Modern War Heroes

Another account on CNN.com of an inspiring woman named Lori Piestewa serving in our military in Iraq. She lost her life defending her convoy during an ambush.

The soldier, a mother of two believed to be the first American Indian woman ever killed in combat, was the pride of the Hopi Indians living in Tuba City, Arizona. In this tightknit town of 9,000, the unseasonable (snow) flurry signified Piestewa’s spiritual journey home.

“In the Hopi belief, when one is deceased, they come back home. They visit the family, their community through the moisture,” Hopi Tribal Chairman Wayne Taylor told reporters after the snowfall. “And this is what happened just a while ago. So I think we were blessed today.”

Here it is not even 8:30 in the morning and I’m already feeling a bit overwhelmed with patriotic pride. I just ran across this article (www.oregonlive.com) that was posted last Sat. (June 27th) describing an amazing man from Milwaukee named Kenneth Reusser. This man participated in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam flying an incredible 253 missions in the Marine Corps. Here’s a quote from the article describing some of his heroic actions.

Reusser flew an amazing 253 combat missions in World War II, Korea and Vietnam. He was shot down in all three wars — five times in all. He earned two Navy Crosses, four Purple Hearts and two Legions of Merit among his 59 medals.

In 1945, while based in Okinawa, he stripped down his F4U-4 Corsair fighter and intercepted a Japanese observation plane at an altitude much higher than usual. When his guns froze, he flew his fighter into the observation plane, hacking off its tail with his propeller.

In 1950, while serving in the storied “Black Sheep Squadron,” he led an attack on a North Korean tank-repair facility at Inchon, then destroyed an oil tanker — almost blowing himself out of the sky in the process.

During the Vietnam War, Reusser flew helicopters. He was leading a Marine Air Group in a rescue mission, when his own “Huey” was shot down. He needed skin grafts over 35 percent of his badly burned body.

All I could say was, “Wow!” while I was reading this article. After retiring from the military, Reusser went on to work with Lockheed Aircraft and the Piasecki Helicopter Corp. He passed away the 20th of June at the incredible age of 89.

Every war has its heroes. This post is dedicated to Noel Godfrey Chavasse who served in World War I.  He began his career by studying medicine, and ended up joining the Royal Army Medical Corps in 1913. Neither illness nor injury kept him from his duty of helping his fellow soldiers. He received multiple honors, including the Victoria Cross and the Military Cross.

I am always impressed and humbled by these healers who are called to the battlefront. They could easily perform their duties far away from the front, but somehow they find the courage to run out into the fray to rescue the poor souls laying injured in the mud. And thank goodness they do! So many have been saved by these brave efforts who otherwise would have lost their lives.

Please click on Noel Chavasse’s name to learn more about him.

This isn’t exactly hero related news, but it certainly is fitting here.  A man in Iowa named Ray Sorensen used his artistic talents to paint a wonderful tribute to our men and women in uniform.

This is worth seeing!

I ran across this account of Capt. Chris Carter on CNN.com.

The elderly woman got stuck in a haze of smoke and bullets as she tried to cross a bridge south of Baghdad.Capt. Chris Carter did not hesitate. He ordered his Bradley armored vehicle onto the bridge while he and two men followed on foot.

Taking cover from Iraqi bullets behind the bridge’s iron beams, Carter tossed a smoke grenade for cover and dashed toward the crying woman.

Then the 31-year-old company commander pointed his M-16 rifle and provided cover for his men to carry the wounded woman to the safety of an ambulance.

Certainly a man to be admired. Capt. Carter not only puts his life in jeopardy during this incident, but this article goes on to describe his other humanitarian actions both on and off the battlefield.