Mark Bingham. Jeremy Glick. Thomas Burnett. Todd Beamer.
These are names we have all heard or are familiar with. They are the men known for fact to have participated in action to thwart the hijackers of Flight 93.
What they did was beyond the call of duty for any ordinary airline passenger. But that is the stuff of which heroes are made. Ordinary people placed in extraordinary circumstances, who make decisions and take actions that change the vector of history.
This handful of men very likely saved the nation's capital and those in it at the time from doom. Pretty heady stuff saving the capital and scores of staffers and congressmen, striking the first counter attack against OBL's henchmen. That sort of thing doesn't happen every day.
Its the sort of result one might think obviously worthy of this nation's highest civilian honor (the Presidential Medal of Freedom). One would be WRONG in making that assumption.
We're five years on since 9/11 now and yet NONE of the men listed above have been awarded the Medal of Freedom.
Why is this? I don't know. I've written my congressman inquiring as to why. If I get an answer I'll blog it.
I'll leave with this. Some of the past Medal of Freedom awards have gone to Rita Moreno, Estee Lauder, George McGovern and Julia Child. It seems to me the Flight 93 crew stands a lot taller than 90% of the people on that list. Julia Child? GMAFB.
Some are going to whine about the FDNY and NYPD guys who did heroic things as well. Yep they did. They accept danger as part of the job, and I thank them profusely for doing it. Heroic things are expected of professionals doing dangerous jobs though. The four guys above just bought plane tickets. They weren't expecting a date with destiny.
4 comments:
Julia Child worked for the OSS. She helped the U.S. spy agency develop shark repellent, a critical ingredient in protecting explosives used to sink German U-boats during World War II
OSS work would have qualified her for a military award.
Then why didn't she get one, I must be forced to ask? That she worked with the OSS is known fact, that she received the award is known fact. Why she received a civilian award rather than a military one might be because she wasn't enlisted. Just guessing.
Actually, you could be right. She received the Medal of Freedom in 2003, and her war time service was not mentioned. The medal itself recognizes exceptional meritorious service.
Shows how you can go astray when you already "know" something. I knew about her OSS service and so assumed that was what it was for.
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