Richard Cavazos’ identify is already acknowledged throughout the U.S. Military. He cast a path by way of service in Korea and Vietnam to change into the primary Hispanic four-star basic, resulting in a legacy that included the renaming of Texas’ Fort Hood for him. It’s now Fort Cavazos.
However on Friday, he lastly obtained the nation’s highest army award, the Medal of Honor.
Native Texan who served within the Korean and Vietnam wars, Gen. Richard Edward Cavazos
Protection Division photograph
Cavazos, who died in 2017, earned the award for actions throughout the Korean Conflict in 1953, when the younger first lieutenant led his firm by way of a number of rounds of assaults to destroy an enemy outpost — all whereas going through heavy hearth. After his firm was ordered to drag again, Cavazos returned alone a number of occasions to rescue lacking troopers, regardless that he had additionally been wounded.
Cavazos, together with six different veterans, obtained the Medal of Honor for his or her actions in Korea or in Vietnam.
Non-public First Class Kenneth J. David is awarded the Medal of Honor by US President Joe Biden throughout a ceremony on the White Home in Washington, DC, on January 3, 2025.
CHRIS KLEPONIS/AFP through Getty Photos
President Biden awarded the seven medals throughout a ceremony on the White Home Friday, noting, “These are my final days as commander-in-chief.”
“It’s been the greatest honor of my life to be entrusted with the greatest fighting force in the history of the world, the finest military in the history of the world,” Mr. Biden mentioned, as he expressed gratitude for the veterans’ “integrity, their patriotism and their courage.”
“They “not only fought for our nation, but … embody the very best our nation has to offer,” the president added.
One of many recipients, Kenneth W. David, who earned the respect for heroism in Vietnam, obtained the award in individual, whereas the households of the opposite deceased recipients accepted the award of their honor.
Medal of Honor recipient PFC Kenneth David, Vietnam Conflict
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Among the households labored for many years for the popularity. Cpl. Fred B. McGee’s daughter, Victoria Secrest, had advocated for him to obtain the award because the early Nineteen Nineties.
“The odds are against you, and I started to look like the crazy lady with the clipboard everywhere I went. And then with the computer, the laptop everywhere I went. And then with the iPad everywhere I went. And here we are in 2024, about to step into 2025, and we’ve made it.” Secrest informed reporters at a media roundtable late final month.
Medal of Honor recipient Cpl. Fred B. McGee, killed in motion in Korean Conflict
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McGee obtained the award posthumously for commanding his squad unit in Korea after its chief and a number of other others have been wounded throughout an assault on an enemy submit. He finally needed to order his unit to withdraw, however he voluntarily stayed behind to evacuate the wounded and lifeless, regardless of facial wounds he sustained.
Within the Nineteen Fifties, McGee obtained an uncommon type of recognition for his heroism. He was honored in a comic book ebook, however there was an error. “They forgot his melanin,” Secrest mentioned. The comedian portrayed McGee as White, regardless that he was Black.
Others have been honored of their residence communities. A statue of PFC Charles Johnson at the highschool he attended in Arlington County in New York depicts him saving Donald Dingee, a fellow Arlington Excessive Faculty classmate. Johnson was killed in motion in Korea whereas saving the lives of as many as 10 wounded troopers, together with Dingee.
Medal of Honor recipient PFC Charles Johnson, killed in motion in Korean Conflict.
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Johnson posthumously obtained the Medal of Honor for the actions he took in June 1953.
Though the honors are about 70 years within the making, it’s clear these veterans had an instantaneous affect on their communities.
Charles Allen, the nephew of Medal of Honor recipient Pvt. Bruno R. Orig, throughout the media roundtable informed Richard E. Cavazos’ son Tommy that his father “is indeed a hero.”
“I did get a chance to meet your father.” Allen informed Cavazos. “He was already a retired four-star (general). He was a mentor, senior mentor, ‘Gray Beard,’ as we affectionately called him… And when he spoke, everyone listened, everyone listened, and he impressed me then.”
Medal of Honor recipient Pvt. Bruno R. Orig, killed in motion in Korean Conflict.
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Allen’s uncle obtained the award for actions he took close to Chipyong-ni, Korea on Feb. 15, 1951, to manage first support whereas beneath assault and firing on the enemy whereas Orig’s platoon safely withdrew.
Capt. Hugh R. Nelson Jr., who served within the Vietnam Conflict, was the commander of a Huey helicopter conducting a search-and-destroy reconnaissance mission in June 1966 when it was struck by a big quantity of enemy hearth. Nelson and the pilot have been capable of crash land the helicopter after which Nelson helped evacuate the opposite wounded members of the crew from the helicopter. He used his physique as a protect to cowl one in every of his crew members from intense enemy hearth, sacrificing his personal life to save lots of them.
Capt. Hugh Nelson, killed in motion in Vietnam Conflict
Protection Division photograph
And at last, PFC Wataru Nakamura obtained the Medal of Honor for actions he took close to P’ungch’on-ni, Korea on Might 18, 1951, when he alone rushed enemy forces with a hard and fast bayonet and drove the enemy from a number of bunkers that they had captured. He withdrew to restock on ammunition then continued to cost on the enemy, killing 4 in two bunkers. He was killed by an enemy grenade.
Medal of Honor recipient PFC Wataru Nakamura, killed in motion in Korean Conflict.
Protection Division photograph
Nakamura’s nephew, Gary Takashima thinks that his uncle, if he have been alive, would react to receiving the award with humility. Takashima informed reporters his uncle “would have been greatly honored to receive the Medal of Honor but would have felt all of this was too much for doing what he was supposed to do.”
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