SFC Monti to receive the Medal of Honor - MOH criteria too strict?

[jonSlack]

In 2006, Sergeant First Class Jared Monti died fighting in Afghanistan. The Massachusetts native was inundated with gunfire, but that didn't stop him from coming to the aid of his fellow wounded comrades.

Years later, Sergeant Monti is receiving the highest military honor: The Congressional Medal of Honor.

Monti was 30-years-old when he was killed in action. His father says Jared would not have liked all of the attention that comes along with the honor.

Monti spent 12 years in the Army, and collected a slew of awards, including ths Bronze Star Medal, Army Commendation Medal, and the Purple Heart. He grew up in Raynham, and hope to be a teacher like his father, once he left the service

NECN - Soldier killed in action receives Medal of Honor (http://www.necn.com/Boston/New-England/2009/07/22/Soldier-killed-in-action/1248314252.html)

Embedded video news report at link.

[Cavguy]

Hadn't seen this (http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/07/army_monti_MOH_072309w/)yet here. We are all proud of SFC Monti. But I have to ask, is death the only thing that gets an Medal of Honor (MOH) these days? Are we past the era of living MOH winners? Is the bar too high?

And on a second note, the incident happened three years ago. I find it amazing it took 3 years to investigate and approve this MOH. We managed to do this in WWII, Korea, or Vietnam without digital communications, so why the delay?. I understand the need for accuracy and validity, but 3 years? Could it be the bureaucratic hoops are a reason that the MOH has not been awarded to a living individual since Vietnam? I am sure worthy heroes are out there, and I think we need some - alive.

Niel

http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/07/army_monti_MOH_072309w/

[Stan]

Niel,
If any comfort... it took 2 years for my LOM. But then, I'm somewhat still kickin' :D

[Meinertzhagen]

I know of at least 3 living soldiers submitted for the Medal of Honor at this time. One living Marine was mentioned in recent news reports and I've read two narratives from 2007 in Afghanistan.

One of those narratives is three pages long and is one of the most impressive I've ever read, almost unbelievable if I didn't watch and support the event from the Brigade TOC and know others personally involved. I will be writing my Senators and the President if that soldier doesn't get the MoH within the same timeframe as SFC Monti.

(I'm being vague as I am unsure of the public releaseability of more details)

[Schmedlap]

If the bar for the MoH has been raised, I can't help but think it is related to inflation of other awards. What does a bronze star mean these days? Imo, it means about the same thing as an officer's promotion to First Lieutenant or an enlisted Soldier's promotion to Specialist.

[Courtney Massengale]

This is going to sound a little out there and very cynical, but bear with me…

There has always been an element of politics involved in the MoH because, well, its awarded by politicians. The DoD got very seriously burned when it tried to make heroes out of Jessica Lynch and Pat Tillman – even if it was done with the best of intentions, the reinvestigations and beating that they took in the media and public had to take their toll. I would imagine that a lot of the time and red tape forwarding narratives is because everybody who has a stake is scrubbing and screening to make sure that they don’t have a repeat of these unfortunate incidents. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but a sad commentary on the state of affairs we find ourselves in.

As for not awarding them to the living (pure cynicism ahead): If the government can’t control them, they’re not going to nominate them. God forbid that someone worthy of the Medal of Honor do something like have a Facebook page, talk to the media or worst of all criticize the war effort.

Plus, if they survived circumstances worth of the MoH, then there are probably going to be all kinds of pesky questions about PTSD, how things got to the point where MoH conditions were generated, what the enemy point of view was, etc. The media will not respect actions that stand on their own – they might respect the dead, but they will tear the living to shreds.

The bottom line is that we’re never going to see another Rodger Young. Today they would ask why his Recruiter allowed him to join the National Guard with his health problems, why he was allowed to deploy given his medical history, why there weren’t CLS qualified people on that hill, and if he used a correct escalation of force before using hand grenades to engage the machine gun position.

Maybe we should bring back the song but change it to reflect our modern times:

No, they've got no time for glory in GWOT.
No, they've got no use for praises loudly sung.
But in every veteran's heart in all the military
Shines the name, shines the name of someone who should be recognized but never will.