I want you to ask yourself one question. Off the top of your head how many Congressional Medal of Honor recepients could you name? Three, two how about even one? It is such a shame that in our modern society we give more credance to vain media personalities than we do to our nation's heroes. There have been almost 3,500 medal of honors awarded, but does the average American know anything about even one of these individuals? The frightening fact is that they probably dont, and as time passes and people grow more complacent and weaker, they often forget much of what our predecessors have done for us.
One of these great heroes of mine is Brigadier General Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain. A Maine born professor, who gave up his cushy career as a professor of English and lied to his colleges so he could join the Union forces against what he considered to be "an evil aristocratic institution of slaverly, mirroring that of our European ancestors." The man absolutely hated slaverly and believed that the United States was founded as a place where people could actually reach their full potential as individuals. He earned Congressional Medal of Honor at Gettysburg for safely securing the Union flank against a confederate force twice his size. Depleted of ammunition and resources, he ordered a bayonet charge and frightened the Conferdates into submission. That was just the first of any of his heroic acts. On another occasion, he was shot between both hips in the middle of a battle, but remained on his feet the entire time to rally his troops to move forward. By the end of the war he had been shot six times had twice that many horses shot out from under him. His final act of pure soldiery came at Appotamax courthouse where he accepted the surrender of General Robert E. Lee and his Confederate forces. To many northern naysayers, he had his men salute the defeated south and pay them respect.
What a man! What a truly great American hero. I encourage all who may read this to further investigate our nation's heroes. It will give you a stronger understanding of what this country stands for and why we need to emulate those that have come before us.
