Giants

Kathleen Parker writes about an event in South Carolina organized for four living recipients of the Congressional Medal of Honor.

CAMDEN, S.C. — While the political class was focused on the meaning of pigs wearing lipstick, a few fortunate South Carolinians were riveted by the meaning of valor.

The occasion was a celebration of four of the state’s living recipients of the Medal of Honor — Charles Murray Jr., (Army, WWII, 1944), John Baker (Army, Vietnam, 1966), James Livingston (USMC, Vietnam, 1968) and Michael Thornton (Navy, Vietnam, 1972).

The four appeared in Camden (at an event my husband helped organize) to raise awareness and funding for the Congressional Medal of Honor Museum in Charleston, S.C., and for the Medal of Honor conventions to be held in Chicago in 2009 and Charleston in 2010.

To hear their stories, as recounted by Vice Admiral Edwin R. “Rudy” Kohn, Camden resident and retired deputy commander of the Pacific Fleet, against the backdrop of today’s political noise was to be reminded of how rare personal courage really is.

There are giants among us. Some 108 living members of one of the most exclusive rolls of honor that has ever existed. Here’s a link to the Congressional Medal of Honor Museum noted by Parker.