RICHMOND, Va. — A World War II Medal of Honor winner who later made headlines for his fight to fly an American flag in his Virginia front yard, has died. Retired Army Col. Van Thomas Barfoot was 92.Read the rest here.
Barfoot gained national attention in 2009 when he fought to keep his 21-foot flagpole at his Henrico County home after the homeowners association ordered it removed and threatened to sue him...
...The Edinburg, Miss., native entered the Army in 1940. Barfoot’s Medal of Honor citation cites his “Herculean” efforts in Carano, Italy, in May 1944 when he was 25 years old, according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch (http://bit.ly/wNazQw).
According to the citation, Barfoot crawled through a minefield to a German machine gun nest, which he destroyed with a hand grenade, then took out another machine gun nest with his own machine gun before a third German machine gun crew surrendered to him. Later in the day, he borrowed a bazooka and stood before three advancing tanks, firing a shot from 75 yards that destroyed the track of the leading tank, disabling it. He then continued into enemy terrain and destroyed an abandoned German fieldpiece with a demolition charge.
“While returning to his platoon position, Sgt. Barfoot, though greatly fatigued by his Herculean efforts, assisted two of his seriously wounded men 1,700 yards to a position of safety.”
During the ordeal, Barfoot killed eight and captured 17 German soldiers.
“Sgt. Barfoot’s extraordinary heroism, demonstration of magnificent valor, and aggressive determination in the face of pointblank fire are a perpetual inspiration to his fellow soldiers,” the citation said.
He later served in the Korean War and in Vietnam, and was awarded the Purple Heart, the Silver Star and the Bronze Star, among other honors.
There are moments when I stand utterly in awe of those who have gone before us.
1 comment:
I remember reading something in seminary about the Meyers-Briggs/Personality sorter tests that were all the rage in seminary pop psychology at the time. The gist of this article was about this guy in particular. At least I am pretty sure; it has been a few years. But they were applying the Meyers Briggs to this guy, and it completely blew up the psychological profile because nothing in the guys psychological profile could explain any of his heroic feats whatsoever. In fact, it suggested the opposite, that you can't rely on those kinds of things like a clerical crystal ball because people are more than the some of their parts or personality sorters.
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