I dedicate this page to Sergeant Major Charles B. Morris of the A company 2nd Battalion-173rd Airborne Brigade (Sep). This man was a hero in the true sense of the word and winning the CMOH did not change his attitude towards people and life. I met with him about 30 years after we served together and just before he died and he was a friend and excellent soldier. It was an honor to know him and serve with him in Vietnam. He was a tough of West Virgina man and all around good guy. The world will miss him but it was honored to have him for the time he was here. Rest in Perfect Peace, Sarge.
Below is the citation for the Medal of Honor and then trailers of some of my favorite movies.
CHARLES B. MORRIS
Rank and organization:
Staff Sergeant (then Sgt.), U.S. Army, Company A, 2d Battalion (Airborne), 503d Infantry, 173d Airborne Brigade (Separate)
Place:
Republic of Vietnam
Date:
29 June 1966
Entered service at:
Roanoke, Va.
Born:
29 December 1931, Carroll County, Va.
G.O. No.:
C.O. No.: 51, 14 December 1967.
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Seeing indications of the enemy's presence in the area, S/Sgt. Morris deployed his squad and continued forward alone to make a reconnaissance. He unknowingly crawled within 20 meters of an enemy machinegun, whereupon the gunner fired, wounding him in the chest. S/Sgt. Morris instantly returned the fire and killed the gunner. Continuing to crawl within a few feet of the gun, he hurled a grenade and killed the remainder of the enemy crew. Although in pain and bleeding profusely, S/Sgt. Morris continued his reconnaissance. Returning to the platoon area, he reported the results of his reconnaissance to the platoon leader.
As he spoke, the platoon came under heavy fire. Refusing medical attention for himself, he deployed his men in better firing positions confronting the entrenched enemy to his front. Then for 8 hours the platoon engaged the numerically superior enemy force. Withdrawal was impossible without abandoning many wounded and dead. Finding the platoon medic dead, S/Sgt. Morris administered first aid to himself and was returning to treat the wounded members of his squad with the medic's first aid kit when he was again wounded. Knocked down and stunned, he regained consciousness and continued to treat the wounded, reposition his men, and inspire and encourage their efforts. Wounded again when an enemy grenade shattered his left hand, nonetheless he personally took up the fight and armed and threw several grenades which killed a number of enemy soldiers.
Seeing that an enemy machinegun had maneuvered behind his platoon and was delivering the fire upon his men, S/Sgt. Morris and another man crawled toward the gun to knock it out. His comrade was killed and S/Sgt. Morris sustained another wound, but, firing his rifle with one hand, he silenced the enemy machinegun. Returning to the platoon, he courageously exposed himself to the devastating enemy fire to drag the wounded to a protected area, and with utter disregard for his personal safety and the pain he suffered, he continued to lead and direct the efforts of his men until relief arrived. Upon termination of the battle, important documents were found among the enemy dead revealing a planned ambush of a Republic of Vietnam battalion. Use of this information prevented the ambush and saved many lives. S/Sgt. Morris' gallantry was instrumental in the successful defeat of the enemy, saved many lives, and was in the highest traditions of the U.S. Army.
The 2nd Battalion (Airborne) 503rd Infantry Regiment “The Rock” deployed to Afghanistan in 2007 for 15 months of the most intense combat any US unit has faced in this war. During the time they spent on the border with Pakistan, this one battalion averaged three troops in contact incidents every day. They were right in the path of the Taliban’s major push back into Afghanistan after years of resting, recruiting and retraining in their safe havens in Pakistan. The Rock proudly upheld the tradition of our airborne forces in some of the most inhospitable terrain on Earth. SSG Giunta was a member of Battle Company and the exploits of some of his compatriots in that unit are vividly chronicled in Sebastian Junger’s book “War” and the documentary “Restrepo” (in theaters now) he made with Tim Hetherington. The two spent a total of five months with a platoon from Battle Company and the book and film show the tremendous challenges these men faced and overcame.
Giunta was a Specialist when the action occurred and his squad was hit with a well-planned ambush at extremely close range. He was the trail team leader and Josh Brennan was the lead.
When the fighting started Brennan was severely wounded, their squad leader was knocked to the ground, their medic was killed and several others were wounded. Giunta immediately began maneuvering toward the enemy throwing grenades and eventually charging them when he saw two of them hauling Josh away. He emptied a magazine killing one and wounding the other and grabbed Brennan telling Josh to stay with him so that he would get a chance to tell heroic stories. They did get Brennan on a medevac chopper, but unfortunately his wounds were too severe and he didn’t survive. But Giunta’s actions stopped the Taliban from taking him and by running headlong at the enemy he disrupted the ambush. SSG Giunta’s story can be read in Junger’s book “War” starting on page 115.
It has been far too long since we have awarded the Medal of Honor to someone who survived, and SSG Giunta is a wonderful addition to the ranks of those who have earned our country’s highest honor. There are a number of others under consideration for this decoration and hopefully this is a sign that more of these brave warriors will be recognized. We have heard this was approved by the White House and they are only waiting to set a date for the ceremony.
We salute SSG Giunta and all who serve or have served our country. We are also proud to announce that Andrew Breitbart will be launching a new site called Big Peace on July 4th to focus on the efforts of our troops to spread freedom and liberty and all of those who work to ensure our national security.
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The trailers below are from what I consider to be the best war movies of my day-1965-present. They are not in any particular order as I really like all of them and all show some aspect of what it means to be a man of honor and do the right thing without any whinning and crying about it.
PLATOON LEADER.
(Yes i have to make this one first as it is about the 173rd and I really enjoyed it a lot.)
TEARS OF THE SUN
BLACKHAWK DOWN
WE WERE SOLDIERS
This was an excellent book and as true to life as it gets.
SEBASTIAN JUNGER BOOK SIGNING THE BOOK "WAR"
Sebastian at book signing in Washington, DC at the Aspen Institute, May 2010. Over an hour long so sit back and enjoy it and see what dumb ass questions some people ask out of ignorance or never having been closer to war than the TV or movies. Or they ask stupid question trying to make the author(s) look stupid. Nothing worse then the left wing, do gooders who want to stop everything they do not agree with. Most of them remind me of way back when in 1965 or so the mercenaires of Mike Hoare in South Africa were despised and hated. But when the Mau Mau went on the uprising and started slaughtering white folks in Kenya they wanted them to come help them. A bunch of fucking hippocrits if you ask me.
"RESTREPO" TRAILER
BORN ON THE FOURTH OF JULY
Hamburger Hill
this movie is not about our Hamburger Hill but another outfit. We in the 173rd had the Hill 875 and areas around it to go up. I have been to hills like this in the Song Be area and the slimy fucking red clay is a bitch to get up. I used to throw my M-60 up the hill ahead of me and crawl up to it. If you have not been there you cannot imagine what it is like there or in any war. This is another excellent movie!!
