CNN
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President Joe Biden on Friday awarded the Medal of Honor — the nation’s highest military award for valor — to seven U.S. Army soldiers during a White House ceremony, marking the final time he would preside such an opportunity as Commander-in-Chief.
“These are authentic, to their main heroes. Heroes of different ranks, different positions and even different generations. But heroes who all went above and beyond the call of duty — heroes who all deserve our nation’s highest and oldest military recognition, the Medal of Honor,” Biden said as he introduced the stories of courage and bravery.
Six of the medal’s recipients were recognized posthumously decades after their heroic actions during the Korean and Vietnam Wars, while the seventh, then-Private First Class Kenneth J. David, attended the ceremony in person at the White House.
Those honored posthumously were: Pvt. Bruno R. Orig; PFC. Wataru Nakamura; Cpl. Fred B. McGee; PFC. Charles R. Johnson; General Richard E. Cavazos; and Captain Hugh R. Nelson Jr.
“Today we award these people a Medal of Honor,” Biden said. “We can’t stop there. Together, as a nation, it is up to us to give meaning to this medal. To continue fighting. Continue to fight for each other, for each other. To continue to defend everything these heroes fought for and many of them died for.
David shook Biden’s hand Friday to a room full of applause as he received his medal.
In May 1970, David’s company came under intense attack from a large enemy force. David, who was a radio operator, took up position to engage the enemy and divert fire from his comrades.
“Without regard for his own life,” the White House said, he moved forward.
Surrounded on three sides, David responded with his rifle and hand grenades. His company had suffered many casualties and when enemy forces attempted to target the wounded, he jumped up and shouted to draw attention to himself.
After being wounded, David remained in the fight, diverting enemy fire from friendly helicopters that attempted to land to evacuate others. Only when the last helicopter landed did it withdraw from its position, continuing to fire until it was finally evacuated.
Orig was returning from a cable-laying mission near Chipyong-ni, Korea, in February 1951, when he saw several fellow soldiers injured in an enemy attack. He immediately administered first aid and began evacuating the wounded to safety with the help of other soldiers – thereby exposing himself to enemy fire. He was returning from one of these trips when he saw that a machine gun crew had been almost completely wounded.
Orig volunteered to man the machine gun and provided cover for a retreating friendly platoon. He fought in this position until they were overwhelmed. The White House said that when the lost ground was later regained, “Orig was found dead next to his gun, and the area in front of his gun was littered with several dead enemy soldiers.”
As a Japanese American, Nakamura was sent to an internment camp with his family after the attack on Pearl Harbor, his nephew, Gary Takashima, told reporters. Still, he enlisted in the military “as soon as he could,” Takashima said, “to show his loyalty and sense of duty to his country.” He first served in Europe during World War II and was recalled from the reserves during the Korean War.
Nakamura was killed in May 1951 in heavy fighting after being attacked while checking and repairing a communications line between his platoon and a command post. According to the White House, Nakamura was fired upon while checking the communications line and found that enemy forces had “encircled friendly positions and were threatening to breach the company’s defense lines.”
Nakamura rushed the enemy with a fixed bayonet and destroyed a hostile machine gun nest, driving them out of several captured bunkers, the White House said. He withdrew when he ran out of ammunition, only to rearm and return to combat with other soldiers before being killed by an enemy grenade.
“He would have been very honored to receive the Medal of Honor, but he would have thought it was all too much to do what he was supposed to do,” Nakamura’s family told reporters last week.
In June 1952, McGee “delivered significant supporting fire” during an assault on an enemy position, taking command of his squad after several of his comrades, including his squad leader, were wounded. Under intense fire, McGee moved his weapon several times to continue to support the assault, providing covering fire for the other elements of his platoon. He ordered his squad to evacuate their position, but refused to follow suit, remaining behind to evacuate the wounded and dead.
“Although wounded in the face, he heroically exposed himself by standing up under intense enemy machine gun and mortar fire and attempting to evacuate the body of the company runner,” the White House said.
McGee died on Jan. 3, 2020, his granddaughter, Kristen Lee Bailey, told reporters last week, adding that his actions on the battlefield were “no surprise, because he was always selfless, loving and honorable in everything he did.
Johnson was killed in June 1953 during a crushing night attack by Chinese forces on his bunker. Although he was wounded, Johnson provided first aid to others, aiding his fellow soldiers and killing “several enemy troops in hand-to-hand combat.” Once he reached the safety of a second bunker, Johnson realized the situation was “untenable” and placed himself between the wounded and the enemy forces, telling them he would hold them off “as best he could.”
“His courageous and selfless efforts saved the lives of 10 soldiers,” the White House said.
Garry Trey Mendez, Johnson’s nephew, never met his uncle. But he met the men Johnson saved and learned the story of heroism from them.
“It’s so great to hear her story told to the nation at large and hopefully inspire everyone like she has inspired us in the family all these years,” he said to journalists.
Nearly three decades before Cavazos became the first Hispanic four-star general in the U.S. Army, he was a first lieutenant in the Korean War, where he led his company in a June 1953 raid against an enemy outpost cut off. After inflicting heavy losses on the outpost, Cavazos and his men came under intense fire. Cavazos – for whom the sprawling Texas military base formerly known as Fort Hood would later be renamed – withdrew and regrouped, leading more attacks on the enemy outpost, each time destroying the enemy equipment and personnel.
When ordered to withdraw, Cavazos returned to the battlefield several times to recover and evacuate the wounded left behind, allowing himself to be treated for his own wounds only when he was assured that the hillside was clear . Cavazos’ military career lasted 33 years.
“He was a man of deep faith who loved his country, loved his family, loved his soldiers, and it was that love – that selfless love – that drove him up the hill that night in 1953 to gather the men of his company and collect them. get them safe,” Cavazos’ son Tommy told reporters last week.
Nelson was serving as the plane commander of a Huey armed helicopter during the Vietnam War in June 1966 when his helicopter was shot down and crashed amid enemy positions. As enemy fire came from about 9 feet away, Nelson began evacuating his crew from the wreckage, pulling two soldiers from the helicopter. After laying the second soldier on the ground, he used his own body “as a human shield to cover his comrade,” the White House said.
“He saved the lives of his fellow soldiers at the cost of sacrificing his own,” the White House said. One of Nelson’s comrades was then able to use a smoke grenade to signal other planes to evacuate the survivors and Nelson’s remains.