Long Wait Ends This Week As Swenson Receives Medal of Honor: It’s sadly fitting that William Swenson’s Medal of Honor ceremony at the White House on Tuesday has been overshadowed by the government shutdown and the looming debt ceiling crisis. That’s because Swenson’s heroism at the Battle of Ganjgal in September 2009 has already been overshadowed by the mistakes of his superiors and bureaucratic delays. The former soldier waited more than four years for his recognition, much to the chagrin of his friends and military advocates. Swenson, who left the Army in 2011, is the sixth living Medal of Honor recipient for action in Afghanistan, and the second for that fight in the Ganjgal Valley. Former Marine Dakota Meyer was awarded the medal two years ago for his part of that fight, dodging gunfire in another part of the steep terrain before meeting up with Swenson for the final push against the enemy. Swenson declined media interviews in the lead-up to the White House ceremony and has been mostly silent since the battle. In an Army release, he called the medal an honor for “those I served with” and “my family and my teammates.” Lawmakers and his unitmates have done the talking for him, arguing that his bravery and valor that day deserve the highest military honors. When Meyer received his award, he publicly lobbied for Swenson to be similarly recognized, calling the oversight “ridiculous.” “If it wasn’t for him,” Meyer told the Military Times in 2011, “I wouldn’t be alive today.”
Posted on: Tue, 15 Oct 2013 01:22:02 +0000
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