Living Medal of Honor Recipient - Iraq

Living Medal of Honor recipient Iraq?

With the Medal of Honor presentation for Cpt. Florent Groburg on 12 November, 2015 the question has come up about Iraq recipients. Cpt. Groburg was the 10th living Medal of Honor recipient from Afghanistan. The war in Iraq had zero. In no way is this intended to take anything away from the actions leading to Cpt. Groburg's award, or any Medal of Honor recipient from Iraq or Afghanistan. The true answer to the question of living recipients probably requires years of waiting and a little speculation. It has already been written about. From Zachary Cohen:

On March 25, 2003, 1st Lt. Brian Chontosh and his platoon drove into an ambush of mortars, rocket-propelled grenades and automatic weapons fire while traveling on a highway toward Baghdad.

Realizing the road ahead was blocked and taking heavy fire, Chontosh ordered his vehicle to drive directly at the enemy position.

According to his Navy Cross award citation, Chontosh exited the vehicle and began to engage the enemy with his rifle and pistol. He repeatedly exhausted his ammunition but continued to press forward using discarded enemy weapons and eventually led his platoon through the ambush.

"When his audacious attack ended, he had cleared over 200 meters of the enemy trench, killing more than 20 enemy soldiers and wounding several others," Chontosh's Navy Cross citation reads.

Several years have passed since Chontosh returned home from Iraq, but the fight on Capitol Hill continues over whether he and several other U.S. soldiers who served during Operation Iraqi Freedom deserve consideration for the Congressional Medal of Honor.

... Rep. Duncan Hunter, a California Republican, argues that the actions of several Iraq veterans deserve the distinguished recognition as well. Hunter wrote letters to then-Secretary of Defense Robert Gates asking for Iraq war veterans, including Chontosh, to be considered for the Medal of Honor to no avail.

"The fact that there's not a single living recipient of the Medal of Honor from the war in Iraq is a mystery," Hunter said.

"There are countless examples of extreme valor during intense, close-quarter combat, but for some reason, starting with the (George W.) Bush administration, there was a concerted effort to not recognize acts of courage with the Medal of Honor," he said.

See the full story from CNN.

The time aspect of finding an answer is one that is as old as the Medal of Honor itself. The same CNN article had a slideshow titled Recent Medal of Honor recipients includes awards that go back to the Civil War. While there is no denying that the acts of valor have taken place it is possible that these Service Members will not be recognized for decades.

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