Citizen Service Before Self Honors nominations close soon

Every year, in conjunction with the National Medal of Honor Day*, three United States citizens will be awarded Citizen Service Before Self Honors near the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington Cemetery. They will receive this award from a group of Americans whose actions have defined the word courage – the members of the Congressional Medal of Honor Society who have received our nation’s highest and most prestigious award for valor, the Medal of Honor. The living Medal recipients of this exclusive Society now number fewer than 90.

Process, Criteria, & Timeline
Timeline
Open nominations Monday, November 14, 2011
Close nominations Friday, February 10, 2012
Finalists announcement Monday, February 27, 2012
Recipients announcement Monday, March 12, 2012
Recipients honored Friday, March 23, 2012

Criteria
WHO CAN NOMINATE: Any American who is aware of a fellow citizen, neighbor, co-worker, or ordinary American, a hero among us, who without the expectation of fame or reward, has placed others before self in some extraordinary way.

WHO CAN BE NOMINATED: Any United States civilian who through a singular act of extraordinary heroism or through a prolonged series of acts, clearly demonstrated a willingness to place his or her own life at risk for others. In all cases, the actions being honored must epitomize the concept of “service above self” and must be performed “above and beyond” one’s professional or vocational area of responsibility or conduct.

Please note: nominees who are deceased are fully eligible. Nominees must be a U.S. citizen. A singular act of heroism must have occurred within the last three years. A series of acts of long-term selfless service must have been ongoing within the last three years.

HOW TO ENTER: Click on NOMINATION FORM, fill it out, then click SUBMIT.

DEADLINE: Nominations must be received by Friday, February 10, 2012.

Selection Process
A panel, to include Medal of Honor recipient representation, will consider all nominations and select 20 national finalists. From among those finalists, a second panel of Medal of Honor recipients will select three individuals to receive Citizen Service Before Self Honors at a ceremony on Friday, March 23, 2012 to be held at Arlington Cemetery near the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington Cemetery in Arlington, VA.

National Medal of Honor Day
Date: Friday, March 23, 2012*
*Note: National Medal of Honor Day (March 25) is on a Sunday and will be celebrated on Friday, March 23, 2012.

Medal of Honor Recipient John F. Baker passes away at 66

Army Master Sgt. John F. Baker Jr

Army Master Sgt. John F. Baker Jr., who received the Medal of Honor for saving the lives of eight of his fellow Soldiers, killing 10 Viet Cong and knocking out six machine-gun bunkers after his unit was ambushed Nov. 5, 1966, in Vietnam, died Friday evening (1/20/2012) after collapsing in his Northeast Richland home (SC). He was 66.

During the Vietnam War, Baker was a 5-foot-2-inches tall, 105-pound "tunnel rat" - a Soldier who, armed with only a pistol and a flashlight, would crawl into enemy tunnels to clear them. He was one of only 239 servicemembers to receive the Medal of Honor in Vietnam. And he was the last Army Soldier with ties to South Carolina to receive the medal from any conflict.

In 1989, Baker retired from the U.S. Army as a master sergeant after serving 24 years.

After that, he went to work as a computer analyst for the Veterans Affairs hospital in Columbia, S.C., one of the largest VA hospitals in the country.

He long served as vice president of the Congressional Medal of Honor Society. And he was appointed by President George W. Bush in 2002 to serve on the National Cemetery Association's advisory committee on cemeteries and memorials.

He accepted invitations to speak at more than 1,000 public schools. The Interstate 280 Bridge was renamed Baker Bridge.

"He is the last of a long legacy of great Army recipients who lived in South Carolina," said retired Marine Maj. Gen. James. E Livingston of Charleston, also a Medal of Honor recipient.

A service will be held Friday at Fort Jackson in Columbia, S.C. Burial with full military rights will be at a later day in Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.

Visitation will be the day before the service at Dunbar Funeral Home.

Army Master Sgt. John F. Baker Jr

Baker entered the U.S. Army in Moline, Illinois, serving as a private in A Company, 2nd Battalion of the 27th Infantry Regiment, 25th Division. In Vietnam, he took part in Operation Attleboro which began in September 1966. On November 5, 1966, Baker and his unit were called to assist another squad who were taking enemy fire. En route, A Company began to take fire and lost their lead soldier. Together with two other soldiers, Baker took over the head of the column and assisted in destroying two enemy positions. They were moving to take two others when a hand grenade knocked Baker off of his feet.

With the two other soldiers wounded, Baker "single handedly" destroyed another bunker before recovering his comrades. Despite taking further fire from enemy bunkers and snipers, he continually fell back to replenish ammunition and take back several wounded. For these actions, he was awarded the Medal of Honor along with Captain Robert F. Foley, who also received the Medal of Honor for his actions in the battle. When awarding the medal, President Lyndon B Johnson stated:

“The battlefield is the scarred and the lonely landscape of man's greatest failure. But is a place where heroes walk. Today we come here to the East Room of the White House to honor two soldiers, two soldiers who—in the same battle and at the same time—met the surpassing tests of their lives with acts of courage far beyond the call of duty. Captain Foley and Sergeant Baker fought in the same company. Now, together, they join the noblest company of them all. They fought because their Nation believed that only by honoring its commitments, and only by denying aggression its conquest, could the conditions of peace be created in Southeast Asia and the world."

See more at the John Baker Jr. page at the Pritzker Military Library with Ed Tracy:

Pritzker Military Library | Medal of Honor with Ed Tracy

Medal of Honor recipient Mike Colalillo passes away at 86

President Harry S. Truman and PFC Mike Colalillo

The Congressional Medal of Honor Society announces that Mike Colalillo, Medal of Honor recipient, passed away Friday, December 30, 2011, in Duluth, Minnesota at age 86.

He was awarded the Medal of Honor by President Harry S. Truman at a ceremony at the White House on December 18, 1945. His heroic action occurred near Untergriesheim, Germany on April 7, 1945. Private First Class Colalillo served as a rifleman in the Second Squad, Second Platoon, Company C, First Battalion, 398th Infantry, 100th Infantry Division.

He displayed conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action. While he and his company were pinned down under heavy enemy fire, he stood up, shouted to the company to follow, and ran forward in the wake of a supporting tank, firing his machine pistol. Inspired by his example, his comrades advanced in the face of savage enemy fire. He continued to fight and advance against the enemy, using all means of force at his disposal. He then remained behind to help a seriously wounded comrade.

Funeral services are pending. There are 84 recipients alive today.

SOURCE Congressional Medal of Honor Society

Private Colalillo's official Medal of Honor citation reads:

Private First Class Mike Colalillo, 2d Squad, 2d Platoon, Co. C, 1st Battalion, 398th Infantry, 100th Infantry Division was pinned down with other members of his company during an attack against strong enemy positions on 7 April 1945 in the vicinity of Untergriesheim, Germany. Heavy artillery, mortar, and machine gun fire made any move hazardous when he stood up, shouted to his company to follow, and ran forward in the wake of a supporting tank, firing his machine pistol. Inspired by his example, his comrades advanced in the face of savage enemy fire. When his weapon was struck by shrapnel and rendered useless, he climbed to the deck of a friendly tank, manned an exposed machine gun on the turret of the vehicle, and, while bullets rattled around him, fired at an enemy emplacement with such devastating accuracy that he killed or wounded at least 10 hostile soldiers and destroyed their machine gun. Maintaining his extremely dangerous post as the tank forged ahead, he blasted three more positions, destroyed another machine gun emplacement and silenced all resistance in this area, killing at least three and wounding an undetermined number of riflemen as they fled. His machine gun eventually jammed; so he secured a submachine gun from the tank crew to continue his attack on foot. When our armored forces exhausted their ammunition and the order to withdraw was given, he remained behind to help a seriously wounded comrade over several hundred yards of open terrain rocked by an intense enemy artillery and mortar barrage. By his intrepidity and inspiring courage Private First Class Colalillo gave tremendous impetus to his company's attack, killed or wounded 25 of the enemy in bitter fighting, and assisted a wounded soldier in reaching the American lines at great risk to his own life.

PFC Mike Colalillo

Mike Colalillo, one of nine children, was born shortly after his parents emigrated from Italy. He grew up in a tough neighborhood in Duluth, Minnesota, and left high school without graduating. Drafted in 1944, he was an eighteen-year-old private when he landed with the 100th Army Infantry Division at Marseille that October. His unit was engaged in constant combat over the next few months as it pushed up through central France and into Germany. Through the heartbreak of losing his comrades killed in the fighting, Colalillo hung on to memories of the rare funny moments as well: stealing chickens from a rundown farm, smoking cigars from a captured cigar factory.

After performing his heroic action near Untergriesheim, Germany on April 7, 1945, Colalillo was fighting on the line a few weeks later when a pair of MPs appeared and told him that his commanding officer wanted to see him. Naturally, Colalillo wondered what he had done to get arrested, but when he arrived at company headquarters, his captain told him that he’d been recommended for the Medal of Honor. He was ordered to stay around division headquarters for the next few months so that nothing would happen to him before the presentation. He was sent home after the bombing of Hiroshima and honored by President Harry Truman at the White House on December 18, 1945. NBC: The Daily Nightly

Michael Colalillo from Congressional Medal of Honor on Vimeo.

Official Marine Corps statement safeguards Corporal Dakota Meyer's MoH

MOH recipient Corporal Dakota Meyer

According to the DoD:

"In light of recent discussion surrounding the Medal of Honor recipient Dakota Meyer, the  United States Marine Corps has issued a statement regarding their choices and decisions in this matter.  The process by which a Medal of Honor recipient is chosen is organized and extensive.

Every recipient is selected and reviewed, and the Marines stand by their decision, and their Medal of Honor recipient, Corporal Dakota Meyer.

“We firmly stand behind the Medal of Honor (MOH) process and the conclusion that this Marine rightly deserved the nation’s highest military honor,” said Lt. Col. Stewart T. Upton in a press release below:

12/15/2011 
Headquarters Marine Corps  Lt. Col. Stewart T. Upton 

The Pentagon

We are personally very disappointed in the McClatchy Newspaper’s decision to publish the article, "Marines Promoted Inflated Story for Medal of Honor Winner" alleging that the Marine Corps embellished Corporal Dakota Meyer’s story. We firmly stand behind the Medal of Honor (MOH) process and the conclusion that this Marine rightly deserved the nation’s highest military honor.

The rigorous award investigation process focuses on source information from direct eye-witnesses and other contemporaneously or near-contemporaneously recorded information. Investigators refer to these reliable sources and not to secondary sources such as newspapers, magazine articles, or books. Because of the nature of the events supporting awards for valor, it is normal for minor discrepancies to appear when reviewing the source information and collecting eyewitness statements. The integrity of the military awards system, however, is paramount in the minds of all Marine commanders; accordingly, awards for valor are not endorsed or approved without solid justification in the form of supporting documents and eyewitness statements.

This investigation process was applied to the award recommendation for then Cpl. Meyer’s MOH and its rigor resulted in an entirely appropriate and well-deserved award. The supporting documents for this award included numerous eyewitness statements, graphics, and a command inquiry by the Commander of Marine Corps Central Command and two Army AR-15-6 investigations, which contained many of the eyewitness statements as well as other official documents and radio logs.

Due to the distance and length of time the battle lasted and the fact that the majority of the participants were in a deadly fight for their lives and the lives of their comrades, the eyewitness accounts may vary in certain detail – variations that are expected. These Marines, Sailors, and Soldiers were engaged in a six-hour battle from the time the Coalition forces entered the Ganjgal Valley and were ambushed, until the time when the last of the Coalition forces left the valley. Many of the participants moved back and forth along the three kilometers of terraced valley floor on multiple occasions during the engagement. While a number of the witnesses were in close proximity to Cpl. Meyer and SSgt. Rodriguez-Chavez at various points in the battle, many other witnesses were farther away. The geography of this battle and the location of the participants meant that not every witness had equal and accurate visibility or situational clarity on every activity.

The narrative of Cpl. Meyer’s Heroic Actions was posted on the Headquarters Marine Corps webpage to allow the American public to read Cpl. Meyer’s personal account of the sequence of events and actions on this day. We supported this communication method in large part because of Sgt. Meyer’s personal desire to not retell with each interview, and thereby re-live, what he calls the "worst day of his life."

The accomplishments described in the MOH citation are valid, supported by two eyewitnesses as required, and confirm the merits of the MOH properly awarded to Cpl. Meyer.

U. S Marine and Medal of Honor recipient Dakota Meyer sues former employer

MOH recipient Dakota Meyer

Former U.S. Marine and Medal of Honor recipient Sgt. Dakota Meyer who was recently given the nation's highest award for valor is suing a military contractor he says ridiculed his Medal of Honor, called him mentally unstable and suggested he had a drinking problem, thereby costing him a job.

Dakota Meyer received the Medal of Honor in September, two years after the then young corporal saved 36 lives during a six-hour ambush in Afghanistan.

He's the third living recipient of the award for actions in Iraq or Afghanistan. After the medal was approved, President Barack Obama waited to call until Meyer's lunch break because the 23-year-old worried about taking a call on the job.

In a defamation lawsuit filed in San Antonio, Meyer alleges that his former employer, BAE Systems OASYS Inc., ruined his chances at landing a new job by telling a prospective employer that he was a poor worker during a three-month stint earlier this year.

Read more of the story on San Antonio Express News

See our previous articles about Medal of Honor recipient former Marine Sgt. Dakota Meyer:

MOH recipient Dakota Meyer to raise $1 million for Marine Corps Scholarship Fund

Medal of Honor recipient Dakota Meyer to be inducted into Pentagon Hall of Heroes 9/16/2011 @ 2:00 PM EDT

Video and transcript of remarks by President Obama awarding the Medal of Honor to Sgt. Dakota Meyer

Video of U.S. Marine Dakota Meyer receiving Medal of Honor at White House ceremony

DoD Video: Medal of Honor recipient Dakota Meyer tells his story

Marine Corps Cpl. Dakota Meyer to receive Medal of Honor on September 15th 2011

U.S. Marine and Medal of Honor recipient's plaques worth $10,000 stolen

Medal of Honor Recipient plaques stolen

Police in Derby, CT are investigating the theft of bronze plaques dedicated to Private First Class Frank P. Witek, a U.S. Marine who killed 16 Japanese soldiers before dying in a hellish battle on Guam during World War II.

The plaques — which were on a large memorial dedicated in Witek’s honor on May 29, 1999 — were apparently stolen sometime between late Monday and Tuesday morning, according to Bernard Williamson, a Derby resident and fellow Marine who helped convince city fathers to name the park in Witek’s honor.

Williamson said the theft was discovered Tuesday at about 10:30 a.m. by Leonard Witek, who lives nearby and often walks past the monument. Leonard Witek’s friend had informed him of the theft at about 9 a.m.

Leonard Witek can't believe someone would do this to his cousin's memorial.

"Didn't you read what it was for? What the honor is? A person got killed for this and you're taking it away?" Witek said.

Authorities said they were unsure how much the plaques are worth, but the Catholic War Veterans, a group chartered in Derby, estimates the value of the plaques as high as $10,000.

Leonard said to see someone do this to a hometown memorial for a Medal of Honor recipient is just inexcusable.

He assumed someone stole them with the intent of selling them for scrap metal. He hopes any scrap metal merchant will realize the items are stolen, given the inscription which details Witek’s extraordinary actions during World War II.

Police are asking anyone with information on the theft to come forward.

PFC Frank Witek

Private First Class, Frank Peter Witek was a United States Marine who was killed in action on August 3, 1944, in the Battle of Finegayan, Guam.

On January 20, 1942, he left for recruit training after enlisting in the United States Marine Corps. He left almost immediately for Pearl Harbor and in January 1943, his family heard from him while he was in New Zealand. From there he went to Bougainville where he fought in three major battles. Then he went to Guadalcanal for a rest. On July 21, 1944, the 3rd Marine Division invaded Guam. PFC Witek was a Browning automatic rifleman and scout behind the Japanese lines.

On September 8, 1944, his mother received a telegram from Washington informing her that her son had been killed on August 3,. According to a combat correspondent's release, he was slain at the battle of the Mount Santa Rosa road block. He had only eight cartridges left on an original 240 rounds when he was found.

On Sunday, May 20, 1945, 50,000 people, including his mother and Gen Alexander A. Vandegrift, Commandant of the Marine Corps, met in Soldier Field, Chicago, to do honor to his memory. PFC Frank Peter Witek, 23 years old, had earned the highest military award his country could give him — the Medal of Honor.

Medal of Honor recipient and WWII hero's medals found after 60 years

MOH "Junior" Spurrier & Gen. Simpson

Hershel “Woody” Williams, a Fairmont (WV) native who is the only living West Virginian who is a Medal of Honor recipient from World War II, plans to attend the ceremony at 2 p.m., on Friday, Dec. 2, at the For Those Who Served Museum in the Mercer County War Memorial in Princeton, (WV) as the Medal of Honor presented to Staff Sgt. James “Junior” Spurrier, returns to Mercer County (WA).

“This may be the biggest thing that’s happened all year,” Tony Whitlow said. Whitlow is president of the For Those Who Served Museum. “Everywhere I go, people tell me they are amazed. Junior’s medal has been missing since at least 1950. That’s more than 60 years.”

The long lost medals of WWII Medal of Honor recipient, Staff Sgt. James “Junior” Spurrier, — including the Medal of Honor were found by Craig Corkrean, chief of police of Granville, W.Va., who discovered the medals about two weeks ago when he was looking into a safe that contained his father’s personal effects.

“My dad died in 2006,” Corkrean said. “He had kept a safe in his closet, and after his death, I got a locksmith to open it so I could get some papers out of it. It is too big to be moved. I didn’t really look at what was inside at that time, but I left the door ajar.”

About two weeks ago, he looked inside the safe again and came across a Bronze Star, a combat infantryman’s badge and the Medal of Honor. “My grandfather served in World War II, but I already had his medal,” Corkrean said. “I brought them to work with me on Tuesday, and showed them to Sgt. Matt Allen. He’s an Army veteran and works with veterans’ issues up here. He looked on the back of the Medal of Honor and saw the name: ‘Staff Sgt. Spurrier etched on the back.

After looking online, Allen did a news story on a local television station hoping to find members of Spurrier’s family.

Tony Whitlow, president of the For Those Who Served Museum has been searching for Spurrier’s medal for several years. “We wanted to get it to include in the display we have honoring Junior,” Whitlow said. “When we dedicated the display a few years ago, we got permission from Washington, D.C., to display a replica of the medal. We made contact with a living recipient of the Medal of Honor who now lives in Florida who was going to use his contacts in the FBI to help search for his medal.”

Whitlow said he has heard several different stories about where and when the medal disappeared. “None of that matters,” he said. “I just can’t believe that someone has found Junior’s medals. I thought we never would have found this.”

Whitlow contacted Spurrier’s former wife, Kathy Cox, as well as Spurrier’s oldest surviving sister, Lee Sneed, both of whom recommended that the medal should go to the museum.

Word of the discovery traveled quickly through the military community. Ed Simmons of Bluefield called his close friend, Gary Littrell, past president of the Congressional Medal of Honor Society who had been working on a search for the medal.

“The people who Gary was working with kept coming up blank,” Simmons said. “He couldn’t believe it had been found. This has been a very emotional day for all of us.”

Whitlow said the public is invited to attend the ceremony on Dec. 2.

The capture of Achain was credited to one man: S/Sgt. James J. Spurrier, of Bluefield, W. Va., a former farmer and Co. G, 134th, squad leader. When 2nd Bn. Attacked Achain on Nov. 14, 1944, the 22-year-old sergeant entered the town alone from the west while his company drove in from the east.

Spurrier shot the first three Nazis with his M-1. Then, picking up BARs, Yank and German bazookas and grenades wherever he found them, he systematically began to clean out the town. He crumbled one stronghold with bazooka shells, killed three more Nazis with a BAR, captured a garrison commander, a lieutenant and 14 men.

Another defense point was silenced when he killed its two occupants. Out of ammunition and under fire from four Nazis, Spurrier hurled a Nazi grenade into the house, killing the four Germans.

That night, the one-man army had charge of an outpost. While checking security, he heard four Germans talking in a barn. He set fire to the supply of oil and hay, captured the four as they ran out.

Spurrier killed 25 Germans, captured 20 others.

Junior J. Spurrier earned the Medal of Honor for nearly single-handedly capturing the village of Achain that day. He received the Medal of Honor on March 6, 1945 from Lt. Gen. William Hood Simpson.

Photo credit: "Task Force" Staff Sergeant Junior J. Spurrier being presented the Congressional Medal of Honor by General Simpson.

Resources: War hero’s medals found by Bill Archer, Bluefield Daily Telegraph