Fall Issue of American Veteran Now Online

The latest issue of American Veteran magazine is now available online. To read the fall 2010 issue, Click Here.

In the latest issue, we sit down for an exclusive interview with Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki, where the secretary shares his charge to transform VA into a 21st century institution capable of efficiently meeting the needs of veterans and their dependents which, surprisingly, still date back to the Civil War, when President Abraham Lincoln first commissioned his Veterans Administration.

We also discuss the 2010 AMVETS Symposium for 21st Century Veterans, which took place at the 66th annual AMVETS National Convention in Louisville last summer, bringing together 50 veterans of the current conflicts to candidly discuss issues critical to their generation. Stay tuned to American Veteran Online for updates on the imminent symposium report, highlighting this summer's findings.

This fall, we also cover the AMVETS Department of Missouri's POW/MIA Recognition Day festivities alongside one of America's most storied Major League Baseball franchises, the St. Louis Cardinals. The day's event was hosted to raise funds for Missouri's POW/MIA museum project.

In a special From the Front, American Veteran also highlights Army Staff Sgt. Salvatore Giunta, who recently became the first living Medal of Honor recipient in the Global War on Terror.

This fall, we also launched two new sections we hope you will enjoy--"Forward Observer," a by-the-numbers look at critical veterans' issues and "National Archive," which delves into the 60-plus years of the National AMVET and American Veteran magazine to bring you critical stories on veterans' issues from the past, tying them into current issues facing our nation's military and veterans' communities.

We also highlight the AMVETS Department of Virginia's role in this summer's Run For The Wall, which stopped off at the National D-Day Memorial in Bedford, Va., before proceeding to the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, D.C.

In "Keeping Posted," you can also read about the great work of AMVETS in Indiana, Illinois, California, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania.

As always, we're eager to hear your thoughts and see the great work going on at AMVETS posts and departments around the country, so keep your letters, stories and photos coming, so we can consider them for future issues of the magazine.

(Photos: Top: VA Secretary Eric K. Shinseki sits down with American Veteran magazine at his office in Washington, D.C. Photo by Luis Jimenez. Middle: AMVETS National Commander Jerry Hotop, American Ex-POWs St. Louis Chapter President Paul Dillon, and former POW Richmond P. "Red" Dillon stand for the National Anthem at Busch Stadium on National POW/MIA Recognition Day. Photo by Ryan Gallucci. Bottom: A Run for the Wall road guard directs riders at the National D-Day Memorial in Virginia, just one of the historic sites visited on the cross-country ride. Photo by Jay Agg.)

Staff Sgt. Salvatore Giunta Presented Medal of Honor

This afternoon, Army Staff Sgt. Salvatore Giunta will be presented with the Medal of Honor from President Barack Obama in a special ceremony at the White House. To view live video of the ceremony, Click Here.

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Giunta was selected to receive the Medal of Honor for his actions on Oct. 25, 2007, while serving as a specialist with Battle Company, 2nd Battalion from the 503rd Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade in Afghanistan.

Giunta is the first living Medal of Honor recipient from the Global War on Terror.

American Veteran highlights Giunta, his actions and his thoughts on the nation's highest honor for combat valor in the fall issue of American Veteran magazine, which is on its way to mailboxes across the country today.

BREAKING: Living Afghanistan Vet to Receive Medal of Honor

This morning, the White House announced that Army Staff Sgt. Salvatore Giunta will be awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions in the Korengal Valley, Afghanistan in 2007. Giunta will be the first living recipient of the nation's highest combat award for valor from the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

President Barack Obama spoke with Giunta yesterday, informing the soldier that he will receive the medal.

Giunta was selected to receive the Medal of Honor for his actions on Oct. 25, 2007, while serving as a specialist with Bravo Company, 2nd Battalion from the 503rd Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade in Afghanistan.

According to the White House, when Giunta's squad was ambushed, insurgents split his team into two groups. In the firefight, Giunta successfully pulled a comrade back to cover, while continuing to engage the enemy.

While attempting to reconnect with his squad, Giunta noticed insurgents carrying away a wounded soldier. Giunta killed one of the potential captors and wounded the other, freeing the soldier, to whom he then rendered aid. Giunta then reconnected with his squad, which continued to provide security, defeating the ambush.

Over the last two years, AMVETS has questioned Pentagon leaders on why no living recipients had been selected for the Medal of Honor through nearly a decade of combat in support of the Global War on Terror.

AMVETS National Commander Jerry Hotop said he was proud to see that the President will honor Giunta, adding to the ranks of living American heroes, keeping with traditions of the Medal of Honor dating back to the Civil War.

Giunta and Army Staff Sgt. Robert Miller are the latest soldiers to earn the Medal of Honor for their actions in Afghanistan. Miller, who will receive the medal posthumously, will be honored at the White House in a special ceremony on Oct. 6, where family members will accept the medal from the President.

This morning, Stars & Stripes published a letter from Miller's parents, Phil and Maureen Miller, expressing pride in their son for his actions, which helped to protect his team and a team of Afghan Army soldiers. To read more about Miller's award, Click Here.

(Image: Staff Sgt. Salvatore Giunta, who will receive the Medal of Honor for his actions while serving in Afghanistan as a specialist in 2007.)

Rep. Duncan Hunter questions Medal of Honor criteria

During yesterday's House Armed Services Committee hearing on the FY2010 Department of the Army budget, California Congressman and Marine Corps combat veteran Duncan D. Hunter (R-52) questioned Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey on troubling trends in today's Medal of Honor awards process.

Video from yesterday's full hearing can be viewed Here. Hunter's question on the Medal of Honor can be found at 1:06:30 into the video.

Since 9/11, the U.S. military has only awarded five Medals of Honor, all posthumous, raising some eyebrows within the veterans' community. At this year's AMVETS Medal of Honor Inaugural Breakfast, several living Medal of Honor recipients expressed concerns over the lack of living recipients from the present conflicts, sparking AMVETS to ask the same questions as Hunter.

Hunter asked Gen. Casey directly whether or not the criteria for the medal have changed, or whether our troops simply had not committed any acts of valor over the last eight years of close-quarters combat.

After seemingly avoiding the issue of characterizing valorous acts or acknowledging a overt change in policy, Casey assured Hunter that he would look into the awards process.

As this story develops over the next few months, check back with American Veteran Online for updates.

Rep. Hunter was recently featured in the spring issue of American Veteran magazine, highlighting Iraq veterans recently elected to Congress.

Women in Service: Dr. Mary Edwards Walker

For the next installment of our Women in Service series, American Veteran has chosen to highlight Dr. Mary Edwards Walker, the only woman to ever receive the Medal of Honor.

Walker was initially inspired by her father to pursue a career in medicine and graduated from Syracuse Medical College in 1855. When the Civil War broke out, Walker traveled to Washington and petitioned to serve as a surgeon in the Union Army.

Though her request was initially denied, Walker enlisted as a civilian and served as a nurse in the Battle of Bull Run, the Battle of Fredericksburg, and the Battle of Chickamauga. As a result of her tireless service to the Union Army, Walker was promoted to assistant surgeon for the Army of the Cumberland in 1863, officially making her the first female surgeon to serve in the U.S. Army.

As the war progressed, Walker was assigned to the Ohio 52nd Infantry, and frequently served on the front lines, retrieving and treating Union casualties. Her work often took her onto the battlefield and forced her to routinely cross enemy lines.

In 1864, Walker was taken captive by Confederate troops, who accused her of being a spy. After holding her for four months, the Confederate Army exchanged Walker and other Union doctors for captured Confederate surgeons.

After all Walker had endured in her first three years with the Union Army, she was not dissuaded from service. Upon her release, she rejoined the Union Army and served as a battlefield surgeon in the Battle of Atlanta.

When the war finally ended, Union Generals William Tecumseh Sherman and George Henry Thomas recommended Walker for the Medal of Honor after witnessing her bravery and unrelenting spirit in the heat of battle. The award was approved by President Andrew Johnson in 1865.

In 1917, Congress passed a law revising the standards for the Medal of Honor, which stripped 900 recipients of their awards, including Walker. Walker, however, was undeterred. Following the war, she became a vocal advocate for women's rights, and proudly wore her medal until her death in 1919.

President Jimmy Carter posthumously reinstated the groundbreaking award in 1977, preserving Walker's rightful place in history as the first and only female recipient of the Medal of Honor.

(Photo: Portrait of Dr. Mary Edwards Walker wearing her Medal of Honor. Photo maintained by the United States National Library of Medicine.)

National Medal of Honor Day: Sacrifices remembered and policies questioned

In 2007, Congress declared March 25 as National Medal of Honor Day. Today is a day of recognition for our nation's greatest heroes, many of whom made the ultimate sacrifice on the battlefields of years past. In honor of this occasion, President Barack Obama paid a special visit to Arlington National Cemetery to pay his respects to our nation's fallen heroes and lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns.

Today is a day to celebrate the heroes who walk among us and honor those who died preserving our way of life. However, it also calls into question what appears to be a worrisome trend among Medal of Honor recipients from the current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Only five brave Americans from this new generation of veterans have joined the ranks of our Medal of Honor recipients, and all awards have been posthumous.

In this week's print editions of Military Times, author Brendan McGarry addressed this very subject, which American Veteran touched on last Friday. McGarry pointed out the apparent disparity among valorous award citations between the Global War on Terrorism and conflicts past. Even though the U.S. has been at war for the better part of a decade, and scores of valorous acts have been acknowledged, why have there been so few Medals of Honor?

McGarry looked at valorous award citations across the board and noted a key policy memo from the Pentagon predating the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, urging temperance in the awards process.

Could this memo reflect a slight shift in policy implying that the standards for combat valor have changed? Something doesn't quite add up.

This issue was originally brought to AMVETS' attention during the Presidential Inauguration Breakfast with the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, and again during a recent visit with California Congressman, and Marine Corps veteran, Duncan D. Hunter.

During the breakfast, the Congressional Medal of Honor Society expressed concerns that not a single surviving service member had received the Medal of Honor since Vietnam and asked what AMVETS and the veterans' community could do to ensure that the awards process remained equitable.

These concerns were reiterated during our interview with Congressman Hunter, who went as far as to question whether or not the criteria had changed. Look for full details on Hunter's feelings in the upcoming print edition of American Veteran.

The Medal of Honor issue is one that remains important to AMVETS. The organization continues to look into the issue, and American Veteran Online will continue to follow developments.

(Photo: President George W. Bush presents the Medal of Honor to the parents of Marine Cpl. Jason Dunham at the White House in 2007. Dunham earned the award posthumously for jumping on a grenade to save his troops during an insurgent attack in Iraq. DoD photo by Cherie A. Thurlby, released.)

Six Years in Iraq

On this day in 2003, U.S. troops "crossed the berm" on the border of Kuwait and surged onward toward Baghdad. Two short weeks later, the regime of Saddam Hussein would fall. However, the battle was only beginning for our nation's war fighters.

As a result of toppling Hussein's governemnt, a power vacuum ensued in the Middle East, drawing some of our nation's most bitter enemies into the fight in an attempt to fill it. Through years of struggles on and off the battlefield, our military men and women have fought through insurmountable odds to finally set a fledgling Iraqi democracy on a path to stability.

Today, we acknowledge the sixth anniversary of the war in Iraq, a day that has come to define the lives of millions of brave American men and women, and perhaps changed the perception of an entire generation.

Prior to 9/11, young Americans were often labeled as egocentric, focused solely on personal success at all costs. Still, millions of young men and women of this generation have selflessly raised their right hands, swearing to uphold and defend the Constitution, prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice.

To date, 4,259 brave Americans have lost their lives in the conflict, with thousands more suffering life-altering injuries. To these men and women, our nation owes an immeasurable dept of gratitude for their sacrifices. Each of us should take a moment today to pause and reflect on the service of our fallen heroes and our wounded warriors.

In the context of the Iraq War, I wanted to take a moment to address an issue that has raised eyebrows around the military and within veterans' community. Our military men and women have fought in Iraq and Afghanistan for the better part of a decade, with many troops serving multiple tours in multiple combat theaters.

Many of us who have worn the uniform during the Global War on Terrorism have witnessed tremendous acts of valor and heroism for which we revere our fellow service members. However, in nearly eight years of conflict, the U.S. military has only awarded five troops with the nation's highest combat award for valor, the Medal of Honor. All awards have been posthumous.

How can this be? To put it into perspective, in eight years of war in Vietnam, 246 American service members were awarded the Medal of Honor, with more than 50 percent of these brave men living to receive their award.

With advances in medical technologies over the last three decades, it seems absurd to me that equally valorous actions would not have occurred on the battlefield of Iraq and Afghanistan, with the brave American making it home alive. To suffice, something doesn't seem right here, and we intend to look into it.

But I digress. Today, we must acknowledge the service of our brave men and women who have served in Iraq. If you know an Iraq veteran, shake their hand, thank them, let them know you appreciate their service. I guarantee, it never gets old.

-Ryan