Feral Jundi

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Cool Stuff: William F Cody Medal Of Honor Headstone, Colorado

   I found this at the Home of Heroes website, which lists all the states who have graves of Medal of Honor recipients. Low and behold, the famous civilian scout William Cody rests in Golden, Colorado. Pretty cool, and something to check out for you contractors and history buffs that live in Colorado or just passing through. –Matt

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William Cody

Born:  February 16, 1846 at Scott County, IA

Entered Service in the US Army from Fort McPherson, NE

Earned The Medal of Honor During the Indian Campaigns For heroism April 26, 1872 at Loupe Fork of Platte River, NE

Died:  January 10, 1917 at the age of 70

     In the spring of 1872 a small party of Indians made a dash on McPherson station, about five miles from the fort, killing two or three men and running off quite a large number of horses. Civilian Scout William Cody guided a cavalry detachment in seeking out the responsible party, and upon finding their camp near the Loupe Fork of the Platte River, scouted the emplacement with six soldiers. After finding a small enemy patrol, concerned that they might escape, Cody led the six soldiers in an immediate attack though he was outnumbered two-to-one. The soldiers killed six of the thirteen Indians, the sound of the battle drawing a relief force of cavalry that then put the remainder to flight. For this action which resulted in the destruction of a dangerous party of hostile raiders, William Cody and three soldiers who fought with him in the battle were awarded Medals of Honor for “Gallantry in action.” The three cavalrymen cited were: Sergeant John Foley, Private William Strayer, and First Sergeant Leroy Vokes.

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

History: Contractor Buffalo Bill Cody–Congressional Medal of Honor Holder

    Yep, it’s true.  He is by every definition of the word, a civilian contractor and he is a Medal of Honor recipient.  Matter of fact, he, along with several other famous wild west legends were contractors as well. Men like Robert Denbow, David L. Payne, and Wild Bill Hickok were all civilian Scouts hired by the US Army to hunt and kill Indians during that long war for the west.  Not to mention the hundreds of Indians hired by the US Army to be Scouts.

   What they paid these guys back then was interesting too.  Cody was getting paid I believe 5 dollars a day, versus 12 dollars a month for the enlisted man in the Army. (sound familiar?)  In essence, Cody and the rest of the mountain men Scouts employed by the US Army were well compensated and highly valued contractors back in the day. I am not sure how much they paid the Indian Scouts, but I am sure they paid pretty well for that too.  Scouts were certainly an asset back then, and worth every penny.

    On a side note, I have been reading the book Indian Wars, and have been very interested in that war’s activities.  Especially how the tactics evolved over the course of many years of fighting, and how important the use of Indian and Mountain Man Scouts were to that effort. Arguably, the US Army back in the day, would never have defeated the Native American without these civilian contractor Scouts.

    That war went through the same typical ‘arc of learning’ that we painfully go through in every war, and in the beginning it was all about using conventional forces to combat guerilla forces.  We learned slowly, after years of combat with the Native American, that conventional warfare like that, just doesn’t work against light and nimble guerilla forces.

    In this war, we got small and mobile, and used Indian Scouts that hated a rival Indian tribe, and it worked.  It reminds me a lot of how the Selous Scouts operated in Rhodesia, by using captured and turned guerillas for operations.  General George Crook and Kit Carson is definitely worth some more investigation, if you are interested in the Scout concept as it was applied during the Indian Wars.

     Also, thanks to Cannoneer#4 for all the enlightening input about Scouts during the Indian Wars on prior posts.  I learn a lot from ‘you’ the readership, and your input is highly valued. Cheers. –Matt

Edit: Also, I mean no disrespect to my Native American readership.  This is purely a study on military tactics and military history, and the use of contractors in past wars.  But along those lines, it was a war and it does deserve some study so we can learn from it.  I also have great respect for Crazy Horse and Geronimo, and we can learn a lot about how they conducted operations as well.

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Buffalo Bill Cody

Buffalo Bill Cody – Congressional Medal of Honor Holder

By Carl Benjamin

Earlier this year I did an article for Associated Content on Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show and the many characters that performed with him. Over the course of my research, I discovered that Buffalo Bill Cody was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. This is something that I never knew about or even understood why and how he received it.

William Cody was born in 1846 in Iowa. Quite a bit is known about young Bill Cody. After the death of his brother, the family moved to Kansas. His family was often persecuted because they believed in fighting anti-slavery. His father was stabbed while giving an anti-slavery speech. He never fully recovered. At the age of 11, Cody took a job with a freight company as a “boy extra”. His job was to ride up and down the wagon train delivering messages. He later joined Johnson’s Army as a scout. His job was to help guide the Army in Utah. It is here that he got his reputation as an ‘Indian fighter.” Sometime between the age of 12 and 14 he killed his first Indian. At the age of 14 he signed on with the “Pony Express.” Before he became a rider, he helped build the stations and corrals and took care of the livestock. In 1863 , after the death of his mother, he enlisted with the Union Army and entered the Civil War.(In 1863 he enlisted as a teamster with the rank of Private in Company H, 7th Kansas Cavalry and served until discharged in 1865. From 1868 until 1872 Cody was employed as a scout by the United States Army.)

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Sunday, September 27, 2009

Military News: Medal of Honor Posthumously Awarded to Army Sgt. 1st Class Jared Monti

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Military News: White House Confirms Medal of Honor

Filed under: Afghanistan,Military News — Tags: , , , , — Matt @ 3:36 AM

   Good deal, and glad to hear this was approved.  I know there are more cases of heroism in this war, and the public needs to know about that. We need to recognize these individuals that gave the enemy hell, and in most cases, gave everything they got by paying the ultimate sacrifice.  Which makes me think, the military and the White House would be well served if they for once gave the Medal of Honor to a living hero, as opposed to just the dead.  Something to think about and rest in peace Sgt. Jared Monti. –Matt

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 Jared Monti

White House confirms Medal of Honor

By Gina Cavallaro

July 28, 2009

Sgt. 1st Class Jared Monti, a fire support specialist who was killed June 21, 2006, in Afghanistan, will receive the Medal of Honor for his actions in combat.

The announcement was made by the White House in a news release Friday morning. The award will be presented to Monti’s parents in a Sept. 17 ceremony at the White House.

The soldier’s father, Paul Monti, told Army Times on Thursday that President Obama had called him Tuesday evening at his home in Raynham, Mass.

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Friday, April 25, 2008

News: McGinnis to Receive Medal of Honor

Filed under: Iraq,News — Tags: , , — Matt @ 7:22 PM

McGinnis to receive Medal of Honor

By Michelle Tan – Staff writer
Posted : Friday Apr 25, 2008 16:54:10 EDT
  
Spc. Ross McGinnis, who was killed Dec. 4, 2006, in Iraq when he smothered a grenade with his body, will receive the Medal of Honor, sources told Army Times.

McGinnis, 19, is the second soldier to receive the nation’s highest valor award for actions while serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Sgt. 1st Class Paul Ray Smith, who was killed April 4, 2003, fighting off insurgents in a fierce firefight south of Baghdad, was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor two years after he died.

McGinnis, of 1st Platoon, C Company, 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, is credited with saving the lives of four fellow soldiers.

On Dec. 4, 2006, McGinnis was manning the turret in the last Humvee of a six-vehicle patrol in Adhamiyah in northeast Baghdad when an insurgent threw a grenade from the roof of a nearby building.

“Grenade!” yelled McGinnis, who was manning the vehicle’s M2 .50-caliber machine gun.

McGinnis, facing backwards because he was in the rear vehicle, tried to deflect the grenade but it fell into the Humvee and lodged between the radios. (more…)

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