Only 73 Days Remaining!
Medal of Honor Recipient Forgotten
On June 23, 2011, speaking to members of the U.S. Army’s 10th Mountain Division at Fort Drum, New York, President Obama – Commander-in-Chief of the nation’s armed forces – reminded the soldiers that:
“…First time I saw 10th Mountain Division, you guys were in southern Iraq. When I went back to visit Afghanistan, you guys were the first ones there. I had the great honor of seeing some of you because a comrade of yours, Jared Monti, was the first person who I was able to award the Medal of Honor to, who actually came back and wasn’t receiving it posthumously.”[i]
This could have been a fine moment for a President remembering an American hero….except for one flaw in his speech. President Obama presented Staff Sergeant Jared Monti’s Medal of Honor, posthumously, to his parents at a White House ceremony conducted on September 17, 2009. [ii] Sgt. Monti was killed in action on June 21, 2006.[iii]
These should be moments indelibly etched on the mind of a caring person – let alone a caring President…unless, of course, they don’t care.
[i] President Barack Obama, (June 23, 2011), White House.gov Speeches & Remarks, Remarks of the President to Soldiers of the 10th Mountain Division in Fort Drum, New York retrieved November 15, 2011 from http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/06/23/remarks-president-soldiers-10th-mountain-division-fort-drum-new-york
[ii] Ibid
[iii] United States Army, (2011), Medal of Honor Official Citation for actions of Staff Sergeant Jared C. Monti, Operation Enduring Freedom, retrieved November 15, 2011, from http://www.army.mil/medalofhonor/monti/citation.html
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