Makes my blood boil!

[Bryan Wood]

I've been sitting here reading about WWII aces having just finished watching Dogfights on the history channel. I started out reading about Pappy Boyington after stories about the AVG for the last hour on the TV and made my way to Joe Foss next. I came accross this story which is apparently true and not one of these internet created urban myths. As stated in the title, it makes my blood boil. How sad that this hero could have something like this happen to him.



"They just kept passing it around there were eight or nine or ten of them who handled it before it was over," he said.
"They had found it in my pocket at the airport, and they thought it was suspicious. It's shaped like a star, and they were looking at the metal edges of it, like it was a weapon. I asked for it back, but they kept handing it to each other and inspecting it. I was told to move to a separate area.

"I told them ? just turn it over. The engraving on the back explains everything. But they thought they must have something potentially dangerous here.

"I told them exactly what it was ? I said, 'That's my Congressional Medal of Honor.?"

The man relating that story was retired Gen. Joe Foss, 86. His experience last month in Arizona at the international airport in Phoenix ? may be the ultimate symbol of the out-of-kilter times we are going through. We are so afraid of terrorists in our midst that what happened to Foss is not only believable, but perhaps even inevitable:

The Congressional Medal of Honor will be taken from its recipient because it looks vaguely ominous.

I spoke with Foss because I wanted to hear it from him directly. He told me that he holds no animosity about the incident ? "I'm just as interested in defeating the terrorists as anyone is, I promise you that" and that he is mostly sad that no one knew what the Medal of Honor was.

Foss was awarded the medal by President Franklin D. Roosevelt during World War II after shooting down 26 enemy planes as a Marine fighter pilot in solo combat in the Pacific. He grew up in South Dakota ? after the war he would become governor of that state ? and took flying lessons as a young man, then went to war.

He lives in Scottsdale, Ariz., and when he travels he is patted down in airports instead of going through the metal detectors, because of a heart pacemaker. At the airport in Phoenix, he said, he was being searched manually and he put his jacket through the X-ray machine. A couple of things caught the attention of the screeners ? rightly so.

Foss has a key chain made out of a dummy bullet, with a hole drilled through it to make it evident it is harmless; he also carries a small knife/file with the Medal of Honor Society's insignia on it. The screeners took both of them from Foss ? traveling during these nervous days with items that look like bullets, or with even a small knife, will, and should, invite scrutiny. Even if you're 86. Even if you're a war hero.

That's not what frustrated him. The screeners, he said, allowed him to mail the key chain and the little knife back to his home from the airport. But for 45 minutes, he estimated, he was passed from person to person, made to remove his boots and tie and belt and hat three different times, and prevented from boarding his flight (he was eventually allowed on) because the security personnel, he said, had misgivings about his Medal of Honor.

(America West Airlines, in whose terminal in Phoenix the incident allegedly took place, said through a spokeswoman shortly after the misunderstanding that the airline's objective is to ensure safety and security for all passengers and employees.)

"I want you to know," Foss told me, "that I don't go around wearing my Medal of Honor, or carrying it with me. The only reason I had it with me on this flight was that I was supposed to give a speech to a class at the United States Military Academy at West Point, and I thought the medal was something the cadets might be interested in seeing."

I asked him what he remembered about being presented the Congressional Medal of Honor. "I was right fresh out of combat when I was called to the White House," he said. "FDR was behind his desk, and he pinned the medal on my uniform. He said it was for actions above and beyond the call of duty.

"I was nervous, being in the presence of the president. I think I may have been more nervous there than I was in combat. My wife and mother were with me ? it was quite a day. I think President Roosevelt called me 'young feller.'"

After the White House ceremony, Foss had his photograph taken with the medal ? the nation's highest military honor for valor in action ? on his uniform. That photo was the full front cover of Life magazine, the issue of June 7, 1943; the cover caption was: "Captain Foss, U.S.M.C. America's No. 1 Ace."

And now, almost 60 years later, the Medal of Honor was being handed from one skeptical security screener to another in the Phoenix airport, while Foss, at 86, took his boots and belt off as ordered.

"I wasn't upset for me," he said. "I was upset for the Medal of Honor, that they just didn't know what it even was. It represents all of the guys who lost their lives ? the guys who never came back. Everyone who put their lives on the line for their country. You're supposed to know what the Medal of Honor is."

[jimpappas]

Bryan,

Joe Foss died in Jan 2003 so how could this have happened to him last month?

I think it may be a "myth" after all.

Sorry

[tonyjohnson]

I think the article was written a month after the incident, before the death of Gen. Foss. I read about it some time ago.

The article first appeared in 2002

http://homeofheroes.com/news/archive...0100_foss.html

[KTM520guy]

Me too! I feel a vein about pop right now! Many, many bad things should happen to those screeners. Starting with the loss of their jobs. Back to flipping burgers for those people. Especially for not even knowing what it was. How can they live with themselves? Any man(or woman) who has been givin a CMH is beyond reproach in my book. No one else has stood tall in the face of danger like they have.

[N395V]

Originally Posted by jimpappas

Bryan,

Joe Foss died in Jan 2003 so how could this have happened to him last month?

I think it may be a "myth" after all.

Sorry

The Story was correct the date is incorrect.

Joe Foss Look Here

[jimpappas]

If ANY federal employee doesn't know what the Medal of Honor looks like maybe they SHOULD!

It blows me away that it could be possible but then again we have Paris Hilton too

Maybe we should, oh nevermind, I guess being ex military I just don't understand how someone could be that "out of knowledge"?

God Bless, Merry Christmas and Semper Fi to my Marine buddies too!

[Ironflight]

Snopes (The Urban Legends Reference Page) says it's true...but it was a few years ago...

http://www.snopes.com/military/medal.htm

And sad...

[Bob Axsom]

I would guess that MOST of the US population does not know what the Congressional Medal of Honor looks like. If you have ever stood guard duty you know the General Orders (there were 11 when I had to memorize them) and if you are going to perform a security job you have to be skeptical. Those people that are at the tip of the spear so to speak are usually the least paid, respected and experienced. They are tested by the general public and their own organization. Once as a young 16 year old that had lied about my age to get into the 140th AAA Batalion, Automatic Weapons Self Propelled, 40th Infantry Division, California National Guard, I was on guard Duty at the motor pool at night in Fort Hunter Liggett during summer encampment. I had been in High School ROTC for two years and wanted to be a career military man (quit High School and joined the Air Force at 17 - I did go back to school at night and earned two Bachelor and one Master degrees over a 14 year span) and I was very concientious. As I walked my post with my M1 carbine a man approached and I recognized him as a particular Captain in our unit. I chalenged him anyway because that is what I was supposed to do. When he properly identified himself (and I knew who he was) I relaxed and he asked to inspect my weapon... I thought as hard as my 16 year old mind could, I recognizing the conflicting situation I was in and I yielded to the rule that says an officer's stated request is to be taken as a command and it is not necessary for the officer to state that it is a direct order before compliance. I gave him my gun and immediately he chewed me out and told me in no uncertain terms to NEVER surrender my weapon to anyone when on guard duty. You simply can't win in some situations like this.

I know what the Congressional Medal of Honor looks like as well as the Silver Star and Bronze Star as far as the general configuration of the associated ribbons Star and stripe patterns and colors are concerned. In the 1940s I don't know what the presentation package looked like but the one I see nowadays looks like this:
[IMG][/IMG]
If it was in something like this it may have been easier to accept by the security troops (they are people too you know). If he still had the neckband attached it would be more broadly recognized. If it had been reduced to the metal portion without the ribbon I doubt that many people would recognize it. It is a bad situation and without being there it is impossible to know exactly what happened. It is possible that the personnel involved wanted to steal the medal and it is possible that they were just trying to do their job the best they could. These kinds of unfortunate conflicts happen all the time and we should be thankful the we can climb in our RV and solve many of our transportation needs.

Bob Axsom

[N62XS]

I first met General Foss, in April, 1990, at the NRA HQ. He was the President of the organizaton. for the record he was the first CO of VMF115 and later the First Commisioner of the AFL(American Footbal League) He and I were working together for a book publisher on a book about Marine Corps Aviation. This meeting would lead to a friendship that lasted nearly 13 years. Joe was a very smart and wise man. I could go on and on about my subsequent visits with him, the war stories and the Pappy stories, but for the purposes of this thread, I'll keep it to why I believe this story to be true. Joe was a casual guy that would tell you no matter what the situation, "Do the right thing". He had an understanding of people that enabled him to comfortably befriend everyone, from Presidents to plumbers. He simply knew how security people respond to conflict and would not cause problems that prevented him from getting to his destination.

Read this interview:

http://archives.cnn.com/2002/US/02/27/war.hero.cnna/

Many of us that have had the pleaseure to call General Foss friend know that he is in a bette place, but we all miss him deeply. It is a rare man that can touch as many lives and serve his fellow man in a scant 86 years. One of the greatest Americans to ever live and a role model to all. Buy your kids his biography for Christmas.

[tonyjohnson]

As far as I am concerned, anyone who has been awarded the Medal of Honor should be allowed to bring a loaded shotgun onto an airplane.

They have demonstrated that they are prepared to defend America even if it cost them their life and have the ability to do so !