Jon Guttman
Verified- Military History Correspondent, Military Times
- Military History Correspondent, Federal Times
- Military History Correspondent, Defense News
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Articles by Jon Guttman
This US soldier tried to cover a retreat in Vietnam — and instead compelled the enemy to Original
On July 25, 1968, Leonard Louis Alvarado enlisted in the U.S. Army and by August 1969 he was a Specialist 4 and a rifleman in Company D, 2nd Battalion, 12th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile). Barely a year later, the California native found himself part of a small reaction force advancing through thick jungle near Duc Phong in Phuoc Long Province, in response to Vietnamese communist soldiers threatening another American platoon.
Gunfight at the Veracruz Custom House led to six Medal of Honor recipients Original
On April 9, 1914, amid the chaos of Mexico’s revolutionary conflicts, nine U.S. Navy seamen had been detained by the dictatorship of Gen. Victoriano Huerta. Although they were released on April 21, the United States learned that the steamship Ypiranga had entered the port of Veracruz with a cargo of German weaponry. In response, the U.S. Navy confiscated Ypiranga and landed an occupation force in Vera Cruz. Although the Americans hoped to avoid bloodshed, the city’s commander, Gen.
Bravery in Burma: Despite being rendered blind by the Japanese, this soldier fought on Original
After the fall of Burma (now Myanmar) to the Japanese in 1942, the United States Army fielded a contingent to fight alongside the British and Nationalist Chinese aimed toward getting it back. Although generally outnumbered and handicapped by the mountain, jungle and disease on or over which they had to operate, resourceful units such as the American Volunteer Group, or “Flying Tigers,” and Maj. Gen.
Life or death centered around a canteen for this AEF soldier Original
Heroism takes many forms in war. It may emerge amid an epic battle, or the drama may focus on a single life struggling to keep alive in a shell hole. In any case, there are choices to be made and consequences to be considered on an instant’s notice. Whichever the case, no such personal decision, however small, is inconsequential when a life hangs at the balance... in the contents of a canteen. Born on Aug.
Refusing evacuation, this Marine packed dirt into his wound and continued to fight Original
Conducted from March 19 to April 19, 1967, Operation Prairie III was one of a series of movements by the 3rd Marine Division aimed at engaging and eliminating the communist units arriving in South Vietnam’s demilitarized zone. Instead of Viet Cong guerrillas, however, the Marines would be meeting soldiers of the People’s Army of Vietnam (PAVN), more trained, disciplined and aggressive than the VC had been.
Used as an ‘individual target’ by the Germans, this Medal of Honor recipient kept up the fight Original
On Nov. 8, 1942, the United States opened a new front against Germany, Italy and Vichy France when its forces landed in Morocco and Algeria. At the same time, the British First and Eighth armies advanced against the receding Axis forces from the east. On March 10, 1943, an ailing Field Marshal Erwin Rommel was evacuated to Germany, leaving Afrika Korps under the command of Generaloberst Hans-Jürgen von Arnim.
This WWI soldier saved two men from a burning tank with his bare hands Original
When the American Expeditionary Forces joined the Allied armies on the Western Front in World War I, there was one condition upon which their commander, Gen. John Pershing, insisted. He wanted the AEF to fight as an army, not a collection of separated units scattered among the Allied armies. For the most part, he got his way by the time the United States’ First Army was launched against the Germans at Saint-Mihiel in September 1918.
The only Navy Seabee awarded the nation’s highest award for valor Original
Fought on the night of June 9-10, 1965, the Battle of Dong Xoai was, as was often the case in the Vietnam War, hard to pin down as to the winner. One thing is certain, however. It produced two Medals of Honor — and one had the unique distinction of being a Seabee. Marvin Glen Shields was born in Port Townsend, Washington, on Dec. 30, 1939. After high school his family moved in 1958 to Hyder, Alaska, where he worked in a gold mining project for the Mineral Basin Mining Company. On Jan.
Overrun and alone, this Medal of Honor recipient gave his life so his men could escape Original
Born in Newgulf, near Corpus Christi, Texas, on Nov. 6, 1924, Michael Castaneda Pena chose his calling as a man of action early in life. He didn’t complete the sixth grade, but in 1940, after lying about his age, he persuaded his mother to sign a release allowing him to enlist at the young age of 16. Mike, as his comrades-in-arms universally called him, spent World War II fighting in the Pacific and helping to liberate the Philippines.
Facing death 275 feet beneath the sea, this pioneering naval diver earned the Medal of Honor Original
In March 1915, the Great War was spreading like a plague across Europe, Asia and Africa, but the United States of America was still uninvolved and desperately striving to keep out of it. While the menace of German submarines were becoming a growing threat in the Atlantic Ocean, nothing could be farther away from the U.S. Navy submarine F-4 (SS-23) as it performed maneuvers off Honolulu, Hawaii.
Meet the first pilot to receive the Medal of Honor flying the ‘Whistling Death’ Original
World War II in the Pacific produced a remarkable 10 fighter pilots of the United States Marine Corps who were awarded the Medal of Honor. Aside from Captain Henry T. Elrod at Wake Island, they all earned them in or around the Solomon Islands. Among them was the first to achieve ace status in a new entry to the USMC arsenal, one with which his name would be associated: Kenneth Walsh and the Vought F4U-1 Corsair. Born in Brooklyn, New York, on Nov.
Competing with Dick Bong to be WWII’s top ace this pilot met a fateful end Original
“On 7 January 1945, while leading a voluntary fighter sweep over Negros Island, he risked an extremely low altitude in an attempt to save a fellow flier from attack, crashed and was reported missing in action.” This was the last of several citations summarizing the deeds that added up to a Medal of Honor for Maj. Thomas McGuire Jr. It also chronicles a culmination of ambition and hubris that ended the brilliant career of the second-ranking fighter pilot in the United States air services.
‘I did that until I ran out of gas’: An American advisor and his MoH actions in Vietnam Original
The Vietnam War involved all manner of fighters, the quality of which varied on both sides. The communists ranged from local Viet Cong guerrillas to professional People’s Army of Vietnam (PAVN) soldiers and between them, VC trained in the northerners’ light infantry tactics.
During WWI this sailor saved his fellow mate from noxious toilet fumes - earning him the Medal of Honor Original
Little is known of Wilhelm Smith’s background, save that he was born on April 10, 1870, in a German Empire that would formally unite in the following year. Since then, he emigrated to the United States and enlisted in the U.S. Navy. By January 1916, he was serving as a gunner’s mate third class aboard the battleship New York (BB-34), one of the most up-to-date and powerful warships of its kind.
A Medal of Honor recipient rescued a downed pilot in WWI. The airman’s identity remained a mystery - until now. Original
War has a way of changing the lives of its participants. Sometimes, it puts the main actor through a moment of decision that leads to an extraordinary feat. In the case of Ralyn Hill, it involved rushing where the average soldier would fear to tread, simply to retrieve a complete stranger from the jaws of death. Hill was born in Lindenwood, Illinois, on May 6, 1899.
In the bloody, urban combat to liberate Manila, this airborne ‘Angel’ sacrificed all Original
Airborne troops are extremely vulnerable when they are descending in their parachutes. To compensate, their intense combat training is designed to take charge from the moment their boots touch the ground... whatever that ground may be. One of the many cases in point is that of PFC. Manuel Pérez Jr. Born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, on March 3, 1923, Pérez was raised in Chicago, Illinois, after the death of his mother, Tiburcia, when he was just two years old.
The corpsman who gave all on ‘Bunker Hill’ in Korea Original
Marines, whose primary, universal purpose is to kill, reserve an ungrudging respect for “Doc,” eschewing weapons but ever ready to sacrifice his own life to save those around him. On some occasions, however, a corpsman breaks the Hippocratic Oath by entering to combat. On one of those rare occasions the medic in question was compelled by extenuating circumstances and the weapons to which he resorted were supplied by the enemy. Edward Clyde Benfold was born in Staten Island on Jan. 15, 1931.
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