Real Heroes

or goats

Medal of Honor Recipient David C. Dolby Passes Away at 64 -- Earned Nation's Highest Award for Valor during Vietnam.

Mount Pleasant, S.C., Aug. 6/PRNewswire/ -- The Congressional Medal of Honor Society announced that Sergeant David C. Dolby, Medal of Honor recipient, passed away this morning in Spirit Lake, Idaho at age 64.

Sergeant Dolby was assigned to the 1st Cavalry Division, Company B, 1st battalion (Airborne) 8th Cavalry.

President Lyndon B. Johnson presented Staff Sergeant David Dolby with the Medal of Honor -- the highest award given to those who acted with uncommon, selfless courage --- on Sept 28, 1967 for his action on May 21, 1966 in the Republic of Vietnam.

His action of unsurpassed valor during 4 hours of intense combat were a source of inspriation to his entire company contributing significantly to the success of the overall assault on the enemy position, and were directly responsible for saving the lives of a number of his fellow soldiers. Sgt. Dolby's heroism was in the highest tradition of the U.S. Army. (note; at that time funeral services were pending)

The Congressional Medal of Honor Society was chartered by Congress in 1958 and consists exclusively of the living recipients of our nation's highest award for bravery in combat, the Medal of Honor. Those who wear this light blue ribbon and Medal around their neck are "recipients" of this prestigious award; they are not "winners." Although it is common to refer to the Medal as the Congressional Medal of Honor, it is simply named the Medal of Honor, although, as stated, the Congress did establish the Society as the Congressional Medal of Honor Society.

A few days ago I got an e-mail, decrying the fact that the liberal press did not even recognize him (Sgt. Dolby) enough to say "an old man died today", along with this information:

"On Aug 6, David C. Dolby passed away suddenly in Spirit Lake, Idaho at the age of 64. Childless, Mr. Dolby had lived in virtual seclusion in the town of Barto, Pa. since the passing of his wife in 1987. Barto is so small and insignificant the Rand McNally Atlas doesn't even list it in its appendix. Mr Dolby's passing went so unnoticed that even his hometown paper didn't acknowledge it. His passing was announced by an organization to which he belonged. Evidently most felt Mr. Dolby's death didn't merit any notice at all and almost nobody gave it a thought. He apparently hadn't done anything to merit any special attention.

Three days later, on Monday, August 9, Steven Slater, a childish, immature loser who up until that day had pretty much gone as unnoticed as David Dolby, threw a temper tantrum on a Jet Blue airplane at John F. Kennedy airport because his personal pet peeve is luggage that shifts during flight (or maybe it was tray tables not being in their upright and locked position).
Since acting like a spoiled 16 year old, he has been featured on every major news network in the country, his face is on the front page of numerous publications, Facebook pages have been established to "honor" him, and Mr. Slater has been called a hero by people we are supposed to believe know what that term means. Only in today's America, Mr Slater will in all likeihood, stretch his 15 minutes of infamy into 30 and end up making an obsene amount of money from, and revered by, some folks in our great nation who believe that Mr Slaters parents actually DIDN'T pollute the gene pool. He will be interviewed by Today, the Early Show, Good Morning America. He'll appear on Leno, Conan, Letterman. He'll become what we in America these days view as "somebody". He'll be given praise he doesn't deserve and labels he never earned. He apparently has done something that merits special attention."

Medal of Honor Citation -- Sgt David Dolbys offical citation reads:

"For conspicuous gallentry and intrepedity at the risk of life above and beyond the call of duty, when his platoon, while advancing tactically, suddenly came under intense fire from the enemy located on a ridge immediately to the front. Six members of the platoon were killed instantly and a number were wounded, including the platoon leader. Sgt. Dolby's every move brough fire from the enemy. However, aware that the platoon leader was critically wounded, and that the platoon was in a precarious situation, Sgt. Dolby moved the wounded men to safety and deployed the remainder of the platoon to engage the enemy.
Subsequently, his dying platoon leader ordered Sgt Dolby to withdraw the forward elements to rejoin the platoon. Despite the continuing intense enemy fire and with utter disregard for his own safety, Sgt. Dolby positioned able-bodied men to cover the withdrawel of the forward elements, assisted the wounded to the new position, and he alone, attacked enemy positions until his ammunition was expended. Replenishing his ammunition, he returned to the area of most intense action, single-handedly killed 3 enemy machine gunners and neutralized the enemy fire, thus enabling friendly elements on the flank to advance on the enemy redoubt. He defied the enemy fire to personally carry a seriously wounded soldier to safety where he could be treated and, returning to the forward area, he crawled to within 50 meters of the enemy bunkers and threw smoke grenades to mark them for air strikes. Although repeatedly under fire at close range from snipers and automatic weapons, Sgt. Dolby directed artillery fire on the enemy and succeded in silencing several enemy weapons. He remained in his exposed location until his comrads had displaced to more secure positions. His actions of unsurpassed valor during 4 hours of intense combat were a source of inspiration to his entire company, contributing significantly to the success of the overall assault on the enemy position, and were directly responsible for saving the lives of a number of his fellow soldiers. Sgt. Dolby's heroism was in the highest tradition of the U.S. Army."

Today we have a new Medal of Honor "recipient", Sgt Salvatore Guinta. Will he suffer the same fate? Thanks, Stay Tuned, - William