Ye Gods! I have sinned! That's what I get for going from memory. It's been 15 years since I was discharged, but SHEESH!
He DID take part in the action, but I was incorrect about him receiving the Congressional Medal of Honor (That's one term that I refuse to abbreviate, like Eagle, Globe, and Anchor).
I guess I'll have to pray for forgiveness:
This is my rifle
There are many like it but this one is mine...
Anyhow, you can look it up yourself at Grunts.net. The following is an excerpt:
Smedley landed with a force of Marines at Taku, China and was in a battle right away. They were ambushed and had to pull back. When he realized a wounded man was left behind, Butler and five others fought their way back to the man and carried him out of harms way. Then they carried this man 18 miles through hostile territory to a hospital. The four enlisted men in this group got the Medal of Honor. Smedley and the other officer got breveted to Captain (Officers were not eligible for the MOH in those days)
After this, he was leading a Company of Marines in an attack on the walled city of Tientsin, and again carried a wounded man to safety. He himself had been shot in the leg doing this. He refused aid until other wounded men were taken care of, and even then only submitted to a bandage and rejoined his men in the attack. Despite his leg wound, a fever, and an absessed tooth, Smedley exposed himself to enemy fire and dragged a Brirish soldier back to safety. He was even sruck by a bullet that glanced off one of his tunic buttons. The British army wanted to give him a medal, but he had to refuse it, due to regulations forbidding a U.S solldier from getting medals from a foreign service.
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Anyhow, the reason I chose Smedley rather than Chesty is that to the uninitiated, Smedley would sound like the name of a milquetoast kind of guy. I find that it is rather ironic that a fellow with a name like Smedley would be revered by the roughest bunch of men since Attila the Hun. And I happen to like irony.
I was just trying to gain support for what Lee Ermey is trying to do. It seemed that only having 16 members on his forum was a crying shame.
Semper Fi!
[img]http://www.grunts.net/album/usmc/egabw_sm.gif[/img]
And good night, Chesty, wherever you are!
Ken Little