Two MOH
Recipients
Passed Away in November

Jefferson DeBlanc (USMC)
Silvestre S. Herrera (USA)

Two World War heroes passed away four days apart in late November. Marine Corps Medal of Honor Recipient Jefferson DeBlanc died in Louisiana on Thanksgiving Day, November 22. Four days later on November 26 Army Medal of Honor Recipient Silvestre Herrera passed away in Glendale, Arizona. Their loss leaves us with only 107 living recipients of our Nation's highest award for military valor.

JEFFERSON DeBLANC
A Louisiana native and WWII ACE, DeBlanc earned the Medal of Honor for actions during an air raid against the Japanese in the Solomon Islands on January 31, 1943, as the leader of six planes that provided air cover. Flying an F4F Grumman Wildcat, he downed two Japanese float planes and one fighter before returning for the naval base at Henderson Field. He then spotted two Japanese planes climbing up behind the bombers. His entire group was low on fuel, so he ordered his squadron to return while he personally attacked and shot down the two enemy aircraft, knowing he would likely not have enough fuel to return safely. His own F4F was so badly shot up that he parachuted into the ocean, where he swam all night to reach Kolombarangara Island. Once there, he used a Japanese uniform stolen from a barge and traveled incognito at night to get closer to American forces. He was later picked up by a Navy float plane and returned to his squadron. After the war he returned to St. Martinville, LA where he was a school teacher and became an administrator. He later retired from the Marine Corps Reserve in 1972.  

SILVESTRE S. HERRERA
Every Medal of Honor story is unique and inspiring, but few as challenging to stereo-type and prejudice as that of Silvestre Herrera, the ONLY MAN in history to receive BOTH the Medal of Honor and the Mexican equivalent. Silvestre grew up in Arizona unaware that he was an ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT and that the man who was raising him was NOT his biological father. He learned the truth on the day in 1944 when he received his draft notice. He was still studying for his U.S. Citizenship when, on March 15, 1945, near Merzwiller, France, he ignored devastating wounds that blew both legs off below the knees to pin down an enemy machine gun nest that had halted the advance of his platoon. Silvestre once told me with a laugh, one of the biggest challenges the Army faced after his heroism was to hurry up and get him his American citizenship before President Truman Presented him the Medal of Honor. After the war, he worked as an artisan, crafting leather, and lived a quiet, private life. You can read Silvestre's inspiring story HERE.

Jefferson DeBlanc will be buried at St. Michael Cemetery in his home town of St. Martinsville, Louisiana. Funeral mass will be for Silvestre Herrera at 11:30 a.m. December 8 at Church of St. Thomas More, 6180 W. Utopia Road, in Glendale, Arizona. Burial will follow at Resthaven Park Cemetery in Glendale.

 

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DATABASE OF
Military Awards
Legislation Introduced

Colorado Congressman John T. Salazar, who introduced and successfully pass the Stolen Valor Act in the last Congress, has now introduced the follow-up legislation to that landmark bill. HR 3769, called the Military Valor Roll of Honor Act of 2007, is now in the House Armed Services Committee and enjoys a total of 41-Bi-Partisan co-sponsors.

This bill, if passed by Congress and signed by the President, would require the Department of Defense to digitize all of the (quickly degrading) citations for ALL MILITARY AWARDS, for all branches of service and in all wars, and make the names of the award recipients and the citations for their awards available in a Publicly Assessable database. That means, if you got a Bronze Star or Air Medal even, your name and citation would be listed and preserved for history.

WHY IS THIS NEEDED?
Just last week I received an email from a Veterans Affairs Counselor in Dallas, Texas, advising me that he was working with the widow of a recently deceased WWII veteran. He advised that the widow wanted the text "Distinguished Service Cross" engraved on the headstone, but a search of the veteran's discharge papers did not validate the award. Frankly, I think that the legitimacy of the award was already pretty well debunked when that employee emailed me while also noting, "The Army doesn't have any list of legitimate DSC recipients." I advised that employee that indeed the man in question DID receive the DSC, and gave him the G.O. number under which it was published. If not for MY OWN database, this American hero would have been denied his proper remembrance. (Furthermore, had he applied for burial at Arlington, this "forgotten DSC recipient" might have been denied.)

This is just one of multiple cases like this I have encountered. I have tried to do what DoD should have done all along, properly record and preserve the records of our decorated heroes, but as one man alone I have limited myself to the top two levels of awards, and recently expanded to include the Silver Star. It has been a ten-year project, with many more needed to complete just that small portion, but I believe if I can digitize the top three levels alone with little access to records and virtually no funding, DoD should be able to do them ALL--not just the top awards, but ALL awards. 

AMERICANS FORGOTTEN HEROES NEED YOUR HELP!! We need all who believe such a database needs to be done, not just to expose phony heroes (which it will do), but more importantly to preserve the history of our REAL heroes. I would rather have a dozen phonies honored for unearned awards, than see ONE LEGITIMATE HERO forgotten because our military failed to preserve the paperwork.

PLEASE--call or email your Representatives in the U.S. Congress and URGE THEM to sign on as a co-sponsor of HR 3769. You can download a WORD document with talking points on this bill HERE. No matter WHERE you live, we need you to get your Congressman or Congresswoman behind this bill, but are TWO VERY KEY PEOPLE we need to TARGET in the HOUSE-
Congressman Ike Skelton (Missouri) - Chairman of the Armed Services Committee
Congresswoman Susan Davis (California) - Chairwoman of the Sub Committee
(Congresswoman Davis is ESPECIALLY critical, so all you folks out there in the San Diego area, please put the heat on.) THE FOLLOWING MEMBERS of the Sub-Committee to which the bill is assigned are also "high priority targets:"
ARKANSAS - Vic Snyder
CALIFORNIA - Loretta Sanchez
NORTH CAROLINA - Walter B. Jones
NEW HAMPSHIRE - Carol Shea-Porter
NEW YORK -  John M. McHugh
RHODE ISLAND - James R. Langevin
SOUTH CAROLINA - Joe Wilson
VIRGINIA - Thelma D. Drake

I have begun a series of pages (with much more to come) to appraise visitors on the nature of this problem and how we hope to correct it. Please visit our pages at the link below, and please pass it on to your friends. 

(NOTE: The information that we are requesting be included in this database will NOT violate any privacy laws--we ask only that the database include that information which is already available to the public through an FOIA (Freedom of Information Act Request).

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Doug Sterner's 
NEW BOOK
NOW AVAILABLE

Over the last several years a couple of different publishers have approached me about printing the stories from my web site in book formant. I have always advised that the ONLY WAY I would consider that would be as long as they did not object to my keeping the stories in the web site as well. I wanted to insure that the history of our heroes would be readily available to students and others who need information quickly, or who can not afford to go out and buy a book. Ultimately, most of these publishers backed away after hearing this noting that the web stories would hurt book sales--"Why would people buy the book if they can read it free online."

Last year Gary Toyn, author of an excellent biography on MOH recipient George Whalen and Publisher for American Legacy Media approached me on the same topic. Mr. Toyn was not dismayed by the fact I wanted to keep the stories free online, and has embarked on a multi-year, multi-book program of publishing my stories. The first is now available. Based on my web series and titled "Go For Broke," it is now available in large paperback format from www.americanlegacymedia.com for $15.95. (It is also available on Amazon.com if you prefer to deal with them.)

If you want an autographed copy, please send me a stamped, self-addressed envelope with instructions on how you want your book published. I have printed some attractive "From the Desk of Doug Sterner" self-adhesive labels on which I can write your requested message and sign and return it to you to stick on the inside cover.

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Speaking of BOOKS, Medal of Honor Recipient Frank Herda recently sent me a copy of his own NEW BOOK, "CUP OF DEATH." This is NOT one of your typical Medal of Honor books about war, valor, and personal remembrances. This is a fiction work in the genre of the "Harry Potter" series, targeted primarily at 8 - 12 year old children, but an enjoyable read for adults as well. Here is a different kind of Medal of Honor book you can add to your collection (autographed of course by the author).

For More information visit Frank Herda's Website.

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You can download (in MS WORD) a full-color book containing the citations for the top two levels of these awards  for heroism in Afghanistan or Iraq. This FREE book also includes photos of each of the recipients.  A similar book containing names, citations and photos of the GWOT Silver Star recipients is being planned. We have obtained all citations for awards to Navy and Marine Corps personnel, and are simply awaiting citations for Army and Air Force recipients. Initially I had planned to release this book on April 1, but postponed it to include these other citations.

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SITE NEWS

WWII DSC CITATIONS GOING ONLINE

Since I began adding the citations for the DSC, Navy Cross, and Air Force Cross, one of the most common questions I have been asked is WHEN the WWII DSC citations would be posted. To date, of the nearly 24,000 awards for the TOP LEVELS of US Military Awards, I've been able to post more than 18,000. Primarily I need only about 1,500 (out of nearly 7,000) Navy Cross citations to finish those, and nearly all of them are WWII awards.

The WWII DSC citations are my most unfinished work, comprising some 4,000 citations yet to be located and typed. Beginning on December 7, I will start posting the WWII citations I've compiled, and a brief synopsis for those I've not yet found. The listing will comprise as complete (estimated at 99%) of all WWII DSC Awards as is presently available anywhere.

On that note, the key to finishing these is FUNDING. Virtually ALL of the needed citations (Both Navy Cross and DSC) are available in Washington, D.C., but I have been able to get them only by purchasing them from friends who have themselves invested thousands of dollars to copy these General Orders or Navy Yard Cards. This means that for as little as about $5,000, this area could be completed and I can turn my full attention to continuing to compile and post Silver Star citations. For your contribution of $100, I can acquire between 75 and 100 citations for heroes whose stories might otherwise become lost. Please consider helping me to finish the work on the DSC and Navy Cross citations by sending whatever gift you can.

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The Filing Cabinet Archived Stories from the news...Past and Present Much can be learned when we peruse some of the stories and articles published by newspapers and magazines through the years.  We have begun compiling some of these stories from our files, as well as from articles sent to us by others.  Click on the filing cabinet at left to enjoy this new and quickly growing feature.

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