In honor of Veterans Day today, I want to honor two veterans. One is Army Specialist Matthew T. Bolar, who died during combat operations in Iraq in May, 2007. Matthew’s mom is Anne Adkins, the retired VP of marketing for Raycom Media. Anne now serves on the board of Active Heroes, a charity organization that […]
In honor of Veterans Day today, I want to honor two veterans. One is Army Specialist Matthew T. Bolar, who died during combat operations in Iraq in May, 2007.
Matthew’s mom is Anne Adkins, the retired VP of marketing for Raycom Media. Anne now serves on the board of Active Heroes, a charity organization that helps military veterans and their families.
I keep this picture of Matthew in my wallet and on my refrigerator to honor him.
The other veteran is a friend of mine and the subject of an amazing story that can be seen on the Smithsonian Channel this month.
Larry Liss has been a friend of mine for 30-40 years. I’ve had dinner at his house and we bump into each other often at the parties of a mutual friend.
And yet in all this time, there was a side of Liss that I never knew, that he never mentioned. It took someone else mentioning a story airing on the Smithsonian Channel for me to know that Liss was a helicopter pilot in Vietnam and that he took part in an amazing rescue.
Liss and another pilot were flying a staff chaplain to Easter services in an unarmed helicopter when a distress call came in that 100 soldiers were ambushed and surrounded. Leaving their comrades was not an option, so, against orders, the two pilots flew to the area. Once on location, the pilots lowered their helicopter into a bamboo forest, using the blades of the copter as a kind of week wacker to cut down the bamboo so they could land and rescue the soldiers.
The story, Helicopter Missions: Vietnam Firefight, is currently airing on the Smithsonian Channel.
So why did it take all this time for this story to come out?
Liss told me that when they got back to the base after the rescue, his commanding officer was yelling at him because he had disobeyed orders in doing the rescue. Liss said that he was smiling because he was just glad to be alive, and that the commanding officer read that as insolence and shoved Liss. Liss punched him in the face.
A general arrived and took Liss aside, telling Liss that although he did disobey orders during the rescue, the general was damn glad he did.
Liss was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross but the whole affair was to be kept under wraps to avoid Liss’s court-martial for hitting the officer.
Liss and his comrades are currently under consideration to receive the Medal of Honor.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uL8hf2wUUf4
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