WASHINGTON — On Feb. 15, 1951, Army Pvt. Bruno R. Orig was returning from a mission when he found his fellow soldiers under attack in what’s now known as the Battle of Chipyong-ni.
The infantryman provided first aid to his comrades wounded in the Korean War attack and began helping move those men to safety. He then took over a machine gun post and allowed a friendly platoon to pull back without a casualty. When the ground was recaptured later that day, Orig was found dead beside the machine gun, surrounded by enemy combatants he had killed.
Orig was among the Medal of Honor recipients recognized Friday by President Joe Biden in one of his last opportunities to officially acknowledge acts of selflessness and personal bravery in times of war. Biden bestowed the medal posthumously to six men and one living recipient at a White House ceremony. In a separate Oval Office ceremony closed to the news media, he awarded the Medal of Valor to eight first responders who put their own lives at risk to save others.
“These are heroes of different ranks, different positions and even different generations,” Biden said at the Medal of Honor ceremony Friday evening. “They are heroes who all went above and beyond the call of duty.”
During the Korean War, Pfc. Wataru Nakamura destroyed an enemy machine gun nest and recaptured several bunkers. He exhausted his ammunition but resumed his attack after being rearmed, and he was ultimately killed by an enemy grenade and buried in Los Angeles.
Army Cpl. Fred B. McGee is being recognized for his gallantry and intrepidity near Tang-Wan-Ni, Korea, on June 16, 1952, when he assumed command of his squad, neutralized an enemy machine gun and then sent his squad back while he helped rescue the wounded. The Ohio native died in 2020, according to news reports.
Army Pfc. Charles R. Johnson, from Millbrook, New York, was killed on June 12, 1953, after holding off Chinese forces during the Korean War. His actions saved the lives of as many as 10 soldiers.
After multiple raids on an entrenched enemy in the area of Sagimak during the Korean War, Army 1st Lt. Richard E. Cavazos stayed behind alone to evacuate five battle casualties to safety. Cavazos served more than three decades in the service, eventually attaining the rank of four-star general. The Texan died in 2018 at age 88. Fort Hood was renamed in honor of him on May 9, 2023.
After an armed helicopter crashed during the Vietnam War on June 5, 1966, Army Capt. Hugh R. Nelson Jr. from Rocky Mount, North Carolina, pulled two specialists from the aircraft, shielding one of them from enemy gunfire at the loss of his own life.
While fighting in Vietnam on May 7, 1970, then-Army Pfc. Kenneth J. David drew enemy fire away from injured comrades and onto himself, becoming wounded by a satchel charge. But David kept fighting and pulled fire away from landing Medevac helicopters, getting evacuated himself after the last helicopter landed. The Ohioan is still living.
Acknowledging his last days as president, Biden on Friday called it the greatest honor of his life to be entrusted to lead the country and “the finest military in the history of the world.”
On Friday, Biden also awarded eight people the Medal of Valor, which goes to those who have shown exceptional courage in attempting to save human lives.
The recipients included the law enforcement officials who responded to a shooter who killed six people on March 27, 2023, at The Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee.
The Nashville Police Department’s Sgt. Jeffrey Mathes, Officer Rex Engelbert and Detectives Michael Collazo, Ryan Cagle and Zachary Plese rushed to the scene and faced gunfire from the shooter. They cleared out classrooms and ultimately took down the shooter.
Biden also recognized Sgt. Tu Tran of the Lincoln, Nebraska, Police Department. On Feb. 22, 2023, Tran swam 30 feet (9 meters) into a frigid pond to rescue a woman from a submerging vehicle.
Lt. John Vanderstar, a New York City firefighter, received the Medal of Valor for rescuing a mother and child from a burning apartment on Oct. 23, 2022. Separately, New York City firefighter Brendan Gaffney was honored for braving an apartment building fire to save an unconscious child and a pregnant woman.
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