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Decades Later, Vietnam Soldiers Get Medal of Honor (today)
By JOSH LEDERMAN Associated Press
Two Vietnam War soldiers — one still living, one killed in action — received the Medal of Honor in a White House ceremony on Monday, nearly 50 years after they threw themselves into harm's way to protect their brothers in combat. President Barack Obama praised the soldiers as patriots whose sacrifices had never been fully realized by a nation divided over the legacy of the Vietnam War.
Army Command Sgt. Maj. Bennie G. Adkins survived his injuries. Army Spc. Donald P. Sloat did not. It took an act of Congress to allow each to receive the medal so many decades after the fact.
"Over the decades, our Vietnam veterans didn't always receive the thanks and respect they deserved. That's a fact," Obama said. "But as we have been reminded again today, our Vietnam vets were patriots and are patriots."
"You served with valor, you made us proud, and your service is with us for eternity," Obama told the audience, which included Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel — himself a Vietnam veteran — and others who received the Medal of Honor after coming home from the rice paddies of Vietnam.
...
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/civil-war-officer-receive-medal-honor-25504908
Behind the scenes loook at a Medal of Honor presentation:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2014/09/15/heres-what-medal-honor-presentation-white-house-looks
