09 16 14

In partnership with the Medal of Honor Project Tuesday, September 16, 2014 Issue 19, Volume 127

HONOR The Medal of Honor Convention came to Knoxville last week.

The medal is awarded by the president of the United States and is the highest award for valor in action against an enemy force that can be bestowed upon an individual serving the the Armed Services of the United States.

More than 50 recipients attended the week-long celebration, which included a trip to Blackberry Farms and a Charlie Daniels concert at the Tennessee Theare.

This issue was made in partnership with the UT School of Journalism Medal of Honor Project, led by Nick Geidner. • Photo Courtesy of Nick Geidner

2 • THE DAILY BEACON

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

MEDAL OF HONOR PROJECT

The days that changed everything

hbrundig@vols.utk.edu

Bradi Musil @bradi4 bmusil@vols.utk.edu

“Every day. Every day. You have to look past all the politics and really understand the great things that our nation has accomplished and everything we can accomplish.”

Claire Dodson Editor-in-Chief (@claire_ifying)

Donald“Doc”Ballard

This memory stood in stark contrast with Romesha’s experience, who said he departed and returned to cheering crowds. He credited that warm reception to the Vietnam generation, who “made sure that would never happen again.”

The conversation then transitioned to audience questions moderated by Paxton Elrod, junior in journalism and electronic media, and The Daily Beacon News Editor Hayley Brundige, sophomore in college scholars.

This portion invited the recipients to comment on the state of veterans affairs in the U.S. and where improvements could be made.

“We have the highest suicide rate now in returning veterans that we’ve ever had,” Ballard said. “And that’s just not acceptable.

We all know that the squeaky wheel gets greased, and we are not squeaky enough.

“We need to unite.”

That theme of unity wove through every topic Ballard and Romesha discussed.

Although the two served in different wars, they both described unwavering love for their fellow comrades throughout their tours – especially on the hardest days, the days that would eventually earn them presidential recognition.

For Romesha, that day was Oct. 3, 2009.

300 Taliban attacked his base. Romesha was still asleep.

When he rose, he immediately knew this was no typical gunfight. For the next 13 hours, Romesha rallied with his fellow soldiers to lead a counterattack and help the wounded, despite sustaining shrapnel injuries in his shoulder, neck and arms.

“If it wasn’t for my battle buddies and our teamwork, I would not be here,” Romesha said. “This is their medal. I wear it for them, for the guys we lost that day.

“For the guys that stood with me as we pushed forward.”

-- Josh Feathers, head chef at Blackberry Farms. Blackberry Farms hosted the recipients for a private welcome event with a specifically tailored menu.

Story of sacrifice Ranger changes life, saves others during time served R.J. Vogt Training Editor

With his left hand, Staff Sergeant Leroy A. Petry painstakingly printed each letter of his name.

His mouth opened slightly as he focused.

“If you join the military, go Ranger,” he said to the little boy as he finished the autograph and slides the card across the table. Beaming, the boy thanked him and shook Staff Sergeant Leroy A.Petry his hand.

Petry’s teammates, exploded nearby.

His right hand. The robotic hand. Another grenade landed a few feet For the first 28 years of his life, from him.

Leroy Petry had a human right hand.

With a ticking bomb just a few feet There were metacarpals and articu- away, Petry neither dove away nor lar cartilage, ligaments and muscles ducked for cover. Thinking of his felthat enabled him to throw baseballs low Rangers, he reached out, grabbed and write notes. He joined the Army the grenade with his right hand, and Rangers after graduating from high threw it. school, and he learned to use his right As it left his fingertips, the grenade hand to throw grenades and shoot exploded. guns.

Looking back, he says he doesn’t While stationed in Paktia Province, remember the pain when his right Afghanistan in May 26, 2008, Petry hand was severed at the wrist. At woke up with his right hand in full least, that’s what he said to the room working order and an assignment: his full of students at Sacred Heart team was to capture a Taliban target. Cathedral School during a school The mission took them into a visit. He said the adrenaline kicked courtyard that contained high-value in, and he tied a tourniquet around combatants. Enemy fighters engaged what was left before coordinating supPetry and another Ranger as they port for himself and the two fellow moved through the courtyard, straf- Rangers whose lives he’d just saved. ing them with automatic weapons.

He received the Medal of Honor Both soldiers were wounded. for his actions that day, and a robotic A bullet passed through both of prosthetic hand has replaced the one Petry’s thighs, but he managed to he lost. He can shake hands with lead his comrade to cover. With his dignitaries and chop vegetables for right hand, he tossed a grenade at dinner; his golf game, he laughed, still the enemy, providing cover for a third needs work.

Ranger to join them.

The enemy responded quickly. See PETRY on Page 3 One grenade, which injured both of

“

With a

ticking bomb just a few feet away, Petry neither dove away nor ducked for cover.

When were you proudest to be an American?

“Writing this book made me realize how incredibly lucky this nation is to have the kind of men and women we have volunteering to do what they do and protect this country and those who love them, their families who also give a lot.I don’t know if that’s so much a pride in being American as it is a gratitude for these Americans.”

-- Jake Tapper,host of CNN’s“The Lead with Jake Tapper,”author of “The Outpost”

“

Clinton Romesha

Asst. News Editor

Hayley Brundige @hayleybrundige

When were you proudest to be an American?

Town Hall forum sees Vietnam, Afghanistan veterans discuss contrasting experiences, need for improvement

May 16, 1968 was a typical day in Vietnam.

Colonel Donald “Doc” Ballard was working as a corpsmen, or paramedic, in the Marine Corps. On his way back from treating two Marines for heat exhaustion, the North Vietnamese Army attacked.

A grenade landed nearby. Ballard jumped on top of it.

The grenade failed to detonate, and Ballard was able to dispose of it before continuing to direct aid toward the wounded. That day earned him the Medal of Honor from President Nixon.

“We just tried to take care of each other,” Ballard said. “We were the only individuals who could care for one another.”

This was just one of the stories told by Ballard and fellow Medal of Honor recipient Clinton Romesha during the Medal of Honor Convention’s Town Hall public forum in Cox Auditorium Friday morning. Ballard and Romesha, a veteran of the war in Afghanistan, answered questions from faculty, student and alumni moderators to a crowd of around 200 people.

Chancellor Cheek provided opening remarks, which were followed by a conversation with the recipients led by Nick Geidner, assistant professor of journalism, and alumnus Taylor Hathorn.

During the conversation, Ballard and Romesha discussed their experiences in Vietnam and Afghanistan, respectively, and commented on their different experiences as veterans.

When Ballard and other Vietnam veterans returned to the U.S., they were greeted with protests and violence as soon as they left the plane.

“There was a gaggle of people who were throwing rocks and bricks at us and spitting on us,” Ballard said. “An army guy turned and jumped up on the fence to scare them. He never got off the fence because they stabbed him right there.

“He made it all the way through Vietnam and died on the fence in San Francisco by another so-called American.”

News Editor

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

THE DAILY BEACON • 3 Editor-in-Chief

MEDAL OF HONOR PROJECT

He wears a Medal of Honor Veteran shares memories of time served in Vietnam R.J. Vogt

“When I got out of the hospital fifty years ago in Vietnam.We weren’t authorized or permitted to fly American flags out where we were, but the Navy had authority to fly the flag out on their ships.So I went to the beach, and there’s the American flag, Old Glory, out there on the ship.

I can remember the feeling of pride and joy and excitement to be an American even though I was far from America.

It was almost a spiritual moment.”

---- Roger Donlon, Medal of Honor Recipient

An ‘unpayable debt’ Charlie Daniels shows patriotism during Medal of Honor performance

Training Editor

He’s a guy who played high school football, loves fishing and worked with his hands his whole life. He’s a guy married to an allAmerican beauty named Dixie who can shoot a gun better than most Marines. He’s a loving grandpa to 15 grandchildren and lives in Freedom, Indiana.

But to the 12 Naval Academy football players crowded around him in the lobby of the Hilton in downtown Knoxville, he is nobody.

All they see is a ruddy face and blonde hair going white, maybe the hint of the military posture they’re learning themselves. It’s midmorning, and the midshipmen are in town to attend the funeral of a former teammate.

They did not come here to meet a Medal of Honor recipient.

In fact, they would have been eating complimentary breakfast, had Joe Thompson, an organizer of this year’s Medal of Honor Convention, not seen an opportunity to introduce them to Sammy Davis.

At first, they seem indifferent toward the veteran, perhaps still sleepy or already grieving. But then Joe explains who this particular veteran really is. Suddenly, the medal appears in Sammy’s beefy hand.

Their indifference melts away, replaced by eyes bigger and brighter than the medal they pass around. Sammy pointedly encourages people to touch his medal; it’s been held by more than 2.7 million schoolchildren, he says, proudly. These young men add to the number, afterwards posing for pictures with Sammy and asking him questions about his time in the service. One shakes his hand so enthusiastically that Sammy almost loses his balance.

It will be a busy day. After his impromptu talk with the midshipmen, Sammy’s schedule is packed with an appearance, three interviews and a film shoot—not to mention the world premiere of the documentary “Medal of Honor: A History.” Sammy will be a bonafide, red carpet celebrity.

“Really, today’s about publicizing the convention,” Joe says, turning to leave.

The annual Medal of Honor

Famous Fiddler Charlie Daniels headlined concert held for Medal of Honor recipients.

Hannah Marley • The Daily Beacon

Claire Dodson Editor-in-Chief (@Claire_ifying)

The night had been emotional already -- a moment of silence for 9/11 victims, a somber flag-folding ceremony, an orchestral concert from the Air National Guard Band of the South.

Then Charlie Daniels took the stage, and a different kind of emotion followed.

Clad in his white bullrider hat, matching cowboy boots and oversized belt buckle, Daniels whisked out his fiddle and brandished his bow like a whip, breathing new life into Friday night’s Medal of Honor Convention concert, Knoxville Welcomes Our Nation’s Greatest Heroes.

The 77-year-old Daniels combined his deep appreciation for the military with his signature Tennessee bluegrass style, and the packed Tennessee Theatre crowd couldn’t get enough.

“When you think about

PETRY continued from Page 1 Signing autographs in the downtown Holiday Inn during last week’s Medal of Honor Convention, Petry also demonstrated the abilities of his left hand. After the injury, as his then five year-old son learned how to write for the first time, Petry learned how to write for the second time, using his left instead of his right.

“We basically learned our

musicians that have ties to the military as well as a passion for the military, numbers one, two and three on that list are Charlie Daniels,” said WBIR anchor John Becker, the emcee for the event.

Daniels took the audience of more than 50 Medal of Honor recipients, their guests and local admirers through classics like “What This World Needs (Is A Few More Rednecks)” and “Long Haired Country Boy,” all the while regaling attendees with stories that reflected his respect for the U.S. Military.

“We used to gather around the radio,” Daniels said about his childhood in Wilmington, North Carolina, during WWII. “A lot of ships were sunk off our coast by German U-boats.

Some said you could see the fire of battle from our beaches.

The war was very real to us.

“I learned very early in my life that only two things protect America: the grace of Almighty God and the United States military.”

While Daniels has often

ABCs together,” he laughed.

Despite developing Carpal Tunnel syndrome in his left wrist shortly after returning stateside, Petry re-entered the service for three more years before retiring in July.

He said he’s happy to spend more time with his wife and kids.

Now he has time for events like the Medal of Honor Convention and people like Lee Wallace, a pastor at First Church of God and an avid stamp collector. Wallace came to the signing to get his Medal of Honor stamps

been recognized for his patriotic involvement, the National Guard Association of the United States chose Thursday’s concert to honor Daniels with the Patrick Henry Award for civilian support of the Armed Forces of the United States.

One of the most memorable parts of the night was Daniels’ acoustic version of the hymn “How Great Thou Art.” He brought the attendees to church, complete with an organ, soaring vocals from the congregation and a finish that had the crowd on its feet in raucous applause.

Daniels and his band continued with a performance perfectly targeted for its Knoxville audience, including a diss to Lane Kiffin during a cover of Johnny Cash’s “Folsom Prison Blues.”

Then, finally, the iconic opening fiddle to “The Devil Went Down To Georgia,” filtered through the speakers.

Daniels seemed to have an extra spout of energy as he made the fiddle sing its closing

autographed, and as the little boy walked away with his autograph, Wallace arrived at Petry’s station, waiting for his.

“It’s an honor to meet someone who’s done so much for our country,” Wallace said.

Petry touched his pen to the paper, beginning the painstaking process all over again. Above his name, he wrote “RLTW,” which he explained stood for “Rangers lead the way.”

His life and sacrifice could not make his message any clearer.

number.

Earlier in the show, Daniels reminded everyone that the reason he was here was more than just to entertain the 1600 or so people at the Tennessee Theatre -- it was to offer gratitude for an “unpayable debt.”

“I want to tell you something folks, and I mean this from my heart of hearts,” Daniels said.

“Whether you find them on a base in this country or some hell hole in Iraq -- they’re the best we’ve got.”

“

They did not come

“

When were you proudest to be an American?

Claire Dodson @claire_ifying

pdodson@vols.utk.edu

here to meet a Medal of Honor recipient.

Convention, which Joe has been organizing, will bring to Knoxville many of the 80 living recipients of the nation’s highest award for military valor. It’s a chance to honor the recipients and preserve their heritage. Sammy is here several months ahead of time – for publicity.

Just before we reach the doors and begin the itinerary, Dixie, ever the loving wife, fixes the medal around his neck. His celebrity, manifested and secured around his throat.

Sammy stands patiently, back straight, eyes forward. Smiling, but not saying a word.

He was 21 years old when the Vietcong ambushed his base, and 47 years later, Sammy tells the story of November 18, 1967 several times a day.

At the first official stop of the day, he speaks to employees of Sterling Global, a defense contractor based out of Lenoir City.

Stepping to the podium in a small room crammed with complementary food and attentive company, he explains that, after years of public speaking, he’s realized Q&A sessions are more efficient at giving the audience what they want. He asks for any questions, leaving a beat for the small crowd to wonder what to ask the Medal of Honor recipient.

“Ohhhkay then,” he says when our collective search for words stalls an off-beat too long. “I guess I’ll get going then.”

On cue, we spectators roar with laughter. It’s not the only time, for Sammy is nothing if not a quintessentially American entertainer.

Highlighting the gentler details of his time in Vietnam – wiggling toes in worn-out Army boots and lackluster letters to mom – he brings lightness to a harrowing war experience. As for the Vietcong he killed, Sammy uses a simple, faceless phrase: “the enemy.”

See SAMMY DAVIS on Page 4

4 • THE DAILY BEACON

Tuesday, September 16, 2014 Editor-in-Chief

MEDAL OF HONOR PROJECT

Claire Dodson @claire_ifying

pdodson@vols.utk.edu

A veteran without a medal The unexpected gift of a lifetime

Gettin’ Scruffy

“

But

as we say goodbye to the most decorated of our veterans, the least decorated remain.The Veteran remains, forgotten on his back porch.

“

DAVIS continued from Page 3 At one point, he pulls out his harmonica and delivers a heart-wrenching rendition of “Shenandoah.” Sammy learned to play it for his buddy, John Dunlop, a name you can now find on 50 East of the Vietnam War Memorial.

We, the audience, sit silently, inert in rapt attention.

Afterwards, his blue eyes look brighter than usual. Predictably, nobody ribs him.

The medal makes the rounds – he really does want everyone to feel its weight, everywhere he goes – and for a moment I have my turn to examine

EDITORIAL Editor-in-Chief: Claire Dodson Managing Editor: Hanna Lustig Chief Copy Editor: Emilee Lamb, Cortney Roark News Editor: Hayley Brundige Asst. News Editor: Bradi Musil Special Projects Editor: Liv McConnell Sports Editor: Troy Provost-Heron Asst. Sports Editor: Dargan Southard Arts & Culture Editor: Jenna Butz Viewpoints Editor: Kevin Ridder Online Editor: Samantha Smoak

Knoxville for the Medal of Honor Convention. Medal of Honor recipients, these veterans stand as examples of selflessness and valor, testaments to the power of courage. More than 70 schools across East Tennessee use their stories to teach students character through the Congressional Medal of Honor Society’s Character Development Program.

The Veteran doesn’t have a Medal of Honor, so he wouldn’t know about the complimentary moonshine the recipients found in their hotel rooms or the personalized quilts they received. The song “Long-Haired Country Boy,” couldn’t be more applicable to the Veteran, but he missed out on the private Charlie Daniels concert in the Tennessee Theatre.

Hundreds of people showed up Friday afternoon at the Holiday Inn, excited to get autographs from Medal of Honor recipients. Nobody went to visit the Veteran and his newest cat, Songi.

During their stay, the recipients told their war stories, the kind of battle sagas that movies like “We Were Soldiers” and “Forrest Gump” are based on. They’ve been telling the same stories, some of them, for decades.

The Veteran has his own stories: a trip he took to New York City, more than 30 years ago, when he rode the Staten Island Ferry for a couple bucks; the photography job he had in Guam, after he finished his service in the Navy at the end of the 1970s. On Memorial Day, he told me that sometimes, he goes to a nearby cemetery and talks to all the soldiers buried there, sharing more stories in the night with their graves.

It was a privilege for Knoxville to host the Medal of Honor recipients, an opportunity to pay respect while simultaneously meeting “America’s heroes.” Our scruffy little city on the river showed them a taste of Tennessee, and they showed us a taste of what makes – or at least, has made – America great.

But as we say goodbye to the most decorated of our veterans, the least decorated remain. The Veteran remains, forgotten on his back porch.

Many more like him remain, in forgotten houses and shadowed streets and homeless shelters across the country.

As we say goodbye to some, maybe it’s time we each acknowledge the others.

Liv McConnell Guest Column

“

His

elocution was strong and powerful; oftentimes, it felt like he was delivering a speech rather than answering the question of a student reporter.I’m convinced he could pass for Uncle Sam himself.

R.J. Vogt is a senior in College Scholars. He can be reached at rvogt@vols.utk.edu.

it. The gold plated-pendant begins with an eagle holding the word “valor” in its talons, a word from which hangs the wreath of strong oak and victorious laurel leaves. Encircled within sits a star, just a hair taller than it is wider, with his name inscribed on the back and the Greek Goddess Minerva on the front. Texture and weight lend it embodied importance, a trait balanced by a soft, almost delicately blue ribbon. A small pattern of 13 white stars spatters the center like a sky.

The medal grows heavy in my hand, hefty with the weight of its past. Images of faceless enemies flash through my mind. I wonder if they flash through his.

Gladly, I pass the medal along to the next eager hands.

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In ancient Rome, gladiators earned adoration through slaughter; during the Civil War, Southern gentry would watch the bloodshed while having picnics. Through and beyond the centuries from Spartacus to General Grant – even now, in the century of slasher films as entertainment and 24-hour school shooting coverage as news– the ritual of killing continues to grip our fascination.

War is the rare human condition that permits killing, and Sammy Davis, the rare human who’s proven he’s conditioned to kill for his country.

What he did that day in the jungle was valorous, a word derived from the Late Latin word valor, meaning “Be strong.” He showed his strength, in saving those American lives on an

“

R. J. Vogt

He sits, forgotten, on the back porch.

All around him, stacked to his height or taller, milk crates house heaps of unnecessarily hoarded items: driftwood of assorted sizes and empty bottles, mostly, but also canned spinach older than some school children and gallons of water. He could run a food pantry out of his living room. In a nuclear holocaust, he would outlive the roaches.

He is a veteran of the United States Navy, and he’s been floating aimlessly for a long time now.

The Veteran lives off the memories of his youth and TV tray dinners. Every flat surface in his house has been covered with odds and ends, but he’s carved out a little nook on his kitchen table, a place to eat.

There’s another niche on the couch where he watches a fuzzy television and naps.

The back porch, however, is his favorite spot in the house. From his perch among the milk crates, the Veteran watches the natural activities of his overgrown backyard – his oasis. He’s always talking about the cardinals nesting in the trees (he calls them his cousins) and the feral cats that come and pay respects. In the year I’ve known him, he’s named three of these vagrant felines, letting them come and go as they please and always setting food if they seem hungry. When they move on down the road, as vagrant felines tend to do, he shrugs it off as best he can.

He also continues setting food, just in case.

Like more than 67 percent of our nation’s veterans, the Veteran depends on disability checks; like a chimney, he smokes. Some of that disability money funds his addiction, the perennial menthol cigarette at his lips as much a crutch as the cane in his right hand. Occasionally, he coughs blackly, a deep, violent hacking that makes his eyes water. When he’s done, he’ll wipe his mouth and smile weakly before taking another drag. It’s killing him, and he doesn’t give a damn.

The Veteran lives a simply complicated life here in Knoxville. He goes to classes, sometimes, and he used to work at a gas station down the street from his house. A stroke a few years ago has slowed him down, and these days, he keeps his activity levels relatively low. Some estranged children here and there touch base with him – a son in Memphis has been saying he’d come visit for months now – but for the most part, the Veteran is alone.

This past week, 50 particularly noteworthy veterans visited

Standing in the lobby of the Knoxville Museum of Art for the Medal of Honor Convention’s meetand-greet event last Thursday evening, I couldn’t help but feel terribly, glaringly out of place.

Before beginning this column, I feel an important disclaimer must be made—I am not exactly what one might label “patriotic.” I harbor more doubts and cynicisms about the current status of America and the principles our country supposedly stands for—liberty and justice for all, for instance—than there are stars and stripes on the flag.

So why, then, had I volunteered to cover the convention, an occasion that landed me squarely in the center of a room brimming with more impassioned patriotism than I had heretofore experienced?

Certainly I would be identified as a defector to the belief in America’s moral uprightness; perhaps an alarm would sound when it was discovered that a socialist sympathizer stood in their midst.

The reason I had answered Nick Geidner’s plea for writers and thus stopped by the museum (on my way to hear Jackson Katz speak about the need for male feminists, no less) was not simply because I have a knack for saying “yes” to requests like this, though that may account for part of it. More likely I had agreed because, cynicisms aside, I still find myself quite intrigued by the notion of the American spirit and the qualities that comprise our collective consciousness. In my search for answers, I was curious to hear the opinion of these undisputed national heroes, the Medal of Honor recipients. How do these figures, who represent so much more than their individual stories alone, feel about the current and future status of America?

And so, armed with my floral notebook and determined not to care if I was the only person in the room with Marx’s Manifesto on their bookshelf, I set forth.

After a few minutes of idle deliberation (read: standing frozen and wide-eyed by the drink table), I saw a man with a telltale blue ribbon round his neck excuse himself from a group conversation. Swallowing my nerves alongside my lemonade and seizing my chance, I stuck out my hand.

Soon, I found myself engaged in conversation with Gary Lee Littrell, a retired command sergeant major who was awarded the Medal of Honor for “sustained extraordinary courage and selflessness,” according to the official citation, in Vietnam. Serving as a Light

air mattress. But his courage was twofold, also manifested by the taking of many lives.

I ask him if he feels any guilt or regret for the Vietcong he gunned down in Cai Lay. “No,” he says.

Back straight, eyes forward, no hint of a smile.

“The 10 Commandments say, thou shalt not kill. That means, thou shalt not murder – I was doing my job.

I never killed anybody who wasn’t trying to kill me. You have to protect yourself.”

The response is a very slight departure from his standard attitude, a little closer to primal instinct than patriotic duty. And it begs the question: Why did he ask for a job at war in Vietnam?

Weapons Infantry Advisor, Littrell responded dauntlessly when his battalion was under extreme mortar attack and, over the course of four days, kept his men inspired, directed artillery and air support, cared for the wounded, and even shouted encouragement to the Vietnamese in their own language, among other acts.

Sitting with him Thursday, it was clear to me why Littrell was celebrated as a source of inspiration to his men. His elocution was strong and powerful; oftentimes, it felt like he was delivering a speech rather than answering the question of a student reporter. I’m convinced he could pass for Uncle Sam himself.

“The word ‘hero’ is widely misused,” he answered emphatically when asked to define the title. “I always say, ‘Don’t put Gary Littrell and hero in the same sentence.’ I’m proud to be a warrior.”

What happened next is something I’m still trying to make sense of.

“A man’s word is a man’s mind,” Littrell declared. “Honesty above all. When people say the name ‘Liv,” let it be synonymous with honesty and integrity. Would you like that?”

“Well, yes, I always strive to be honest,” I answered lamely.

“You’re going to get married one day.”

“Well, I—“ “You’re going to get married,” he nearly commanded. “And when you do, you’re going to remember me and make honesty one of your marriage pledges. You’ll do it because you’ll see this and remember my name.”

“Yes sir,” I squeaked as he simultaneously slid something small and cold into my hand.

I find out from a surprised Mike Wiseman that the gift Littrell had handed me was a commemorative coin bearing his name, something Wiseman assured me didn’t happen often.

“You must have said something he liked,” Wiseman suggested.

I’m still not sure what I, an expatriate-hopeful after graduation, could have said to positively impress Littrell, nor do I feel much closer to understanding the American dream. But at least I had the experience of seizing a new opportunity and getting to publish my opinion of it—and that, I suppose, is about American as it gets.

Liv McConnell is a senior in journalism and electronic media.

She can be reached at mmccon12@ vols.utk.edu.

“I didn’t go to war to kill people,” he says in an interview for Medal of Honor: Oral Histories. “I went to war because I loved my daddy, I wanted him to be proud of me. I went to war because I love my grandpas. And I love my country.”

He survived that act of love, lives on as his country’s beloved. Fifty eight thousand two hundred and eighty six other Americans, including his buddy John Dunlop, became names on a wall. All the others, the unnamed, they gained a new name in death: “the enemy.”

This story is an excerpt from “He Wears a Medal of Honor,” which first appeared on the Medal of Honor Project’s website.

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Tuesday, September 16, 2014

THE DAILY BEACON • 5 Editor-in-Chief

MEDAL OF HONOR PROJECT

Claire Dodson @claire_ifying

pdodson@vols.utk.edu

Students excitedly welcome the Blackhawk landing at Sacred Heart Cathedral School.

Hannah Cather • The Daily Beacon

A different kind of courage Liv McConnell Projects Editor

There are no atheists in foxholes.

Medal of Honor recipients Joe Marm and Thomas Kelley will tell you that. The pair spent their Friday morning addressing the student body of Knoxville Catholic High School, a group they—as graduates of Catholic schools and members of the denomination themselves—felt they could identify with. “You’re never as close to God as you are when you’re out there in the woods under the stars, being close to death every day,� Marm told the audience gathered before him in the school’s gymnasium following the opening prayer. “I used to carry a holy card with me in Vietnam. They told us to say the prayer for nine days and we wouldn’t be killed in combat.�

The 73-year-old retired colonel received his medal for acts of valor performed in the 1965 Battle of la Drang, during which he singlehandedly attacked an enemy posi-

tion and deliberately exposed himself to their machine gun in order to draw fire away from his platoon.

Noted in his official Medal of Honor citation for “conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of life above and beyond the call of duty,� Marm asserted to the students they, too, have the ability to display similar ethics in their daily lives. “Be confident in what you are doing and know you can defeat the enemy,� he said. “It’s just like your schooling here. You have to study hard and do the best you can, and that means a lot of preparation and a lot of homework. That’s the same in combat.�

Thomas Kelley, 75-year-old retired Naval captain and recipient of both the Medal of Honor and the Purple Heart, agreed and told students of a special brand of courage they had the power to harness. “You hear all these stories of shots being fired, people being wounded, that sort of thing, and you hear people say, ‘That must’ve taken a lot of courage,’� Kelley said. “But there’s a different kind of courage you all face every day here which doesn’t involve being shot at or getting a medal or any-

“I hadn’t been a good Catholic boy for a few years; I didn’t go to mass all the time and that sort of thing,� he said. “This particular day happened to be Father’s Day, as someone had told me. I had three little girls at home and knew it was going to be tough that day and so, for some reason, I got up at 3 a.m. that morning, went to mass and received Communion. “The rest of my life changed that day. I think it had something to do with me surviving.�

Marm and Kelley spoke more with students and faculty on matters of courage and morals for the next hour before their ride, a helicopter similar to the one that transported Marm to Vietnam some 50 years ago, arrived to whisk them back to the Holiday Inn at World’s Fair Park.

Before bidding their young audience farewell, both men called their visit to Knoxville Catholic a “highlight� of their time at this year’s Medal of Honor Convention. “You have a great community, a great city and a tremendous high school,� Marm said. “This is what America is all about. You’re the future of it.�

thing. It’s something called moral courage.�

Kelley stressed the importance of students taking it upon themselves to perform seemingly small acts of bravery, like standing up for bullied peers or declining the opportunity to cheat on a test. “You don’t have to be in a uniform to make those decisions,� he said. “You just have to be a good person knowing the right thing to do.�

Although he was raised Catholic and had gone through eight years of Jesuit education, an experience he joked made boot camp comparatively “a piece of cake,� Kelley did not feel personally affirmed in his faith until June 15, 1969.

That day, Kelley was leading eight river assault craft boats on a mission in South Vietnam when his convoy came under attack. After one of the boats suffered a mechanical failure leaving it exposed to enemy fire, Kelley maneuvered his own boat between the enemy and his vulnerable men.

While the ensuing battle was severe enough to cause Kelley the loss of an eye, he believes a greater force at work that day prevented the loss of his life.

Medal of Honor recipient Leroy Petry shows students his artificial right hand.

Hannah Cather • The Daily Beacon

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6 • THE DAILY BEACON

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

MEDAL OF HONOR PROJECT

News Editor

Hayley Brundige @hayleybrundige hbrundig@vols.utk.edu

Asst. News Editor

Bradi Musil @bradi4

bmusil@vols.utk.edu

Jake Tapper discusses Afghanistan experience, real world patriotism Editor-in-Chief (@Claire_ifying) The Congressional Medal of Honor Society awarded CNN journalist Jake Tapper the Tex McCrary Award for Excellence in Journalism at the Medal of Honor Convention’s Patriot Awards Gala event Saturday night. Tapper is currently the host and Chief White House Correspondent for “The Lead with Jake Tapper.” The award came partially in recognition of his book, “The Outpost: An Untold Story of American Valor,” which debuted on The New York Times bestseller list for hardback non-fiction.

The Daily Beacon’s Editorin-Chief Claire Dodson had the chance to speak with Tapper at Saturday’s gala about his experiences reporting in Afghanistan and the honor of receiving an award from Medal of Honor recipients.

CD

Claire Dodson: What does it mean to you to get this award?

Jake Tapper: I’ll say this, it’s a great honor to get any prize or award. The times I’ve been recognized for journalism from my fellow journalists, it means a lot to have your peers say good job. But to have a room full of the most selfless, valorous men who have ever lived even invite me to the dinner, much less give me an award is, I can’t even come up with the words. I’m honored to even know these guys, much less have the whole Medal of Honor Society recognize my reporting.

It’s immensely meaningful.

JT

What was it like for you when you working on the book on Afghanistan? Was it pretty harrowing, hearing those stories?

CD

It was difficult.

Obviously, not nearly as difficult as what these men and women went through, but it was a lot of work. It’s not fun going to Afghanistan.

It was emotionally very wrenching because a lot of these stories are very tough, very difficult, unpleasant. None of these people should have had to undergo these things. So to hear these stories, these men far braver than I crying to me as they tell these stories, was gut-wrenching.

JT

CD

What was it like going to Afghanistan with President Obama?

It was weird. You land in the middle of the night.

It’s top secret, and the security is intense. We landed in Bagram and were supposed to go over to the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, but there was a windstorm so we didn’t end up going.

Then I went on my own as a reporter with a producer and was embedded at the tip of the spear at fort operating base in Kunar province. You realize how little

JT

the White House press corps or the president see, just because of security reasons they can’t.

It was much more meaningful when I was there for over a week, because then you see the conditions under which they live and how fraught with peril every drive down the road is. It made it much more real. Bagram was a moving experience, but nothing compared to actually traveling, sleeping in these big buildings with 50 bunk beds with men and women running in and out.

CD

When have you felt proudest to be an American?

JT

That’s a very complicated question, because I’m always proud to be an American, and you know, I’m a little older than you so I remember the bicentennial. I grew up in Philadelphia, and that was a time of tremendous patriotism and tremendous excitement.

Writing this book made me realize how incredibly lucky this nation is to have the kind of men and women we have volunteering to do what they do and protect this country and those who love them, their families who also give a lot. I don’t know if that’s so much a pride in being American as it is a gratitude for these Americans.

Some of the times I feel most proud are when I go to other countries and realize the freedoms they don’t have. So when I went to Turkey or Saudi Arabia or Vietnam or Russia and I realized the conditions under which millions, billions, of people live.

They don’t have the freedoms we have. That makes me appreciate it even more.

When do you most feel like you’re fulfilling your purpose as a journalist?

CD

That’s tough. Sometimes when I’m asking tough questions of an elected official about an issue that’s really important. I asked tough questions of Elliot Spitzer about his problems with prostitution, and I’m glad I asked them, but it wasn’t an issue of tremendous importance. An example might be when I had the White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough on the show after the VA scandal broke and serving as a spokesman for people who don’t have a voice. In this case, veterans who are suffering, who aren’t getting the care they need.

I feel like you can really make a difference as a journalist if you’re being a voice for people who don’t have a voice. If you’re covering a story that has to do with a poor community, or a community that’s being discriminated against, whether it’s innocent people accused of doing a crime they didn’t commit or 9/11 families who feel like they’re not being heard.

Anytime I’m doing anything like that, I feel like I can feel better about what is sometimes a not always pure profession.

JT

Guests enjoy their time at the Patriot Award Gala held at the Knoxville Convention Center on Sept. 13.

Emilee Lamb • The Daily Beacon

Honorable commitments Patriot Awards Gala recognizes well-known names for dedication to U.S. Military R.J. Vogt Training Editor The Medal of Honor Convention concluded its programming Saturday night with the Patriot Awards Gala in the Knoxville Convention Center.

Hundreds of top-ranking military officials rubbed shoulders with the likes of movie stars and a Supreme Court justice.

After the opening reception and dinner, emcee and actor Gary Sinise introduced the Bob Hope Award for Excellence in Entertainment and announced this year’s winner: Mark Wahlberg.

In a video message, Navy SEAL Marcus Luttrell talked about his relationship with Wahlberg, who played Luttrell in the 2014 movie, “Lone Survivor.” The film dramatizes Luttrell’s experience during a failed counterinsurgency mission in Afghanistan.

“If we had to go back and do it all over again,” Luttrell said in the video, “there wouldn’t be one other person that I would’ve picked to have led the charge in the filming of ‘Lone Survivor’ and bringing this story to the world.”

Wahlberg took the stage amidst a standing ovation, accepting the award from Medal of Honor recipient Paul Bucha.

“I don’t feel worthy to receive this award, but I’m certainly honored and humbled,” Wahlberg said during his acceptance speech. “I will continue to impose my will to make sure that everybody in our community gives (veterans) the love and respect that they deserve.”

CNN anchor and Chief Washington Correspondent Jake Tapper followed Wahlberg to accept the Tex McCreary Award for Excellence in Journalism.

Tapper spoke about his experience writing his 2012 book, “The Outpost,” which examines the deadliest fight of the war on terror in 2009, an assault on

a combat outpost. Two of the Medal of Honor recipients in attendance – Ty M. Carter and Clinton L. Romesha – fought in that battle.

“When I was holding Jack, my son, hearing about the eight other sons who were killed the day after he was given to me,” Tapper said, “I wanted to know who they were, and I wanted to know what the other 45 Americans who were there fighting so hard that day, what they went through.”

The next award – The Distinguished Citizen Award – was delivered to broadcast announcer and author David Feherty, a man Sinise declared as “golf’s most irrepressible personality.”

Feherty co-founded the Troops First Foundation in 2008 to serve severely wounded soldiers through sports-based initiatives. During his acceptance speech, the Northern Ireland native cited his visits to Iraq and Afghanistan as inspiration for his decision to apply for and obtain his American citizenship.

“Being in this room with people who wear that little sky-blue and that medal is the greatest thrill of my life,” Feherty said.

“This is the most extraordinary experience. I will never forget this evening.”

The awards show culminated with the Congressional Medal of Honor Society’s Patriot Award, the most distinguished recognition the society offers. The 2014 Patriot Award went to Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito for his dissenting opinion on the Stolen Valor Act. The 2005 law made it a federal misdemeanor to falsely represent oneself as having received any U.S. military decoration or medal, but a 2012 Supreme Court case declared the law unconstitutional on the grounds of free speech.

In his acceptance speech, Alito explained the logic in his dissenting opinion. After noting that it is against the law for street

Bryan Jenkins at the Patriot Award Gala in the Knoxville Convention Center. This was the last event of the Medal of Honor Convention, which ended Sept. 13.

Emilee Lamb • The Daily Beacon

“

B eing in this room with people who wear that little sky-blue and that medal is the greatest thrill of my life.

“

Claire Dodson

-David Feherty

vendors to pass off their fake designer bags as authentic, he posed a rhetorical question to the audience.

“But if there is no First Amendment right to buy a fake Rolex,” Alito said, “why should there be a first amendment right to wear a fake Medal of Honor?”

The 2013 U.S. Congress

passed a revised version of the Stolen Valor Act, but Alito avoided speaking on the new law, as it may appear before the Supreme Court.

The gala concluded with the passing of the convention’s flag from this year’s organizers to those organizing the 2015 Convention in Boston.