient of the Medal of Honor at a ceremony Wednesday afternoon at the White House.
Swenson, who retired from the Army in 2011, is being awarded the medal for his actions in the 2009 Battle of Ganjgal Valley in the Kunar Province of Afghanistan, which claimed the lives of five Americans. Swenson is credited with risking his life to recover the bodies of his fellow soldiers.
The road to this honor has not been easy for Swenson, whose nomination was "lost" for a time, prompting questions from lawmakers and an eventual internal Pentagon investigation.
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Now ask yourself why is the U.S. still in Afganistan. Why can't the U.S. pay its bills. Why are the American people not free...all things considered it is all very very predictable...
They don't give out awards for the word courage alone certianly not the Medal of Honor. Do other branchs of the Military not have/ display courage proof positive that the formula for the Medal of Honor is a lot bigger than the individual recipent i.e. they did not award him with a dictionary. That's about the second or third medal of Honor and the second or third Nobel peace prize I have felt a connection too in some way more or less.
To my mind: todays Medal of Honor Recipient performed/did exactly what I ask more or less perfectly
Did you do a research to what transpired during that fateful day? Captain Swenson not only risked his life to retrieve the bodies of the other soldiers but he and others fought hard even though they were outnumbered.
Bangosh thinks some people/humans are small blood sucking insects that spread deasese & other people/humans are the burryed fosils of some exctinct ansestors of chickens. I say what does that have to do with a Medal that has not yet been given yet existis both subjectivly & objectivly.
This is strange to see a soldier is awarded for retrieving a dead body of his fellow soldier in war between the barefooted Taliban and the world's top most powerful military powers. No doubt Ganjgal area in Kunar province is the most difficult and highly dangerous war front but for ISAF with so much resources it should not have been that much difficult as after all Taliban are equal to a mosquito when comparing with the ISAF being a dinosaur.
Probably it is a time to tell the truth and end this senseless wars which has disturbed local and global peace.
It's called courage something it appears you know nothing about.