Sgt. Paul Smith's Medal of Honor

By Joe Katzman on March 31, 2005 12:30 AM | 4 Comments

Back in October 2003, we told our readers the story of Sgt. Paul Smith (dec.), a Medal of Honor nominee for defensive heroics that saved over 100 lives during the battle for Baghdad Airport. Unfortunately, SFC Smith's own life wasn't one of them.

Blogger "JustOneMinute (It's The Road to Beirut, Baby!)" informs us that the award has been approved, and offers a roundup of further links and details. Sgt. Smith will be the first recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor since Delta Force members Randy Shugart and Gary Gordon earned posthumous medals in 1993 for their "Blackhawk Down" heroics in Mogadishu.

UPDATE: Jeff Medcalf of The Glittering Eye points to Sgt. Paul Smith's formal citation on the Medal of Honor Site.

4 Comments

#1 from PacRim Jim | March 31, 2005 4:43 AM | Reply

I hope the medal somewhat eases his family's suffering.

#2 from Joe Katzman | March 31, 2005 6:13 AM | Reply

It never does. A posthumous medal means you've just lost your son or daughter because of all the things you did right - or lost your spouse because of the very things that attracted you to them. Talk about your classic conflicted situation.

At best, it will provide some solace in that Paul Smith's contribution and what he stood for were recognized by his country and by his peers. It becomes a bit easier to mingle pride with the sorrow - but the sorrow is always there, keen as ever.

That recognition mattered a lot to the Shugarts, for instance, in part because there wasn't much recognition for those who died in Mogadishu. At least, not until the medal ceremony and (even more so) the book and movie Blackhawk Down.

Sometimes, there are also other emotions.

Read the WSJ link at the end of our Shugart & Gordon piece, and you'll see that the medal ceremony opened some wounds for Randy Shugart's family - though perhaps telling President Clinton off to his face was cathartic. Clinton's response (i.e. silence) was probably the best possible and didn't make a tough situation any worse.

#3 from Jeff Medcalf | March 31, 2005 7:24 PM | Reply

Sgt. Smith's citation is here

#4 from Terry Finley | April 2, 2005 2:25 PM | Reply

Nice blog. Thank you.

The Medal of Honor for the
"Bravest of the Brave".

Come visit my blog.

http://terrysdailytales.blogspot.com/

Terry Finley
happy.finley@gmail.com

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Sgt. Paul Smith's Medal of Honor

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