Birdwell (Cherokee) to receive Medal of Honor at White House on July 5
Category: News & Politics
Via: kavika • 2 years ago • 15 commentsBy: Will Chavez (cherokeephoenix. org)
It was a few days ago the last living Medal of Honor recipient from WWII, Woody Williams passed away.
https://nypost.com/2022/06/29/woody-williams-last-wwii-medal-of-honor-recipient-dead-at-98/
In addition to SP/5 Birdwell, three more soldiers will be awarded the Medal of Honor.
Duffy previously received the Distinguished Service Cross, the Army’s second-highest award for valor in combat, for his actions April 14 and 15, 1972, when his base came under attack. He braved enemy fire to coordinate airstrikes on enemy antiaircraft guns, scrambled about his base to treat wounded Vietnamese soldiers, and requested U.S. aircraft launch gun runs on his position after enemy forces advanced within 10 meters, according to his award citation. He now lives in Santa Cruz, Calif., the White House said.
Fujii previously received the Distinguished Service Cross for his role in rescue operations in Laos and Vietnam between Feb. 18 and 22, 1971, after his unit’s medical evacuation helicopter came under fire and crashed. He waved off rescue from another helicopter and stayed on the battlefield, administering aid to other soldiers.
The following night, Fujii called in American helicopters to repel another enemy attack. Over the following 17 hours, he braved enemy fire repeatedly, leaving a trench to observe enemy positions and direct airstrikes on them. He now lives in Hawaii, the White House said.
Kaneshiro was an infantry squad leader with the 1st Cavalry Division on Dec. 1, 1966, when his unit was attacked by North Vietnamese soldiers. He fought them off and allowed the withdrawal of his platoon. He was killed March 6, 1967, during another operation in Vietnam.
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
OKLAHOMA CITY - Former Cherokee Nation Supreme Court Justice Dwight Birdwell will be one of four soldiers awarded the Medal of Honor on July 5 by President Joe Biden at the White House.
The Medal of Honor is awarded to members of the armed forces who distinguish themselves "conspicuously by gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of their own lives above and beyond the call of duty while engaged in an action against an enemy of the United States."
The meritorious conduct must involve great personal bravery or self-sacrifice so conspicuous as to clearly distinguish the individual above his or her comrades and must have involved risk of life. There must be incontestable proof of the performance of the meritorious conduct, and each recommendation for the award must be considered on the standard of extraordinary merit, states a White House press release.
"It's just slowing beginning to hit me. It's overwhelming. Sometimes I think, perhaps, foolish things. What am I going to do? What am I going to say?" Birdwell, 74, said. "I'm still in the process of sorting it out. I'm very thankful to Gen. (Glenn) Otis (his former commander in Vietnam) and all of the people who made this possible."
Birdwell's Medal of Honor citation reads: "Specialist Five Dwight W. Birdwell will receive the Medal of Honor for acts of gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty while serving with Troop C, 3rd Squadron, 4th Cavalry, 25th Infantry Division, in the Republic of Vietnam on January 31, 1968. That day, a large enemy element initiated an assault on the Tan Son Nhut Airbase near Saigon. They disabled or destroyed many of the unit's vehicles and incapacitated Specialist Five Birdwell's tank commander.
Under heavy enemy small-arms fire, Specialist Five Birdwell moved the tank commander to safety and fired the tank's weapons at the enemy force. Afterwards, he dismounted and continued fighting until receiving enemy fire to his face and torso. He refused evacuation and led a small group of defenders to disrupt the enemy assault until reinforcements arrived. He then aided in evacuating the wounded until he was ordered to seek attention for his own wounds."
Birdwell said often thinks about that day and replays it in his mind.
"Every day, sometimes multiple times of day, I think about it. 'Could I have done it better, should I have done this, should I have done that - that sort of thing," he said. "Somebody a few years ago asked when did you leave Vietnam? I told them, last night. Things just stay with you."
Being awarded the Medal of Honor was a 54-year process for Birdwell. He said in 1968, military personnel did not automatically get recommended for the MOH. Personnel first were recommended for the Distinguished Service Cross and then could be later recommended for the MOH.
In April 1968, a report was given to him about of his actions on Jan. 31, 1968, but was missing "80 percent" of what actually occurred, but he said he didn't say anything because he's not one "to beat his own drum." That report was used to award him the Silver Star, but didn't fully tell what he and his fellow soldiers experienced the day of the battle. Birdwell believed Col. Otis would rectify the report, but he was severely wounded in battle in May of 1968 and never returned to Vietnam.
In 1981, now-general Otis met with Birdwell in Oklahoma City to discuss why he didn't receive the MOH, and Otis said he would work to get Birdwell the medal. Otis went on to become the commander of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization or NATO in Europe and then retired from the Army in 1988. In 2010, Otis contacted Birdwell to inform him he wanted to continue working on getting him the MOH.
"He was the instigator of this process. He got it all pulled together," Birdwell said.
In 2011, Otis wrote a letter to Oklahoma Congressman Tom Cole to ask him to support Birdwell for the MOH.
"As commanding officer of 3rd Squadron, 4th Cavalry during the battle, I have always believed that Dwight's performance absolutely warranted the award of a Medal of Honor. However, bureaucratic missteps by higher headquarters resulted in his receiving a Silver Star instead. I would like now to try to correct this oversight," Gen. Otis wrote to Cole.
Gen. Otis died in February 2013, but before his death had asked Maj. Jerry Headley to take over pushing for Birdwell for the MOH, which he did. In Vietnam, Headley was the commander of Troop B, a sister unit to Birdwell's Troop C, and was also in Vietnam in 1968. Eventually, Oklahoma Sen. James Inhofe sent a letter on Birdwell's behalf, which eventually made it to the Pentagon.
Earlier this year, Birdwell received a call from President Biden to inform him he would be receiving the MOH.
"He was very nice, very cordial. He knew a lot about me. He said, 'this is really a big deal.' I got a kick out of that because he said it twice," Birdwell said. "He asked me about being a Cherokee, and he went to great links to praise Native Americans. This was all due to General Glenn Otis."
Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. congratulated Birdwell, saying he is one of only a handful of Cherokees to receive the Medal of Honor.
"Mr. Birdwell is someone I deeply respect not only for his service to our tribal nation, but also for his service to our country," Hoskin said. "Honoring his heroic deeds, and bestowing the Medal of Honor to him is the right thing to do for his valiant actions during the Vietnam War. He is a true Cherokee patriot who put his own life at risk without hesitation and expected no commendation."
In May of 2021, Chief Hoskin wrote a letter of support to Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III and Oklahoma's state and federal leaders advocating for Mr. Birdwell to receive the Medal of Honor. Following a visit to the Cherokee Nation Reservation by First Lady of the United States Dr. Jill Biden, Cherokee Nation Secretary of Veterans Affairs S. Joe Crittenden also wrote Dr. Biden in March of 2022 and advocated for Mr. Birdwell to receive the Medal of Honor.
Birdwell was honorably discharged from the Army on Dec. 29, 1968, and today practices law in Oklahoma City. He also served on the Cherokee Nation Supreme Court for 12 years from 1987 to 1999. He and his wife Virginia, of the Peavine Community in Adair County, have two children.
He also gave thanks to the Cherokee veterans he grew up with in the Bell Community, also in Adair County
"I consider this not an honor for myself, but certainly for my creator, the men who served with me and all of those men who came to me as a child, Cherokee men who had served in Korea and served in World War II or even World I and talked about their experiences and encouraged me to serve and essentially gave me the idea and belief that I had to do it to carry on a tradition of the Cherokee Nation," Birdwell said. "It was up to me serve if called. I was told as a serviceman, don't dare bring shame to the Cherokee people, and that was always on my mind, especially that day (Jan. 31, 1968) thinking, 'Am I doing enough? Am I doing what's expected of me?'"
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This is part of all tribes, you dare not bring shame on the tribe. Most tribes will award a returning combat veteran an ''Eagle Feather''. This is one of the very highest honors a Native veteran can receive.
Great respect/honor to the four soldiers.
all representing the oldest traditions of the most elite class of American warriors.
And there are many more stories that haven't been told of the warriors and their performance of their duties - as only warriors can do.
Wado Sp/5 Birdwell.
Congrats!
Well deserved.
Birdwell co-authored a book on his Vietnam experience, A Hundred Miles of Bad Road: An Armored Cavalryman in Vietnam, 1967-68 that I read many years ago. It's a combat narrative told from the soldiers point of view. In this case, a soldier in one of the few Armored Cav units that fought in Vietnam. It held my attention to the end as you read his initial, gung-ho attitude in the beginning joining a well-trained, and disciplined, unit spiral down as the months go by into a unit of low morale with heavy drinking and heavy pot-smoking at night. Birdwell makes you understand the front line soldier's emotional distance from those who didn't serve on combat's edge. He describes the cohesion and bonding at crew and platoon echelon. You are able to feel the terrible exhilaration felt when you are winning the battle even though you are slaughtering other humans in a one sided fight.
He was award the Silver Star twice and now receives a long overdue Medal of Honor.
What an amazing honor for such an amazing man. So many of our people have served (including you and Big Cheif), and most people don't even know how disproportionately we do so in the protection of this country.
As natives know we serve at a higher rate per capita than any other ethnic group.
extremely fortunate for america to have the talents of ancestors from the greatest light infantry force in history at our access.
Great news! It is wonderful to see Native Americans from all Tribes receiving the honors that are so well deserved, and none greater than defending and protecting our great country.
A very well deserved honor.
A smile for me today when I read this. Thank you.
You are invited to attend the Department of Defense Hall of Heroes Induction Ceremony on Wednesday, 6 July 2022, at 10 a.m. to induct six Army Medal of Honor recipients into the Pentagon Hall of Heroes.
You are invited to view the ceremony virtually.
To view the ceremony virtually, please click the link: www.dvidshub.net/webcast/29089
The ceremony will also be broadcast on
The ceremony will induct six Army Medal of Honor recipients into the Pentagon Hall of Heroes . During the ceremony, recipients and their representatives will unveil a plaque signifying the honored placement of their name, rank and service branch inside the Hall of Heroes. The Hall of Heroes is dedicated for people to honor the brave service members who have received the Medal of Honor, the highest award for bravery that can be awarded to members of America’s armed forces for exceptional act of valor. The Hall of Heroes opened in 1968, and the name of every Medal of Honor recipient since the Civil War is displayed there. The hall holds the names of 3,511 men and one woman who have received the medal. The following will be added to the Hall of Heroes at the Pentagon after this induction ceremony:
Staff Sergeant Edward N. Kaneshiro
VIETNAM
Specialist Five Dwight W. Birdwell
VIETNAM
Specialist Five Dennis M. Fujii
VIETNAM
Major John J. Duffy
VIETNAM
Colonel Ralph J. Puckett, Jr.
KOREA
Sergeant Major Thomas P. Payne
OPERATION INHERENT RESOLVE
I am sure they behaved in all ways and at all times as officers and gentlemen as befitting real heroes.
I'm sure you would like to draw a connection between their valor and this cheap exchange on social media, but I don't see it.
What are you trying to say, these men are being awarded our nation's highest honor, there is no need for any comments beyond that.
Two of the six were officers and the remaining four were enlisted men.