Transcripts For CSPAN3 Medal Of Honor Recipients 20141115

Decade to separating them. And three unique individuals, all who distinct themselves in these acts. All three are connected with what the represent for the rest of us. The culmination of human potential. Exemplars for the rest of us. What we aspire to be. So, these three artifacts, these three piece of evidence. Beginning to my immediate right, corporal woody williams, United States marine. For gallantry at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as demolition sergeant with the first serving with the First Battalion third learning division in action against Japanese Forces on iwo jima 23, february, 1945. Quick to volunteer services when the tanks were maneuvering. Corporal williams went forward alone to attempt the reduction of devastating machine gun fire from the unyielding positions. Covered only by four riflemen, he fought expertly for four hours under enemy small arms fire and returned to his own minds to prepare emotion charges and obtain flamethrowers. Struggling back to hostile emplacements, to wipe out one position after another. On one occasion, he mounted a pill blocks to insert the killed the occupants and silence the gun. On the other, he charged an enemy riflemen who attempted to stop him with bayonets. His unyielding determination and extraordinary heroism were instrumental in neutralizing one of the fanatically defended japanese strong points. Enabling his comely to reach the objective. As company to reach their objective. Corporal williams aggressive fighting spirit and devotion to duty throughout this contested actions sustained and enhanced the highest tradition of the United States naval service. Ladies and gentlemen, corporal woody williams. [applause] thank you. In the center, lieutenant thomas norse. Headquarters, for gallantry in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a seal advisor with the technical director and assistant teams, headquarters vietnam. During the period 1013 april, 1972, he completed ground rescue of two downed pilots with an enemy territory. Lieutenant norse on the night of lieutenant noris on the night of 10 april, led a five troll through heavily controlled enemy territory. He located one of the downed pilots and returned to the operating base. On 11 april, after a devastating rocket attack, lieutenant norse led a team on two unsuccessful rescue attempts for the second pilot. On the afternoon of the 12, they located the pilot and notified lieutenant norris. Dressing in fisherman disguises, lieutenant norris and one of the enemies traveled throughout the night and found the injured pilot at dawn. Covering the pilot with amber do, they began the return journey evading a north vietnamese patrol. They came under heavy machinegun fire. Lieutenant norris called in an airstrike, which allow the rescue party to reach the f. O. B. I has outstanding display of leadership, courage, and selfless dedication in the face of extreme danger, lieutenant norris enhanced the finest traditions of the naval service. Ladies and gentlemen, lieutenant tommy norris. [applause] finally, Staff Sergeant quentin romechet. He distinct himself by acts of gallantry at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as Section Leader with bravo troop, third squadron, fourth brigade combat team, Fourth Infantry Division at a combat outpost. Afghanistan on october 3, 2009. On that morning, the Staff Sergeant and his comrades awakened to an attack by 300 fighters occupying the high ground on all four sides of the complex. Employing concentrated fire from rocket propelled grenades, mortars and small arms fire. The Staff Sergeant moved on covered under enemy fire to conduct a reconnaissance of the battlefield and seek reinforcement from the barracks before returning to action. The Staff Sergeant took out an enemy Machine Gun Team and while engaging a second, the generator he was using for cover was struck by a rocket propelled grenade if licking him with grievous shrapnel wounds. Undeterred, Staff Sergeant continued to fight. He again rushed to the exposed avenue to assemble additional soldiers. The Staff Sergeant then mobilized a five man team and returned to the fight. With complete disregard for his own safety, the Staff Sergeant exposed himself to heavy enemy fire as he moved commonly about the battlefield engaging and destroyed multiple enemy targets, including three taliban fighters. While orchestrating a successful plan to secure and reinforce key points of the battlefield, the Staff Sergeant maintained Radio Communication with the Tactical Operations center. As the enemy forced its attack unleashing a barrage of rocket propelled grenades, the sergeant deployed 30 enemy fighters. The Staff Sergeant and his Team Provided covering fire to allow the injured soldiers to safely reach the aid station. Upon receipt of orders to proceed, his team pushed forward 100 meters under overwhelming fire to recover and prevent the enemy fighters from taking the bodies of their fallen comrades. The Staff Sergeants heroic actions were critical in suppressing the enemy that had far greater numbers. His efforts gave robert troop bravo troop the opportunity to regroup, reorganize, and prepare for the counterattack that allowed the troop to account for its personnel and secure outpost keating. His discipline and heroism reflects great credit upon himself, bravo two, third squadron, fourth brigade combat team, fourth interstate division, and the United States army. Ladies and gentlemen, Staff Sergeant clint romechet. [applause] i want to thank you for your patience. I think it is important to get everybody on the same sheet of music to understand where we will go with this conversation. I had a friend a few years ago, a former a6 pilot, turned psychologist or has been teaching at north Dakota State University for a number of years. Who has written extensively the concept of extreme bravery, valor. His name is terry barrett. In one work, using metal of honor recipients as case studies, he tried to draw some themes in the preparation of these incredible human beings and the lessons they may have or hold the rest of us. So with that as backdrop, our first question for the panel. The first question we have is, can you provide us with some background about your youth, up ringing, reasons for serving, that can help us understand you better . Sir . Do i get the privilege of going first . You do. Good morning. Before i answer his question, let me clear up a couple things. I do possess the medal of honor. It is in my other suit. [laughter] i was at a function this past weekend just like a marine. We cant depend on the navy to help us when we need help. Ouch. Anyway, ive had my medal in my coat pocket. And i changed suits. And it is home. I want to also say that i am rather privileged to be a cherry river admiral. In West Virginia, we have a cherry river admiral association. We have 36 admirals in that association. I happen to be one of them. I think circumstances have a great deal on what happens to us. Im an american because i was born in america. Im a West Virginian because i was born in West Virginia. I was in war because somebody told me somebody was trying to take my freedom. Growing up on a dairy farm with no military influence in our community at all, seldom ever saw a person in uniform. But we had a couple individuals in the community who didnt like to pitch hay and shovel cow residue. I cleaned that up for you. So, they decided to go into the marine corps. They were not related. They went in at different times. But they went in the green court the marine corps to make a living because jobs were very difficult to obtain during the depression. Their enlistment was six years. That was the only contract the marine corps had at that time. When they came home on their onetime a year 30 day furlough, they were required to wear their marine core dress blues. Im in my early teens. We kids would get around them and we wanted to be around them because they would tell us fantastic stories about battles, but probably most of it was not true. But it was entertaining and interesting to us. They had to wear their dress blues all the time. That was the only uniform they brought home with them. So, somewhere in the recesses of my mind, i must have decided if i ever have to go to the military and i had no plan for that at all, im going to be a farmer the rest of my life. Im going to be milking cows the rest of my life. But somewhere in the recesses of my mind i said, if i ever had to go or do go, i want to be one of them. They became a role model to me. So, when we were told in our community we had no newspaper. Very few people had a radio. I had one uncle out of five that had a radio. So, the information we got was filtered into us by other people. Were talking about after pearl harbor. We are talking about 1942. Somebody is trying to take our freedom. I had never heard of the japanese. Certainly had never seen one. But i decided that is not going to happen to me. Or to us. I had a schoolteacher who taught us very severely that we were americans, were were fre we were free, but we were only that because of what others had done for us. Somebody had provided that freedom for us. So, im going into the marine corps to protect america. My concept was that all of us going in, from all over wherever they were i had hardly ever been out of West Virginia that we would all gather in the United States of america and dare anybody to come to our shores and try to take our country and our freedom. When i finished boot camp in san diego, california, and they told me i was going to the south pacific, which i had never even heard tell of, it was quite a shock. Because i thought i would stay right here. Just they are not going to take my freedom. That was my upbringing. And my teacher is the one, not my parents, my teacher was the one that instilled in me my love for my country. And that freedom was one of the most precious possessions we could ever have. Never dreaming, as i was going that we would ever be in war. Remember, world war i was supposed to be the war to end all wars. So, most of us never thought there would be another. I was in the marine corps because of circumstances. Im proud of my service. Im proud that i am an american. Im proud that i could do what i did to keep us a free people. Thank you very much. [applause] i guess it is my turn now. I will try to be a little bit shorter than woody. Where i grew up, i grew up at the end of world war ii. My father was in the navy, served in world war ii. He taught me the values that i grew up with. And he taught me to respect respect and love of this country and what it stands for. Though, as i was a child, we were no longer engaged in a concert situation until korea started. A conflict situation until korea started. I can remember as a young child in school, wed do air raid drills, which meant every time a siren went off, we crowded under our desks. What good that was going to do, i dont know. I guess they figure that is the way you defend yourself. But we really did not have much concern about a conflict. Korea started happening when i was in junior high school. And i had, actually i pretty much it had ended by then. I had some teachers who served in korea who were, also, instilled in us a Great Respect for the freedoms we have. And i had always intended to serve this country. I was brought up to believe that we should at least give back some time to our country for everything it has given us. I did intend to serve. As i went on in schooling, the vietnam war happened. Vietnam conflict, excuse me. Never was a war. Cant quite understand that, either. But we knew at that time that we are probably going to have to serve. It was a draft type situation back then. There were a lot of volunteers, certainly. But draft boards pretty much controlled who was going into the service. If you are a student, you are exempt. When you had graduated from college, that exemption ended, depending on the board. So i knew i was going to go in. I intended to serve, wanted to go into the navy and fly airplanes. So, i enlisted. My experience in the service had been probably one of the most rewarding opportunities i ever had. And i was truly appreciative to be able to help serve in some way. But the things that helped form those opinions were some of the backgrounds that i got to my not only to my family but through the various people i met as i was growing up. So, i was not quite in the same classes as woody was. World war ii was probably the war that kept us from seeking another. From speaking another language. The conflicts i was involved with were sustaining actions to keep other countries from being overrun or keeping them from becoming democratictype countries. But i fully intended to serve. And i went in. Actually i volunteered and went in after my college education. I was proud. Still am proud to be a person who served for the great country we live in. Thank you. [applause] growing up, i grew up in Northern California, where i was born in race. Born and raised. I had a history of family service. My grandfather was world war ii here it on the beaches of normandy. Battle of the bulge. My father served in vietnam. Both my older brothers served in the military. So, from an early age, i knew it was not a prerequisite to be a member of my family to serve, but i always felt it was something i was going to do. It felt natural. Listening to my grandfather and my father talk and my brothers talk, was with such pride of their comrades they served with, with their battle buddies. And growing up in this Northern California town, it was not very big i will use this opportunity to brag. I got to graduate in the top 14 of my High School Class of the 15 kids that went there. [laughter] and like woody, i didnt want to milk cows or stack hay. So i joined, one, as a sense of family honor. Two to get getaway, to expand my horizons, to travel the world, to go see other things. I very quickly realize that i joined for one thing but i and observing for another. I ended up serving for another and that was for my battle buddies to my left and right. That was for, as soon as i joined the military, it was 1999. We did not have a whole lot of stuff going on back then. But my first duty station was germany. Within the first week of after arriving, i got shipped off because my unit was deployed to kosovo. I got to see firsthand what a country looks like with no freedom. A country that we had to do military escorts for them to go get groceries and fuel, so they would not get captured and killed in massive genocide. Stuff i took for granted as a punk 17yearold kid, stuff that simple that i have seen around the world is not given freely, is not available to everyone. And that is why ended up serving. I was going to do three years. Get my family stamp. Call it a day. Figure out what i was going to do with the rest of my life and continue on. Three years turned into six. Six and into nine. Nine turn to to almost 12 before finally got out of the military. You know, it is the sense of pride in the sense of honor to understand that the sacrifice it means we these great german here these great gentlemen here. It was the least i could do to pay back the gift that was given to me at no cost just for being born in this country. That is what ultimately motivated me to not just join but to actually serve. [applause] there certainly is a Common Thread of heroism in the citations that we heard at the front end. And there are certain things as well from the commentary. But we have got three separate wars, as mentioned. Separated by decades. In fact, three separate services. If you mind, take a moment to reflect on your military training, the experiences you had before going into combat. And how that prepared you. In my day, growing up, and there are some in here that can fit this picture, too, discipline in the home existed. My father died when i was nine. So i was raised by brothers. I was the last of the litter, so i was the runt. I was raised by brothers. When i was told something, as were they, to do something, you were expected to do it. You said, yes, sir. And went ahead and did it. You did it to the best you could. When i went into the marine corps, discipline was not a problem for me, because i had lived under that kind of discipline at home. So that wasnt a problem. But the thing that i learned in the marine corps was that the other guy, the other guy beside you on your right and left is also going to be responsible for you, and you are going to be responsible for them. I had never had that before. I had never understood, even with brothers, if a brother got into a fight, it was up to him to win his own fight. If he gets beat up, he gets beat up. That is the way we lived. That what is a complete change to me that i had to be responsible for that guy on my right and my left. But that, in the long run, is really what saved me. In my citation, had i written that, it would have been a newspaper long. They did not ask me any questions. I am thankful for that. In their there is one word he went forward alone. Now, if i had been writing that citation, i would have never put that in there. Because i truly was never alone. I had marines around me that were just as concerned about my life as i was about their life. And i have said since day two, day one i was so scared it cannot even talk. But day two, i did get my voice back. I said, since day two, that that medal i wear does not belong to me. It belongs specifically to two of those four marines who gave their lives protecting mine. So, when i were the metal, medal, i never wear for what i did. I was only doing the job for which the marine corps had trained me to do. They did more than that. They gave their lives. So, i can never repay what i owe. Thank you. [applause] sir . It is hard to keep up with him. [laughter] i think the question was more about how your operating prepared to for military service. Your upbringing prepares you for military service. And im not sure that you can ever be prepared for military service when you knew what it was like to serve in the military but you had no idea what you were going to be getting into when you were part of the military. I had discipline in my family, too. We grew up much like woody did, from the world war ii timeframe. At that time, you learned to be respectful, you learned to be disciplined and do what you were told. You had your jobs and duty to do. You did it to the best of your ability. But i dont know if any of that prepared me for the exposure i had when i went into the military. I think, later we will talk about combat training, but when i first went into the military, like i said, i went in to the flight program. For those of you that go into that, youre a new kid on the block. And you come into an indoctrination program. Guess who runs that program marines. That is an eyeopener right there. That introduces you to the military. But i had never had problems with the discipline portion of it, either. I think mostly because of the way i grew up. As far as being trained ahead of time to serve in the military, i didnt have any exposure to that other than the stories that i would hear when my father would speak of his service, which he did not do very often. Most of the people from that era did not talk about their service. They served, they came back, they lived their lives and that was it. I was kind of unprepared for what i was going to experience when i went in the military. It was a whole new exposure for me. But like woody said, i was very proud to serve this country. And i cant thank enough the experiences i had in the military, what they did for me in my later life. Im extremely grateful that i had that opportunity and served with the people i served with, because each and every one of them, we all looked out for each other. You cannot, when you get in combat, the people around you become closer to you than your family. When you get in combat, the people around you become closer to you than your family, and it is an incredible brotherhood you are part of and join. It is something that is really experienced elsewhere, so but as far as being prepared for it before i went into it, i really was not. I kind of went into it blind and made the best of it i could. So [applause] kind of growing up, for me, like i said, i did have a lot of tradition of service in my family. I really reflect back to my grandfather, who taught me so many great life lessons. He always taught me, when you tell someone you are going to do something, you do it. Dont say a lot, because when you talk, people will listen. It was that kind of environment of establishing values and not priorities, because values are always constant, and priorities can always change. It kind of helped me along the way. I graduated high school when i was still 17 and did not want to stick around that summer and continue to milk cows, so i told my dad i was going to join the army. And he told me right off the bat, if you are going to do it, at least take a job that is not combat. Be an xray tech or something. And i said, i will think about it. I went down to the recruiter, talked to him, came back, and told my dad i wanted to join the armor branch, be on tanks. My dad looked at me and said, you are 17 right now. Might not be today, might not be in 20 years, but right now, the nation is at peace. I will not sign for you. Because your nation, one of these days, can call on you to go and do things you will never forget, that will stick with you the rest of your life. And before you make that commitment, make sure you understand this. When you turn 18 and are old enough to be legal in the eyes of the law, you can make that decision on your own. As soon as i turned 18, the next day, i signed up, and shipped off shortly thereafter. I always kept that in the back of my mind. When i did join in 1999, kosovo was the big thing. The war on terror was not even thought of in the mainstream mind. I carried that with me along way through the service. Nothing will prepare you for what you are truly going to experience when it comes to your first time in boost cap in boot camp, or the first time you shift to a foreign land you have never heard of on the map. To have those values established, to have that base, that foundation, that starts off with everything else, is what i felt gave me a competitive advantage, Going Forward in life. [applause] thank you, gentlemen. This is something many of us can relate to, which is life prior to the marine corps. You helped us see a window that many of us here can kind of see through, which is preparation once you have gotten into the service. I would ask now that you help us understand we are not going to see through this window, obviously, but help us understand what you were thinking about in combat. Perhaps specifically in the events surrounding the citation that was read, or anything in combat generally, to understand the process, the mindset required in extremist situations such as obviously you were involved in. Leadership is a difficult thing to really define. And i in my own case, i have to go back to my childhood. That is when i was told i had to do something. Then, i could not depend on somebody else to do it. It was up to me. And if i did not do it correctly and to the satisfaction of the brother that was supervising the farm, i was in trouble. So i learned early in life, do what you are supposed to do, and do it the very best that you could. When i got into the marine corps, they emphasized very strongly, at least in my boot camp, that you never know when you may have to take over a situation. And whether you have two stripes on your sleeve or captain bars on your shoulder, when those circumstances occur, you have got to step into the breach. They are going to depend upon you. The day that my commanding officer, captain back, asked me if i could do anything about the pillboxes that had us stalled, we had lost most of our marines in my company. We had lost all but two of our officers. We had sergeants operating as squad leaders and put two and sergeants and for paroles acting as squad leaders and Section Leaders, because at that moment in time, somebody had to step into the breach and do something. That day, when we were gathered in that great big shell crater at an nco meeting i am a corporal. I am not supposed to be at an nco meeting. Corporals are a little less than a private. I was not supposed to be there. I was not classified as an nco officer. What i was told i would be there, because i had a unit. When i hit the beach at iwo jima, i had six marines under my control. They were flamethrower demolition operators. We were trained to blow it up or burn it up. I lost those six individuals, either wounded or killed. So now i am it. I am the only flamethrower demolition operator in my company. And when he asked me that day, could i do something about those pillboxes that had us stopped, i had to step into a leadership position. And i have no idea what i said. Others said later, after the campaign was over and we got back to guam, somebody said my response to the captain was, i will try. I do not know what i said. But when he assigned those for marines to me that was red in the citation, it became my responsibility. And had i backed off, had i not followed through with whatever little bit of leadership i had, you would have never heard of woody williams. So whether it is ingrained in us, or whether we are trained for it, i do not know. I cannot define that. But i think everyone of us has with dennis at a moment in time, when it is very important that we do something for somebody else, 99. 9 of us will do it. And that is leadership, and thank god. [applause] sir. The question of leadership is can be defined in many, many ways. If you take it down to minute actions or events you were involved in, you make decisions based on information you have coming in to you, and you evaluate that, and hopefully you have enough good judgment and common sense to make the correct decision on how to handle the situation that you are faced with. In combat, some of those decisions are made instantaneously, and they need to be. You are trained. You go through an enormous amount of training before you ever deploy. Your people that are with you, particularly in my situation i had an extremely welltrained unit that i was part of, all very, very capable people. All could be leaders. They were just exceptional units, or individuals, when i deployed. And i had been in many, many battles and conflicts during my tours overseas. When this part dealer mission happened, i did not get selected for this mission because i was anybody special. He did not say, this is the only guy that can do it. But in essence, i was the only guy left. This was at the time frame that the north vietnamese were overrunning the south vietnamese country. It was called the easter offensive. And the only thing that we had to combat them with was airpower. And as a result of that, got shot down. Of the six man crew, there was only one survivor. And over the course of eight days with the army, the air force tried to extract those people. It cost them 14 lives. 2 people captured. Lost eight aircraft. They got into a position where they could not continue that rescue mission. And the ground effort was suggested. At the time, the units that were going to run that i was the only seal advisor that was still in country and could run the mission. You do not really even know what you are walking into. All i knew was that we had three pilots on the ground that needed to be rescued, and we have an oncoming north vietnamese offensive push into south vietnam. Had no idea how many were there. I found out later that because of an action by a young marine, a fellow by the name of ripley, who blew up a bridge, one of the few bridges armored units could use to cross the river the meal gang river the meogang river. He destroyed it. That put all those north Vietnamese Forces right in the way i was going. I knew there was a bundle, because i moved through them every night. But my actions were, to me it was the job i do. And i knew that those people would not get out if i did not perform my job the way i am supposed to and get them out of there, because there was no other way to do that. And that is what drives you to perform your operations. Heroism is kind of a strange word. None of us here believe we were heroes. None of us here believe we did anything extraordinary. We did what we had been trained to do. We certainly do not wear the medal for ourselves. We wear it for those who cannot, for all those who served, and who gave their life in that service. But you are not you do not ever consider yourself a hero. You were successful in a certain mission, and somewhere later down the chain, somebody thinks, geez, weve got to reword this guy. You dont go after that reward. You do not want it. Sometimes you get it whether you want it or not. But it just happens. You do what youd been trained to do, and thankfully, i was successful enough to be able to rescue those folks. But its not something that you can train or prepare for. You do your job the best you can and thats all most of us do when we serve. We do the best job we can. And thats pretty much what happened in my situation. [applause] tommy said it quite well there. I mean, theres no real training that will prepare you exactly for one particular scenario. The training you receive, though, does give you that Good Foundation and baseline to build off from. The thing ive always noticed, though, is the best experience or the best training was experience and relying on that, relying on the guys around you that have been there and done that before. For us, that day before we were going to afghanistan, Sergeant Kurt was just in that same area, less than eight months beforehand. And you can watch all the powerpoint presentations you want, and all the s2 briefs you want. They dont give it any justice until you get boots on the ground and see it firsthand. We had Sergeant Kurt who was there for that, and we adjusted some of our training to counter that, teaching guys how to do angle fire or shooting straight up and down mountains. But that day, you know, the thought process, i dont know if im slow or not, but i dont remember thinking a whole lot that day. It was a 13hour firefight, and i dont remember very many times actually thinking more than i was feeling. Feeling the need to do my job, because i knew my battle buddies around me were doing theirs. Feeling the need to continue to push, no matter what the odds were. Feeling the need to, you know, and i hope you guys can agree with me, and as you hear these citations, the medal isnt given out off of body count. Its not a status of who killed more that day or who didnt. You look at every one of these citations, we were doing it to save a life. To protect our brothers. To do it because we didnt hate the enemy in front of us. We did it because we loved the men to our left and right and our families that support behind us. Thats what motivated the thats, the overall trend of that loyalty will get you so far. That duty will get you guys to accomplish a mission, but loyalty will get them to follow you anywhere. And that day when i walked into the barracks to ask for that group of volunteers, in the midst of getting overran, to come up with a harebrain idea of, lets counterattack. Who counterattacks when youre getting overran . And five guys without hesitation stood up. I wouldnt have done it. At least, i cant imagine if someone ran into a barracks like that and asked for volunteers that i would go. These five guys, no hesitation. Said, well follow you anywhere. Because we knew we had guys that are stranded, that were overran and isolated. And if we were out there, the rest of them would have came and got us. And it was the least we could do to repay them back. Just that loyalty to each other, not doing anything more than any other soldier would have done that day, to understand that to save a life, the love for your fellow man is way more powerful and way more motivating than hate toward an enemy. [applause] gentlemen, before we throw this open to questions from the audience, one more thing i want to ask of you. In fact, as you look around, theres a lot of young people in the audience. From high school level. Certainly, a lot of midshipmen have joined us today. If you could share something to build on, some of the nuggets that youve already shared with us, to help them prepare for the service ahead of them, the sacrifices that theyll make in their careers, of whatever stripe they happen to be, what would be that nugget you would share with the next generation . I guess i would go back to my schoolteacher. Pay attention [laughter] [applause] i have said many times, i dont think ive ever had an original thought in my life. But i did this morning. There is a miracle still happening in the world. I came up with an original thought. We even googled it, and we cant find anybody who has had this same original thought. So i think im safe. If google doesnt have it, it doesnt exist. Do the vice, pay the price. Do the vice, pay the price. I guess my advice would be, basically, pick a good role model. Somebody that has been successful in their life. You dont want to be like them. I dont mean that. But that individual had something that you could build on and some basis in which you can pattern your life. We have a 400bed prison within four miles of my house. There are 650 people in the 400bed prison. And as i talk to you around the country, do not pattern your life after a failure. If you do, you are going to fail. And those individuals do not make good role models. So dont follow their pattern, follow that individual who has been successful. Because they have characteristics, they have integrity. They have a basis, a ground from which they built, and you can build on that very same ground. So ill say again, pay attention. [applause] its kind of an interesting question. A nugget of information that would help people be successful in your careers. I dont think theres any one nugget that you can throw out there. I think, probably, the thing that always helped me was, i always strove to do the best job that i possibly could. I did listen, i did pay attention. Sometimes i ignored it, but, but i evaluated and i made decisions which i thought were would help me or help the group i was with to perform the job successfully. I remember when i was in school, in high school, there was a coach that we had, it wasnt mine, but he was a great basketball coach, as a matter of fact, john wooden. And wooden had a couple of sayings that were very impressed me by quite a bit. One was, be more respectful of your character than your reputation. Because your character is who you really are. Your reputation is what people think you are. And thats kind of stuck with me. And the other thing he had was, winning the game is a result of the rest of the team, not an individual. And that is so true. To be sure that your team is youre not going to do things by yourself. Youre going to need people to assist you and help you. And when youre in combat, its the guy beside you, on either side. And you depend on them to do their job. If they believe in the same desire to perform the best they can, youre going to come out ahead. And i always try to use those guidelines when i was going through some of the trials that you go through in life. And they all served me successfully. And i think probably those are what i would try to impart upon you. But ill tell you, i cant thank the military enough for allowing me to serve for it, because it was an Incredible Opportunity for me to gain the wisdom and the experiences that later helped me live through the rest of my life. And to all of you that are, you know, now in the service or just starting out, its a great career. Enjoy it and make the best of it. And thank god we have people today that in this country that volunteer to serve and to keep us free. And my hats off to you, and thank you so much for that. [applause] kind of my experience with some of the best officers i ever had as an nco were the officers that came into the platoon and would straight admit, i dont know what the hell im doing, and would listen to the experience of the guys around them, for the midshipmen that will be out in our fleets pretty soon. You know, im not a fortune teller by no means, but it does look like we are starting to draw down some of our combat experience. And that experience is going to get hard to come by very quickly, and lets not waste the opportunity or pass up the opportunity to pick those guys brains before theyre gone, theyre no longer available to do that. Like i said, i always thought experience was one of the best tools ever. Because you never know what youre going to experience in life until you experience, and you never know youre never going to know how you react to it until it does happen. Its as simple as that. And to understand that, you know, dont just make yourself better, but make those around you better. You can be the best at everything you do, but if youre around people that are struggling and do nothing to assist them, the team is weak overall. And a very strong team will beat an individual any day of the week, hands down. Its a proven fact time and time again. Thats really, really true. And thats the things i would just like to pass on. Is something as simple as that. [applause] you know, as a young recruit at paris island, a Battalion Commander himself, im sorry, and also a medal of honor recipient named james liveston, who was very found of saying that honor and bravery are passed from one generation to another, and i dont think that ive ever actually seen it on display or could have imagined it on display quite this way, whether that be 1945, 1992, 2009, we get this feeling of the theme that carries down through the decades. And also, once again emphasizes how unique experiences is and how privileged i personally feel. I think we all are, for all of that. So with that in mind, i would like to open it up to questions. We have microphones and some folks delivering microphones. So right heres one. Midshipmen . Theres a mic, if you dont mind, please. Get another microphone. My life will be defined when my children. All of your actions, the fear of selfpreservation. Can explain what combat is. You are to busy trying to stay alive. Reacting to ou are a situation, you react to what you have trained. You depend on your teammates to do the same. Fear does not go into it. You dont have time to be fearful. Are too busy trying to save the situation you are in for the people that are around you, that need assistance. Fear is not a factor. I have seen fear. Especially during a rescue mission. 20 vietnamese unit there. We last half of them. They cannot perform. They could not function. And the vietnamese officer we went around trying around with returning fire. Bodies in. Bringing we had to fight, my guys were ready to do that. It never happened with the unit i was part of. Time to think e about reaction and how to do it. Ill get the answers your question. We use do why dont 65yearold man to fight wars . Would did we probably never win one. 21 years of age you are invincible. Been trained to perform, and automation. We had an automation in world war two. Automatically your training took over. My accomplishment told me to my training. I stop and thought people might kill me, i would never have gone. My training took over. I began doing that for which i have been trained to. My answer to winning. It has to be done by young people. Certain age are cautioned,our preservation. We begin to rationalize. I did not do today what back then. You do s like anything in life, the second you think i cannot do that you will fail. Event thought and is your mind take on the task, you have already lost. Fear in your ve it is it is not healthy not helping, so why do we even have thought. The movers and dor there to get bstacle is going no way. You have to have that in your mind. Before you tackle any task. Listening rning, just medals all, were in the around your neck, you represent america and is an honor to listen to you. Your patriotism from teachers. The opening speaker, if you look in the media these days see the American Flag is going to be shown. Theres High School Students walk out of class in patriotic history curriculum. See america is going . Are people using the values that made us great . Are we in danger of calling the enemies who they are. We get that back . A you know, you always see cycle and democracy. Tyranny, followed by revolution, followed by prosperity. We are on the verge of over abundance. In a confort zone. Everybody gets a damn trophy. There are winners and losers. Can be the best at something and still be bad. We need to be able to continue to teach this lesson to our youth. So they can carry it on. Is up to us. Kids off to r school. Needs to be us as a family unit to bring those values back. To push for that. Never forget the sacrifice of what was giving beforehand, and the benefits we read now. It is being forgotten. Too many years ago they did in hat and sweat his is pain and tears, why we have the america we have. We must never forget. [applause] lot of it comes, parents teaching their kids. Do see examples of on the unpatriotic behavior. With enough people that volunteer for our country. That is one percent of our country. That is sad, that is very sad. But why is that . We live to well . Things that e the we enjoy . A third t time they saw world country, every american see what is like. To realize the freedom that we enjoy. We get more moved away from that. Sometimes we think that it cannot happen to us. Know what reality is. It can happen to us. To reeducate our future young men and women, on that mindset. From their not come classmates, friends but from parents. If the parents do not. Who is going to . Thankfully there are those who and already on board to serve and sacrifice, but it should be this whole country that does. That is where we need to start. [applause] im not sure. I do feel, maybe its this egocentric. That god blessed me with a lot of common sense, which i think lost in this country, a lot of common sense. What we had become taught. Difference al between the japanese and americans, i cannot speak for was not over se i there. Principal difference between we want and americans, to survive and were going to can do in possibly order to preserve that life. That believe was, it was an honor to die for the emperor. Which made us into the conflict. Even though we would try to treat them at, to and save, that is what they wanted. A save them and become prisoner of war it was one of the most disgraceful things that could happen to them. That is the culture that is what they were taught. If we, in this country do not the basics, and teach what one nation has stood all these many years. That there are parties they should never forget. I do have fear. Maybe in 10 years, in a few years we will lose our basic values. Helping one another and survival. I believe that. [applause] you have the honor of the last question. What was your perspective, your service in and why . Is easy for me. About already retired, six months after the operation the north vietnam. I have five guys. He rescued me and receive the benefits of honor for the action. Im a nice guy but everybody to shoot at me. The navy retired me as a result of those injuries. They gave me the opportunity to stay in if i wanted to. I was retired when i received my award. Affected me after that . Wearing this medal is more difficult than serving. You do your job to earn it. Is tougher, it on a pedalstone. You do not feel that way, your humble. You dont feel that you should placed in the position but i am very proud. A lot of ly opens those which otherwise would never have been open to you. It opens a lot of opportunities that you have to utilize. Remember that your representatives of this country. Uniform that served this country. What you do is a reflection of you. You have to be very careful of the actions you take. Was, both a wonderful to being able to wear that honor. It also has a little that goes with it. Need to g that you remember, that this metal does not represent you. It represents all those they gave their lives serving this country. It is quite a responsibility to carry. It is an honor. It becomes sometimes a burden it is also a responsibility, the only hope that you can carry it with honor and dignity. [applause] why do you get to be last . Out of s going to get the military after afghanistan. My wife and i decided that it was enough. The decision was already made. Day the ely after that thoughts were never my big thing was that the guys with me were acknowledged. Having five guys volunteer to go back. With the impressed true grit and the willingness on because we had nine more months in the country. Pick up the pieces and watch my platoon reconstitute. Right and having stepped into their shoes, and finish the mission. Go out after 9 11, it wasnt until a year later i got the call. A call from authority asking for me to go back to washington dc. I asked myself what did i do wrong . Finally i enlisted my actions were going to be recognized. It is a d responsibility to wear this around your neck. You are just the caretaker of the. This represents every marine aspect of the military. I put it on a thing i lost that day. With a appreciate it, or what they turn . [applause] certainly al of honor changed my life. When i got home to start to give me 10 a month. Country boy that was very shy. Probably the best thing that happened to me was receiving the medal of honor. Im talking about psychologically. In world have ptsd war ii, we have psycho neuroses. People diagnosed with you are a ysis, psycho. Nobody wanted the connotation associated with them. I had a brother that cracked up on the marine from. That was the diagnosis when he came home. Psycho neuroses that would mean he was a psycho. When i received the medal of i had no choice. The second date on i became a public figure. I do not want to be that. Back to the d to go farm, they get home and get in it. Because i had a lot of what they call now ptsd. We have no treatment facilities. Psychologists, no va facilities. And being forced to the public, talk about what happened, and that was the best therapy active received. Cannot hold it in, i had to let it go. That help me tremendously. Adjust back to civil life. Know f you in the military they are folks are teaching you things. One of those they teach you is you do not kill. There is no exception. Then you go into a combat you have to ere are rse the concept, you going to survive now you must do that which you never permitted to do. In for d war ii i was the duration, when the world over they had me discharged. Go home and go back to where you were. Almost impossible, bbecause the brain does not stop working. It keeps going. Similar problems here today, with individuals that have ptsd. Facilities and treatment methods, our knowledge, is so much greater. And more accessible than it has ever been in history of this country. I was a Veterans Council for 33 we had no answers. Nobody to go to, nobody to talk apart from each other. Somebody eful that have the wisdom to establish the situation. It is so much more beneficial to those around you. I am grateful for my nation. [applause] you have given us a tremendous education. This is a rare, taken daily unique opportunity, to have a of the cross generations. Is with great regret i have to bring this to an end. These people thank these people for coming here for the extraordinary humanity. [applause] it is also my privilege to each of the panelist with a book