I went to Arlington National Cemetary to see my grandparents' plot and came across a very interesting plaquard in the same columbarium their remains are located. It was engraved with gold letters and the unmistakable image of the Medal of Honor was engraved on it as well. It read 'Douglas Jacobson; Major, USMC'. So in my curiousity when I returned home today I looked him up and found that his actions at Iwo Jima were more than heroic and were rather legendary. Here is his story (you have to scroll down quite far to reach the citation) he was a true American hero. If you are not familiar with the Medal of Honor it is the highest military honor an American soldier can recieve for actions above and beyond the call of duty. Most are awarded postumously to those who gave their lives saving their fellow soldiers.

http://www.medalofhonor.com/DouglasJacobson.htm

-Mike C

Mike -

Thanks fo sharing that post and link.

The men who have earned the Medal of Honor are truly a cut above the rest of us. I have had the honor and privilage of personally knowing and working with two of them and being associated with the effort to repatriate a third before he was tortured and murdered by the North Vietnamese while in captivity.

If you are interested in knowing something about these fine men, google Donald Cook, Terrence Graves and Harvey Barnum on the MOH web site.

Semper Fi,
Dave

David- Thanks for your post. Their stories are inspiring to read. It makes me proud to know that such men served our nation to the end. I think many people forget that. My generation especially. Even now we have men performing such heroic acts abroad and they are overlooked. thanks again for the post.

-Mike C

Mile -

Terry Graves and I were in the NROTC unit at Miami University together. He was one of the nicest, most squared away guys I ever met. He was a natural leader and an outstanding Marine in every way.

I worked for (then) Major Barnum when I commanded Lima Battery of 4/10 at Camp Lejeune. Major Barnum was the S-3 (Operations Officer) of 2/10 (I think it was 2/10) and Lima was often attached to them for tactical purposes. Again, he was one of the nicest guys you would ever want to meet. It was always a kick-in-the-pants for me to get to work with him.

Donald Cook was the one who I find most awe-inspiring though. I never met him. He was a POW when I cam to know of him. The stories of his ongoing resistance while a prisoner of war are the things that legends are made of. (Unfortunately, I am not sure that some of the information I was privy to has been declassified, so I can't go into some of the details here.) I did read once that he wouldn't sh_t if he thought the commies would use it for fertilizer. I do know that he tried to escape repeatedly and that he was severely tortured for his efforts.

Semper Fi,
Dave