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| Navy Doctor Earned Navy Cross He's Not Allowed to Wear |
| 2008-11-26 |
| Hate to admit it, but gotta give the hat tip for this to Somewhere out in the fleet, there's a Navy medical officer who earned the Navy Cross during vicious, hammering combat five years ago. And he's not authorized to wear the award -- second only to the Medal of Honor. That's because the 2003 mission, during which the officer fought like a demon and put himself in the line of fire to save several wounded American and Afghan comrades from al-Qaida and Taliban forces, remains classified. And so does his identity. A spokeswoman for the Navy secretary confirmed the existence of the Navy Cross recipient after Navy Times forwarded her a copy of the officer's citation, in which his name is redacted. I'm hoping to see some input from serving folks on this...seems to me that the citation could have been written vaguely enough to eliminate any concerns re OPSEC or the recipient's own safety. So secret was the award that the Navy did not include it when queried as to the number of sailors who have earned the Navy Cross since Sept. 11, 2001. The Navy has now changed the number of recipients from six to seven, even though the seventh award was presented more than a year ago. RTWT at the link. You'll wonder how he's able to walk right with those enormous brass testicles getting in the way...anyhoo, this old ex-squid and Good Conduct Medal recipient salutes you, wherever/whoever you are. |
| Posted by:Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) |
| #12 During command inspections, it was not unusual for the inspecting party to stop and query an individual about an award. the problems that would cause with a Navy Cross in ranks could be bad. although with a bit of prior planning the CO of the outfit could do a little one on one with the inspecting officer to 'ignore' the circumstances. Back in the day, VA-165 had an AD2 that was a Seal; nobody knew it, until a big inspection. Then the Admiral stopped and asked Brian where his Trident was. Seems they had 'worked' together at some time in the past. got dicey for a bit and then Brian disappeared (early transfer). |
| Posted by: USN, Ret. 2008-11-26 15:49 |
| #11 Could they simply classify the citation and issue the award publicly "For service to the nation above and beyond"? |
| Posted by: Lagom 2008-11-26 14:23 |
| #10 Is that allowed for doctor-types? For self-defense. The med battalion's TO&E is a little 'different' from other battalions in that it didn't have any bayonets in the inventory cause bayonets are considered 'offensive' weapons. It's the lawyers again. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2008-11-26 13:41 |
| #9 This happened many, many times during the Vietnam War. Sometimes, the medal request was simply destroyed, because just the names of the personnel would have given something away. When someone is supposed to be in one place, but does something that deserves a medal at another place, it's impossible to do anything BUT either withhold the award or classify all the data pertaining to the award, including the name of the person receiving it. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2008-11-26 13:34 |
| #8 He probably picked up a gun in the process. Is that allowed for doctor-types? |
| Posted by: gorb 2008-11-26 13:23 |
| #7 Classified decorations have been around since at least WWII. Whoever let this story out needs to be drawn and quartered. |
| Posted by: crosspatch 2008-11-26 11:54 |
| #6 And what I mean for public is a 'public' cover story that doesn't necessarily match the real events. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2008-11-26 11:40 |
| #5 You cut two citations. One for public and one for the restricted files. Geez..no creative thinking in the personnel section. However, now they've screwed the process cause we know who the others are so any new name by logical inference is the real McCoy. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2008-11-26 11:36 |
| #4 Nobody's suggesting "digging" to paint a target on this guy's back NY Times-style; seemed to me the Navy Times was pretty circumspect in how it handled this story. My point is that the Navy might have been able to handle the security issues (like I said, with a VERY vaguely written citation) to at least allow the guy to wear the award on his uniform. And anyway, I wanted to salute the guy, anonymous or not. |
| Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) 2008-11-26 11:01 |
| #3 Thank you, brave patriot, whoever you are. You probably didn't earn the award so you could impress your friends. You did it because you are a tremendously brave individual who went to extraordinary lengths to complete your mission. People like you are essential to our continuing survival. |
| Posted by: Richard of Oregon 2008-11-26 10:56 |
| #2 I expect this is not the first case like this. |
| Posted by: Richard Aubrey 2008-11-26 10:52 |
| #1 What? Everybody is going to get all pissed off because we can't get his name? Somethings are better left unsaid for a reason. In this case it is classified. But no, someone wants to keep digging so they can be the first moron to put a life in jeopardy. Think. There may be a reason that they don't want to give his name. |
| Posted by: Art 2008-11-26 10:16 |