I met a CMH recipient Sunday

Sunday, I had one of the highest honors of my life. With my family in tow, we went to the Pentagon parking lot to see Rolling Thunder '08. We stayed for a few hours, then went to a restaurant in Crystal City, Va. In the restuaurant we pass a man sitting at the table dressed in biker gear wearing a Congressional Medal of Honor. I walked past thinking to myself, "That can't be real, as it's a crime to fake something like that." So, I walked back toward him, and said, "Sir, did you win the CMH?" He said, "Son, you don't 'win' it...you earn it." I laughed a bit nervously, of course, then saw that he had one arm. Turns out, he is the real deal: He earned his CMH in 1968 in the rice paddies of South Vietnam; he was awarded the CMH by President Lyndon B. Johnson at the White House. This American hero's name is Gary George Wetzel. Here is a piece via MSNBC.



As we were leaving, I again stopped to thank him for his service to the United States, and my two-year old son, Truman, reached out and shook his hand. It was really quite touching.



What an amazing experience.