Brief History of Medal of Honor and a Hero: Sammy Davis

Yesterday about 25 students and 6 adults attend the first Medal of Honor class in a 2-part series which will culminate with a trip to the Reagan Library in Thousand Oaks to meet four Medal of Honor recipients who will be speaking directly to junior and senior high schools around Southern California.  We were fortunate enough to be selected in a lottery and my odds were good since I had partaken in the Reagan Library's teacher training for the Portrait of Valor curriculum they conducted last October.  I'm very excited to introduce our homeschooled students to this living history and meet true heroes, the best we have in our nation!

I gave them a brief history of the medal of honor, that it dates back to 1861, given to men and one woman in the Civil War.  Back then the requirements were not as stringent so even the pallbearers of Lincoln's casket received one.  Charles Lindberg even received one for his aviation accomplishment, and then they tightened up the qualifications.  One must be in active military, in a conflict and perform an inconspicuous act of valor, above and beyond the call of duty, putting his own life at risk for the sake of others, and there must be a witness who recommends them for this medal.  Recipients prefer not to be called winners because it is nothing they could have earned or tried for, and they consider their over and above the call of duty just doing their job.   They wear the medal for all those who didn't have a witness and those who didn't have the privilege of returning home.  As, Sammy Davis says in his video, "if there was one of these given that night there should be at least forty-two of them because if any one of us had not done their job, there would be none of us alive today."

On that note, I encourage you to watch the short, 12-minute, documentary-style interview under the Vignettes tab above or click here.  Sammy Davis served in Vietnam and I think you'll be surprised and touched by what he gained and learned from his experience.  You can read more about him after watching the video above at MSNBC. A little movie trivia for you:  The footage of Sammy Davis receiving his Medal of Honor by Linden Johnson was used in the movie Forrest Gump.  When Forrest Gump receives a Medal of Honor for his service in Vietnam, they used Sammy Davis's real footage with Tom Hank's (Forrest Gump) face on his body.  

After viewing it and let me know what you think, and have your kids reply in the comments section of this post with what stood out to them about this video.  What did he say or what in his story demonstrates a character trait that represents the Medal of Honor which are Courage, Sacrifice, Commitment, Integrity, Citizenship and Patriotism?