Quoted: Quoted: Audie Murphy. The cold fact is, mention Pappy Boyington to the average person, and they have NO idea who you're talking about. Mention Audie Murphy, and they remember he was an actor who was a hero in SOME war. Yeh, but if you mention "Ba ba black sheep", most Americans who watched TV back in the 80s will remember William Conrad.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't William Conrad the portly gentleman who played "Cannon?"  IIRC, the star of Baa Baa Black Sheep (later Black Sheep Squadron) was ROBERT Conrad (also of the battery commercials ["Knock it off... I dare you!"] & the lesser-known A Man Called Sloane... ).


Sorry - too much TV in the 80s.  

Audie Murphy.

Out of his original company that landed in North Africa, supposedly only him and the company clerk survived the war.

Well, I'm a tanker. I'll throw SSG Lafayette Pool into the ring.. Can't have it just with flyboys and crunchies after all...

NTM

Being an old Coastie..here is my 2 cents worth


World War II Congressional Medal of Honor Recipient  
Signalman First Class Douglas Albert Munro USCG


The Only Member Of The United States Coast Guard To Be Awarded The Nations Highest Military Honor - May God Rest His Soul

The Coast Guard's first major participation in the Pacific war was at Guadalcanal. Here the service played a large part in the landings on the islands. So critical was their task that they were later involved in every major amphibious campaign during World War II. During the war, the Coast Guard manned 351 Navy warships, 288 Army vessels, 802 cutters and hundreds more amphibious type assault craft. It was in these ships and craft that the Coast Guard fulfilled one of its most important but least glamorous roles during the war--that is getting the men to the beaches. The initial landings were made on Guadalcanal in August 1942, and this hard-fought campaign lasted for nearly six months. Seven weeks after the initial landings, during a small engagement near the Matanikau River, Signalman First Class Douglas Albert Munro, died while rescuing a group of marines near the Matanikau River.

DOUGLAS MUNRO'S MEDAL OF HONOR CITATION

Awarded posthumously to

 DOUGLAS ALBERT MUNRO, SIGNALMAN FIRST CLASS, U.S. COAST GUARD

    "For extraordinary heroism and conspicuous gallantry in action above and beyond the call of duty as Office-in-Charge of a group of Higgins boats, engaged in the evacuation of a Battalion of Marines trapped by enemy Japanese forces at Point Cruz, Guadalcanal, on September 27, 1942.  After making preliminary plans for the evacuation of nearly 500 beleaguered Marines, Munro, under constant risk of his life, daringly led five of his small craft toward the shore. As he closed the beach, he signalled [sic] the others to land, and then in order to draw the enemy's fire and protect the heavily loaded boats, he valiantly placed his craft with its two small guns as a shield between the beachhead and the Japanese. When the perilous task of evacuation was nearly completed, Munro was killed by enemy fire, but his crew, two of whom were wounded, carried on until the last boat had loaded and cleared the beach.  By his outstanding leadership, expert planning, and dauntless devotion to duty, he and his courageous comrades undoubtedly saved the lives of many who otherwise would have perished.  He gallantly gave up his life in defense of his country."

My GreatUncle Ernest died on The Canal..........so Munro has a little extra sentimental value to me.

I do not feel I am qualified to judge such men!  To me, they are ALL heros.  Each contributed what he could to keep America safe.

What is it that makes such folks?  Extreme courage, dedication to duty, loyalty to their comrades?  An intangible something more that we can not fully understand yet need to bottle and spray over our country, to wake up the PC cowards who infest US.