Thoughts on the Death of a Recipient of the Medal Of Honor

I was reading the details of the heroism of John William Finn who died on May 27. He won the Medal of Honor at the Battle of Pearl Harbor. He kept shooting at Japanese fighters and bombers despite the fact that he was seriously wounded. Mr. Finn was 100 years old when he died. He was a mamber of the MOH Society. No MOHs have been awarded to living soldiers since the Battle of Mogadishu. When the membership of the MOH Society falls below twenty five, it will disband. This will be too bad for the younger kids. They need all of the heroes they can get. There are ninety living member of the MOH Society. Nineteen are double winners. Consider that. Nineteen men have living men have displayed “courage above and beyond the call of dury” twice!

“Call of Silence” an episode of NCIS is an aide memoire. Charles Durning, an actual WWII hero plays Ernie Yost a MOH winner in the Battle of Iwo Jima. His performance is stellar. The supporting cast is, as usual, excellent, but it is Durning, Mark Harmon, and Michael Weatherly who make the episode.