Today is Friday, May 28th, 2010; Karen's Korner #1830

A salute to several of those who serve and served our country with courage and bravery, as we celebrate Memorial Day this weekend::
 
* On Monday (May 24) at Scott Air Force Base in Illinois, 94 year-old Edward Stevens was awarded the Silver Star for Gallantry, while serving during World War II.

In June 1944, then Lt. Stevens was a B-17 pilot. He and his crew of 10 were on a mission over France when their plane was hit 151 times by anti-aircraft fire. Three of the plane's four engines failed and Stevens tried to maneuver the plane safely out of enemy territory. He successfully navigated the English Channel but could not fly the damaged plane high enough to avoid the white cliffs of Dover that tower some 300 feet above the water. In a split-second decision, he headed for the beach at the base of the cliffs. The cockpit snapped from the fuselage upon landing, but all on board survived.

Stevens remained humble through the presentation."I don't know why I should get this special medal," Stevens said after it was pinned to his shirt.
 
** In San Antonio, Texas on Tuesday, May 18th, Sgt. Jospeh L. Lollino received the Distinguished Service Cross and the Purple Heart, serving as an Army medic'during a firefight in Afghanistan..He retrieved and treated five casualties when his convoy was ambushed June 20, 2008. He drove his armored Humvee through enemy machine-gun and small-arms fire to reach the disabled vehicle, returned fire with his weapon, extracted the casualties from the vehicle and began treatment.

Despite shrapnel in his upper arm, Lollino treated four soldiers with shrapnel wounds to the neck, legs, arms and shoulder, plus a case of smoke inhalation. He loaded them into another vehicle and continued treatment as they escaped the four-kilometer-long ambush.

When Lollino received his award, he said simply, "I just wanted to do my job, fix the guys and make sure no one died, Everybody's got a family we all want to get back to."
 
** On March 18th of this year, retired Army Chief Warrant Office Phillip Daniel O'Donnell recived the Bronze Star in Arlington, Illinois for actions he took some forty years earlier as a helicopter pilot in Vietnam.

O'Donnell, who turns 70 in August, was cited for his performance as a helicopter pilot flying gun support in 1970 and 1971. Despite many adversities, he performed his duties which contributed to many successful accomplishments for the United States Army mission and for the Republic of Vietnam


"This a very emotional day," said O'Donnell after receiving the medal. "I have lung cancer (he experienced agent orange while serving in Vienam) so that makes it even more special. I don't have many days left."*
 
 
For the efforts of these three gentlemen, and hundreds and thousands of others who have served and continue to serve our country to keep the United States safe and free, we salute these brave men and women!
 
As we have heard or read on bumper stickers, "FREEDOM IS NOT FREE!" It comes with a high price tag!
 
May God bless all of our service people; we ask for God's continued blessings on America and its future!
 
* Information taken from a U.S. military website.

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