medal of honor

So, I've been working on this publication at work. It's a montly rag and this month's edition needs to get out ASAP. We're talking about the Medal of Honor. This is partly due to the Army cat who is the first living recipient since Vietnam (82nd Airbourne, I do believe). Anyhow, I came across this story I thought you might enjoy.

Army Sgt. David Bleak

Born in Idaho Falls, Idaho, Sgt. David Bleak was raised on a farm on the outskirts of the city, and worked as a rancher and railroad constructor. Bleak chose to work over attending school, dropped out of high school, and later joined the Army in 1950. Selected for medical duty, Bleak was shipped to Korea and served with the Medical Company 223d Infantry Regiment, 40th Infantry Division. He stood over 6 feet tall and weighed 250 pounds, and it was his sheer strength and audacious courage that saved the lives of his fellow soldiers on June 14, 1952, near Minari-gol, Korea. He was presented the Medal of Honor by President Eisenhower in October 1953.

After the war he lived in Wyoming and held various jobs, including rancher, butcher and truck driver. He eventually became a janitor at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory, where he worked his way up until his retirement in the mid-1990s as chief hot cell technician (one who disposes of spent nuclear fuel rods). For a time from the mid-70s to mid-80s, he spent time as a dairy farmer in Moore, Idaho. He died March 23, 2006, the same day as another Medal of Honor recipient, Desmond Doss.

Bleak’s citation reads, “Nearing the military crest of the hill, while attempting to cross the fire-swept area to attend the wounded, he came under hostile fire from a small group of the enemy concealed in a trench. Entering the trench he closed with the enemy, killed 2 with bare hands and a third with his trench knife. Moving from the emplacement, he saw a concussion grenade fall in front of a companion and, quickly shifting his position, shielded the man from the impact of the blast.”

Is that amazing, or what? It makes me think, this seemingly simple man just up and took care of business and then went back to his plain kind of life. I don't know why exactly, but this is the story that really stood out to me.