Medal of Honor for Iraq.

The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, March 3, 1863, has awarded in the name of Congress the Medal of Honor to

Sergeant First Class Paul R. Smith

United States Army 

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty:

Sergeant First Class Paul R. Smith distinguished himself by acts of gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty in action with an armed enemy near Baghdad International Airport, Baghdad, Iraq on 4 April 2003. On that day, Sergeant First Class Smith was engaged in the construction of a prisoner of war holding area when his Task Force was violently attacked by a company-sized enemy force. Realizing the vulnerability of over 100 fellow soldiers, Sergeant First Class Smith quickly organized a hasty defence consisting of two platoons of soldiers, one Bradley Fighting Vehicle and three armored personnel carriers. As the fight developed, Sergeant First Class Smith braved hostile enemy fire to personally engage the enemy with hand grenades and anti-tank weapons, and organized the evacuation of three wounded soldiers from an armored personnel carrier struck by a rocket propelled grenade and a 60 mm mortar round. Fearing the enemy would overrun their defenses, Sergeant First Class Smith moved under withering enemy fire to man a .50 caliber machine gun mounted on a damaged armored personnel carrier. In total disregard for his own life, he maintained his exposed position in order to engage the attacking enemy force. During this action, he was mortally wounded. His courageous actions helped defeat the enemy attack, and resulted in as many as 50 enemy soldiers killed, while allowing the safe withdrawal of numerous wounded soldiers. Sergeant First Class Smith's extraordinary heroism and uncommon valor are in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, the Third Infantry Division "Rock of the Marne," and the United States Army.

On Monday, 4 April 2005, two years to the day after Sergeant First Class Paul R. Smith, US Army, was killed defending his unit from an enemy attack near the Baghdad airport, President George W. Bush presented the Medal of Honor to Smith's 11-year-old son, David in the presence of his widow Birgit who had asked that their son accept his father's medal. Also present at the White House ceremony was Jessica, Birgit's 18-year-old daughter. Smith, 33, was a career soldier, joining the US Army after graduating from high school in Tampa, Florida in 1989. He met Bridget while stationed in Germany in 1990. Smith was born in E1 Paso, Texas, was raised in Tampa, Florida and served in the Gulf War, Bosnia, Kosovo and Iraq.

On 4 April 2003, the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, seized Baghdad International Airport. Task Force 2-7 Infantry established a blocking position against a counterattack on the main entrance to the airfield. The Task Force 2-7 Forward Aid Station, mortars, scouts and portions of B Company, 11th Engineer Battalion were in the median strip behind the forward most blocking positions. 2nd Platoon, B Company, 11th Engineer Battalion commanded by Sgt. 1st Class Smith was ordered to construct an enemy prisoner of war holding area. A site was selected and work to clear debris had just started when the lead elements of a company-sized force staging to attack the flank of Task Force 2-7 was observed.

Smith instructed a squad leader to get a nearby Bradley Fighting Vehicle for support and while waiting for the Bradley had the 2nd platoon retrieve AT-4 weapons and form a skirmish line. As the Bradley arrived on site and moved forward, Smith ran forward and threw a fragmentation grenade at the enemy. He then directed his men to engage with small arms the enemy who were firing rifles, RPGs, and 60 mm mortars. Smith called for an armoured personnel carrier to move forward to provide additional fire support and then fired an AT-4 at the enemy while directing his fire team assembled near the front line of the engagement area.

Running low on ammunition and having taken RPG hits, the Bradley withdrew to reload. The lead armoured personnel carrier in the area received a direct hit from a mortar, wounding the three occupants. The enemy attack was at its strongest point and threatened B Company, the Task Force Aid Station, and the mortar platoon. Smith ordered a soldier to move the damaged carrier forward after the wounded had been evacuated and assumed the track commander's position behind the .50 calibre machine-gun. He told the driver to "feed me ammunition whenever you hear the gun get quiet." Smith fired on the advancing enemy from the unprotected position atop the armoured personnel carrier and expended at least three boxes of ammunition before being mortally wounded by enemy fire. The enemy attack was defeated. Smith's actions saved the lives of at least 100 soldiers, caused the failure of a deliberate enemy attack hours after 1st Brigade seized the Baghdad Airport, and resulted in an estimated 20-50 enemy soldiers killed. His actions prevented the penetration in the Task Force 2-7 sector, defended the aid station, mortars, arm scouts and allowed the evacuation of soldiers wounded by enemy fire.

Thirty-nine belated awards since Somalia

The award to Smith was the first Medal of Honor action since Somalia when President Clinton presented posthumous awards to the widows of Randall D Shughart and Gary I. Gordon for the October 1993 "Black Hawk Down" incident. However the award to Smith was in fact the 40th award since Somalia. Following Somalia President Clinton presented 35 belated awards from the Civil War to Vietnam although most were for the Second World War. And President George W Bush presented one belated Second World War award and three belated Vietnam War awards prior to the presentation to Paul Smith.

The quest for a belated Medal of Honor for a heroic father, uncle, or fellow veteran is a feature of the Medal of Honor. Of the 1199 Army Civil War awards only 374 had been awarded by the end of 1865. In the following ten years another 44 awards were issued. However, 780 further awards were presented between 1876 and 1917, the majority in the 1890s. The final eight awards were issued in 1917 until the rolls were reopened by President Clinton who presented the Medal of Honor to a descendent of a Civil War veteran in 2001.

In an attempt to protect the integrity of the Medal of Honor a time limit requiring nominations to be submitted within one year of the action being commended was enacted. This was extended in 1963 to two years for Army and Air Force awards and three years for Navy and Marine Corps awards. However, the time limits are regularly extended by Congress which has acquiesced to pleas of family members or veteran groups to upgrade earlier awards to the Medal of Honor. Sadly, it leaves open the suggestion that belated awards are not based upon merit but the political clout of the legislator who moved the provision.

The 39 belated awards between Somalia and Iraq included seven black Americans and 22 Asian-Americans Second World War veterans and ten awards from the Civil War to Vietnam.

African American recipients

President William Clinton on 13 January 1997 presented Medals of Honor to First Lieutenant Vernon Baker of St. Maries, Idaho, and family members of the six deceased soldiers in a White House ceremony. The seven African American veterans of the Second World War received their awards following a study by Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina to find out why no black received the Medal of Honor in that war. Shaw University which was contracted by the US Army to research the matter reviewed archives and interviewed veterans. Nine blacks received the second-highest honor, the Distinguished Service Cross. The 272-page study found no evidence that any black soldier in World War II was ever nominated for the Medal of Honor, although commanders, comrades and archival records indicate that at least four of the seven nominees had been recommended. The study did not find official evidence suggesting racial bias in the Army's award policy at the time. The study's authors say the political climate and common Army practices during the war guaranteed that no black soldier would ever receive the military's top award. The seven veterans decorated were:

92nd Division

Baker, Vernon J., 1st Lt, 5 and 6 April 1945, Viareggio, Italy. (living)

Fox, John R., 1st Lt., 26 Dec 1944, Sommocolonia, Italy (KIA)

103fd Division

Thomas, Charles L, 1st Lt, 14 Dec 1944, Climbach, France (died 1980)

104th Division

James, Willy F. Jr, Pfc.. 7 April 1945, Lippoldsberg, Germany (KIA)

12th Armored Division

Carter, Edward A. Jr, SSgt., 23 March, 1945, Speyer, Germany (died 1962)

761st Tank Battalion

Rivers, Ruben, SSgt. 15-19 Nov 1944, Guebling, France (KIA)

29th Quartermaster Regiment

Watson, George, Pvt. 8 March 8, 1943, Porloch Harbor, Papua (KIA)

Asian Pacific American upgrades

Following the African-American review the Army examined the records of Asian Pacific American Second World War veterans. While 1.2 million black Americans served in the Second World War the number Asian Pacific American was much smaller. Japanese Americans of the celebrated 100th Battalion/442nd Regimental Combat Team were the most highly decorated unit in the history of the U.S. armed forces. The unit earned over 18,000 individual decorations, including 9,486 Purple Hearts and seven Presidential Unit Citations, the nation's top award for combat units. The 100th/442nd's famous motto, "Go for Broke," reflects its reputation for accomplishing its mission despite all costs. Many of the Japanese Americans who served in the 100th/442nd volunteered from internment camps where their families had been relocated to after the outbreak of war.

The 100th/442nd fought in eight major campaigns in Italy, France and Germany, including Monte Cassino, Anzio, and Biffontaine. At Biffontaine the 100th/442nd fought perhaps its most famous battle, the epic "Rescue of the Lost Battalion," in which the Japanese American unit sustained over 800 casualties to rescue 211 members of the Texan 1st Battalion of the 141st Regiment.

Of the 22 Medal of Honor recipients, ten were killed in action or died of wounds. Another five passed away after the war but before the presentation leaving seven still living to receive their awards. Since 2001 three of the seven have died leaving four survivors among the 123 living Medal of Honor recipients as at 31 July 2005.

100th Infantry Battalion

Hasemoto, Mikio, Private., 29 Nov 1943, Cerasuolo, Italy (KIA)

Hayashi, Shizuya, Private., 29 Nov 1943, Cerasuolo, Italy. (living)

Kobashigawa, Yeiki, Tech. Sgt., 2 Jun 1944, Lanuvio, Italy. (died 2005)

Moto, Kaoru, Pfc., 7 Jul 1944, Castellina, Italy. (died 1992)

Nakae, Masato, Private., 19 Aug 1944, Pisa, Italy (died 1998)

Nakamine, Shinyei, Private., 2 Jun 1944, La Torreto, Italy (KIA).

Ohata, Allan M., Sgt. 29/30 Nov 1943, Cerasuolo, Italy. (died 1977)

Okubo, James, Tech 5, 28 Oct/4 Nov 1944, Biffontaine, France. (died 1967)

442nd Infantry Regiment

Hajiro, Barney F, Private, October 1944, Bruyeres and Biffontaine, France. (living)

Hayashi, Joe, Private, 20/22 April 1945, Tendola, Italy. (KIA)

Inouye, Daniel K., 2nd Lt, 21 April 1945, San Terenzo, Italy. (living)

Kuroda, Robert T, SSgt, 20 October 1944, Bruyeres, France. (KIA)

Muranaga, Kiyoshi K., Pfc., 26 June 1944, Suvereto, Italy. (KIA)

Nakamura, William K., Pfc., 4 July 1944, Castellina, Italy. (KIA)

Nishimoto, Joe M., Pfc., 7 November 1944, La Houssiere, France. (DOW)

Okutsu, Yukio, Tech. Sgt., 7 April 1945, Mount Belvedere, Italy. (died 2003)

Ono, Frank HI, Pfc., 4 July 1944, Castellina, Italy. (died 1980)

Otani, Kazuo, SSgt., 15 July 15, 1944, Pieve di S. Luce, Italy (KIA).

Sakato, George T., Private., 29 October 29, 1944, in Biffointaine, France. (living)

Tanouye, Ted T., Tech. Sgt., 7 July 1944, Molina A Ventoabbto, Italy. (DOW)

7th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division

Davila, Rudolph B., SSgt., for actions on May 28, 1944, Artena, Italy. (died 2002)

34th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division

Wai, Francis B., Capt., 20 October 1944, Leyte, Philippine Islands (KIA)

One of thee 22 recipients was Senator Daniel K. Inouye (Democrat-Hawaii) who lost his right arm in combat in 1945 and who served in the Hawaii Territorial House of Representatives and Senate from 1954. He was the first Hawaii member of the US House of Representatives when Hawaii gained statehood in 1959 and has been a member of the US Senate from 1963 being re-elected in 1968, 1974, 1980, 1986, 1992, 1998 and in 2004 for the term ending 3 January 2011

Other belated awards

Ten further bealted awards have been presente by Presidents Clinton and Buch. The first two are are extraordinary for the delay of 137 years and 103 years respectively. Andrew Jackson Smith, a former slave who joined the Union Army during the Civil War, earned his medal for saving his unit's colors after the flag-bearer went down during a charge in the Battle of Honey Hill in South Carolina. He held the flag high throughout the battle despite heavy Confederate fire. Smith was a member of the 55th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment, one of 166 regiments made up of freed African Americans. The recipient from the Spanish American War was Theodore Roosevelt, 26th President of the United States between 1901 and 1909. He led the Rough Riders in the assault on San Juan Hill. The movie Rough Riders which is reasonably good military history which gives a good account of the battle may still be at your video store is well recommended.

American Civil War 

Smith, Andrew Jackson, Honey Hill, South Carolina, 30 Nov 1864, (died 1932)

Spanish American War

Roosevelt, Theodore, San Juan Hill, 1 Jul 1898, (died 1919)

Second World War

Day, James L,, Okinawa, 14 to 17 May 1945, (died 1998)

Salomon, Ben Louis, Saipan, 7 Jul 1944, (KIA

Vietnam War

Freeman, Ed W., South Vietnam, 14 Nov 1965, (living)

Ingram, Robert R., South Vietnam, 28 Mar 1966, (living)

Pitsenbarger, William H., South Vietnam, 11 Apr 1966, (KIA)

Rascon, Alfred V., South Vietnam, 16 Mar 1966, (living)

Swanson, Jon E., Cambodia. 26 Feb 1971, (KIA)

Versace, Humbert R., South Vietnam, 29 Oct 1963 to 26 Sep 1965, (died as POW)

Jewish American review

On 23 September 2005, President George W Bush is scheduled to present a belated Medal of Honor to Tibor Rubin, a 76-year old Holocaust survivor and Korean War veteran.

Rubin, known as "Ted" to his army buddies, was born in Paszto, a Hungarian "stetl" or enclosed village of 120 Jewish families, one of six children of a shoemaker. At age 13, Rubin was transported to the Mauthausen concentration camp in Austria, where he was liberated two years later by US troops. His parents and two sisters perished in the Holocaust. He came to the United States in 1948, settled in New York and worked first as a shoemaker and then as a butcher. In 1949 Rubin tried to enlist in the U.S. Army, both as a shortcut to American citizenship and, he hoped, to attend the army's butcher school in Chicago. He first flunked the English language test but tried again in 1950 and passed, with some help from two fellow test-takers.

In July 1950, Pfc. Rubin found himself fighting on the frontlines of Korea with I Company, 8th Regiment, First Cavalry Division. Toward the end of October 1950, massive Chinese troop concentrations crossed the border into North Korea and attacked the Americans. After most of his regiment had been wiped out, the severely wounded Rubin was captured and spent the next 30 months in a prisoner-of-war camp. For some 30 years after his discharge, Rubin lived quietly in a small house in Garden Grove, Calif. with his wife Yvonne, a Dutch Holocaust survivor. The couple reared two children: Frank, an Air Force veteran, and a daughter, Rosalyn. It wasn't until the 1980s that Rubin's old army buddies started a campaign to get Rubin the Medal of Honor. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) first moved a bill in 1988 to waive the time limit. The Jewish War Veterans have championed Rubin's cause for many years and at one point collected 42,000 signatures on a petition presented to President Reagan.

Congress passed a bill in 2001 providing for a review of selected Jewish veterans and a list containing the names and wartime records of 138 Jewish veterans was sent to the Pentagon. All the men listed had received the been decorated for gallantry with the exception of Rubin.

Although the Jewish American Review follows the Back American and Asian Pacific American reviews the conclusions and follow up was completely different. In the first two reviews no case of actual discrimination was found but institution discrimination was assumed. The records of the soldiers were examined and 28 of the 29 had either the Distinguished Service Cross or Silver Star upgraded to the Medal of Honor.

According to lengthy affidavits submitted by nearly a dozen men, mostly self-described "country boys" from the South and Midwest, Rubin platoon sergeant, First Sgt. Artice Watson was a vicious anti-Semite who consistently "volunteered" Rubin for the most dangerous patrols and missions. Rubin's bravery during such missions so impressed two of his commanding officers that they recommended him three times for the Medal of Honor. Both officers were later killed in action, but not before telling Watson to initiate the necessary paper work to secure the medals for Rubin. Some of the men in Rubin's company were present when Watson was ordered to put in for the medals, and all are convinced that he deliberately ignored the orders. "I believe in my heart that First Sgt. Watson would have jeopardized his own safety rather than assist in any way whatsoever in the awarding of the medal to a person of Jewish descent," wrote Cpl. Harold Speakman in a notarized affidavit.

As a prisoner of war Rubin, would sneak out of the camp to steal food from the Chinese and North Korean supply depots, realizing that he would be shot if caught. "He shared the food evenly among the GIs," a former prisoner wrote "He also took care of us, nursed us, carried us to the latrine ... He did many good deeds, which he told us were 'mitzvahs' in the Jewish tradition ... He was a very religious Jew, and helping his fellow men was the most important thing to him." Survivors of the camp credited Rubin with keeping 35 to 40 people alive, and recommended him for the Medal of Honor, Distinguished Service Cross and Silver Star. Sgt. Carl McClendon, a soldier saved by Rubin, wrote: "He had more courage, guts and fellowship than I ever knew anyone had. He is the most outstanding man I ever met, with a heart of gold. Tibor Rubin committed everyday bravery that boggles the mind. How he ever came home alive is a mystery to me."

Rubin is the 15th Jewish recipient of the Medal of Honor since it was instituted during the Civil War by an Act of Congress signed by President Lincoln, according to archivist Pamela Elbe of the National Museum of American Jewish Military History.

Rubin is allowed to invite 200 guests for the White House ceremony, and among them will be the survivors of his old company and their families. There also will be relatives, but Rubin doubts that his cousins in Israel will be able to make it. When Rubin was interviewed three years ago, he told this reporter, "I want this recognition for my Jewish brothers and sisters. I want the goyim to know that there were Jews over there, that there was a little greenhorn, a little shmuck from Hungary, who fought for their beloved country." "Now," Rubin said with a self-deprecating laugh, "It's Mister Shmuck, the hero."