Medal of Honor; Profiles of America's Military Heroes from the Civil War to the Present
Peter Freed (photograph of Mike Wallace) and Mike New York: Hyperion, 2002. First Edition [Stated], First Printing [Stated]. Hardcover. xxviii, [2], 300, [4] pages. Notes. Introduction by Mike Wallace. Portrayals of eleven recipients of the Congressional Medal of Honor, from each branch of the military, and an examination of what drove them to go so far above and beyond the call of duty. The eleven are: Mary Edwards Walker, Leopold Karpeles, Edouard Victor Michel Izac, Samuel Woodfill, David Shoup, Maynard Smith, Vernon Baker, Hiroshi "Hershey" Miyamura, William Charette, Dwight Johnson, and Thomas Kelley. Allen Mikaelian is the author of the New York Times bestseller Medal of Honor: Profiles of America’s Military Heroes from the Civil War to the Present and is a doctoral fellow in history at American University in Washington, DC. Myron Leon Wallace (May 9, 1918 – April 7, 2012) was an American journalist, game show host, actor, and media personality. He interviewed a wide range of prominent newsmakers during his seven-decade career. He was one of the original correspondents featured on CBS news program 60 Minutes, which debuted in 1968. Wallace retired as a regular full-time correspondent in 2006, but still appeared occasionally on the series until 2008. The Congressional Medal of Honor is Americas highest military award. In this remarkable work, the first of its kind, acclaimed 60 Minutes reporter Mike Wallace looks at the lives of the recipients of the medal and explores what it is that drove them to go so far above and beyond the call of duty. Wallace examines not only their extraordinary feats in battle (plunging into heavy fire, throwing themselves on live grenades, attacking enemy regiments single-handed), but also their lives before and after. Throughout the book, and particularly in his moving introduction, he meditates on the meaning of courage and shows what we can learn from the lives of those who perform amazing acts of selflessness and bravery. The Congressional Medal of Honor, established during the Civil War, pays tribute to a person who has "distinguished himself conspicuously by gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty." Washington Literacy Council board member Mikaelian spotlights 11 of the 3,456 soldiers who have received this legendary honor, while 60 Minutes' Wallace supplies historical context with his introduction and brief, general commentaries on various U.S. wars. The book's lively vignettes not only describe the battles faced by the men (and one woman), but also trace the ways the Medal affected their later lives. The book profiles Hiroshi Miyamura, a Korean War marine who fought back Chinese soldiers when he and fellow troops were isolated in a mountain pass on the Chinese-Korean border; as well as Dwight Johnson, a celebrated Vietnam vet deeply conflicted about his role in the war and especially about his recruitment of fellow young black men into the armed services. The practice of Mary Edwards Walker, a Civil War doctor who is the only woman to have won the Medal, fell into controversy after the war, leading the government to revoke her Medal toward the end of her life—when she was an isolated eccentric and, literally, a sideshow curiosity. This absorbing set of accounts should appeal to military history enthusiasts and anyone interested in the heroic exploits of ordinary Americans. Condition: Very good / Very good.
Keywords: Medal of Honor, Heroism, Military Medals, Thomas Kelly, Vietnam War, Vernon Baker, WWII, Samuel Woodfill, Mary Edwards Walker, Leopold Karpeles, Edouard Victor Michel Izac, David Shoup, Maynard Smith, Hiroshi Miyamura, Hershey Miyamura, William Chare
ISBN: 0786866624
[Book #85472]
Price: $60.00