Valor Tales

Philip Conran https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/your-air-force/2019/04/17/should-this-airman-receive-the-medal-of-honor-for-laos-battle-a-congressman-thinks-so/ A congressman from California, Rep. Salud Carbajal (D), has introduced legislation authorizing the president to upgrade Air Force Colonel Philip Conran’s Air Force Cross to the Medal of Honor. Let’s explore what the colonel did that has garnered the Congressman’s attention. Enlisting in the Connecticut Air National Guard in 1953, Conran served as a motor pool dispatcher until receiving a commission through the ROTC program at Fordham University in 1958. Trained as a pilot he received his wings in 1960 and then was trained in flying helicopters. He was serving in Bermuda in 1962 when he was deployed for the Cuban Missile Crisis. In November 1968 he was deployed for a year to Nakhon Phanom Royal Thai AFB, Thailand where he flew CH-3 Jolly Green Giants in the 21st Special Operations Squadron. It was here, in the span o...

Let’s compare America to British, Canada, and Australia when it comes to military medals for combat valor and performance. The British system was used in Commonwealth countries (including Canada) up to and through World War II. This began to change as countries such as Canada, Australian, and New Zealand started to create their own systems of honors in the 1960’s.  The year 1993 saw a major change in all Commonwealth countries’ honors. The formerly overseas territories, such as Canada and Australia, fully created their own system of military awards separate from that used by Britain. Further, in Britain, the military awards system there removed distinctions of rank within the awards. Now enlisted and officers would receive the same award for the same performances. Previously, there were separate awards for officers and enlisted.  COMPARATIVE AWARDS British and Continental countries have long, complicated histories. This can make it hard for Americans (such as myse...

AMERICAN AWARDS - A Brief History America, fiercely against many European military traditions, did not have a formal system for any awards or decorations for decades after its forming. In fact, they were so anti-European, that the US Navy didn’t have the rank of admiral until the Civil War (nearly 100 years after the country’s founding) because it was too Imperial. There were two Revolutionary War-era awards however. Both were awarded in exceptionally small numbers (three awards each) and neither were awarded beyond the end of the war. The oldest, and first, American award was the Fidelity Medallion. It was awarded to the soldiers who captured British Major John Andre. Andre was famously the British point of contact for Benedict Arnold (a disaffected American general who turned traitor and gave Britain intelligence in exchange for a British generalcy). Only three men of the New York Militia received the award and it was never bestowed again. Often referred to (incorrectly) as A...

https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/your-air-force/2019/04/17/should-this-airman-receive-the-medal-of-honor-for-laos-battle-a-congressman-thinks-so/ A congressman from California, Rep. Salud Carbajal (D), has introduced legislation authorizing the president to upgrade Air Force Colonel Philip Conran's Air Force Cross to the Medal of Honor. Let's explore what the colonel did that has garnered the Congressman's attention. Enlisting in the Connecticut Air National Guard in 1953, Conran served as a motor pool dispatcher until receiving a commission through the ROTC program at Fordham University in 1958. Trained as a pilot he received his wings in 1960 and then was trained in flying helicopters. He was serving in Bermuda in 1962 when he was deployed for the Cuban Missile Crisis. In November 1968 he was deployed for a year to Nakhon Phanom Royal Thai AFB, Thailand where he flew CH-3 Jolly Green Giants in the 21st Special Operations Squadron. It was here, in the...