Jack Jacobs

Jack Jacobs is a retired colonel of the United States Army. Jacobs, who entered military service through Rutgers ROTC, earned the Medal of Honor for exceptional heroism on the battlefields of Vietnam. He also holds three Bronze Stars and two Silver Stars. He was an adviser to a Vietnamese infantry battalion when it came under a devastating fire that disabled the commander. He saved the lives of a U.S. adviser and 13 allied soldiers.

 

Later, Jacobs served on the faculty of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and the National War College in Washington, D.C. After retirement, he founded and was chief operating officer of Auto Finance Group, Inc. As a managing director of Bankers Trust Co., he led Global Investment Management to $2.2 billion in assets and later co-founded a similar business for Lehman Brothers.

 

Jacobs is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and is a director of the Medal of Honor Foundation. He is also a military analyst for NBC/MSNBC.

 

In Oct 2008, the Penguin Group published COL Jacobs’ memoir, “If Not Now, When?: Duty and Sacrifice In America’s Time of Need” , coauthored with New York Times best-selling author, Douglas Century, with a foreword by NBC Nightly News anchor and managing editor, Brian Williams.

 

Gary Littrell

Gary Littrell is a retired United States Army Command Sergeant Major who, while a Sergeant First Class serving as an adviser to Army of the Republic of Vietnam’s Ranger units during the Vietnam War, acted with extraordinary courage during a four day siege on his battalion - for which he received the Medal of Honor. In 1961, on his seventeenth birthday, he joined the Army - once the recruiter guaranteed that he could go to jump school.

 

After graduating from jump school, Littrell was assigned to the 503rd Regiment, which was reorganized as the 173rd Airborne Brigade (Separate). This brigade was stationed on Okinawa. His next assignment was to the 82nd Airborne Division. He then attended Ranger School, where he did well enough to be made an instructor. In 1969, he volunteered to go to Vietnam.

 

In April 1970, while serving as an Infantry advisor in Vietnam, then-Sgt. Littrell was thrust in to command of a battalion of South Vietnamese Rangers in defending their position. His extraordinary actions over the next four days in leading operations in the face of overwhelming odds earned him the nation’s highest military honor.

 

CSM Littrell retired from the Army in 1983 and served for many years with the Veterans Administration. In recent years, he has been very active with the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, serving as its president for two consecutive terms.

 

Robert Modrzejewski

Robert Modrzejewski is a retired United States Marine Corps officer who was awarded the Medal of Honor for conspicuous gallantry in Vietnam.

 

He was born on July 3, 1934 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He graduated from Milwaukee’s Casimir Pulaski High School in 1953, and then attended Wisconsin State Teachers College prior to entering the University of Wisconsin- Milwaukee, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Education in 1957. While at university, he was a member of the Platoon Leaders Class and upon graduation, was commissioned a Marine Corps Reserve second lieutenant in June 1957. He was integrated into the Regular Marine Corps in May 1960.

 

Ordered to the West Coast, then to the Republic of Vietnam, he assumed duty as Commanding Officer of Company K, 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines, 3rd Marine Division. It was during this period, during Operation Hastings, that he distinguished himself above and beyond the call of duty - for which he was awarded the Medal of Honor.

 

In a White House ceremony on March 12, 1968, President Lyndon B. Johnson presented the Medal of Honor to two Marines for their actions in Vietnam - Major Modrzejewski and Second Lieutenant John J. McGinty, III. In 1976, Modrzejewski earned his Master’s degree in Education from Pepperdine University in Los Angeles, California. Colonel Modrzejewski retired from the Marine Corps in August 1986.

 

Thomas Norris

Thomas Norris is a retired United States Navy SEAL who received the Medal of Honor for his ground rescue, with the assistance of Petty Officer Third Class Nguyen Van Kiet, of two downed pilots in Quang Tri Province, Vietnam on April 10, 1972 - April 13, 1972. His actions were dramatized in the movie Bat*21.

 

At the time of the action, Lt. Norris was a SEAL Advisor with the Strategic Technical Directorate Assistance (STDA) Team. He was one of three SEALs to receive the Medal of Honor for actions during the Vietnam War.

 

Norris was born on January 14, 1944 in Jacksonville, Florida. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Sociology with a specialty in criminology from the University of Maryland. While at the University of Maryland, in 1965 and 1966, he was an Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) wrestling champion. He hoped to join the Navy and fly jets, but he had problems with his visual acuity and depth perception which disqualified him from becoming a pilot. He then became a Navy SEAL.

 

Norris was retired from the Navy as a result of head injuries he incurred in Vietnam. He spent three years in the hospital and underwent many major surgeries. In 1979, he decided to join the FBI and served as an agent for 20 years.

 

Tibor (Ted) Rubin

Tibor “Ted ” Rubin is a Hungarian-born Holocaust survivor who immigrated to the United States in 1948, and received the Medal of Honor for his actions in the Korean War by President George W. Bush on September 23, 2005.

 

Born in 1929, he came to the United States in 1948 and settled in New York where he worked as a shoemaker and butcher. In 1950, he joined the army and was soon shipped out and fought in the Korean War.

 

Rubin distinguished himself by extraordinary heroism during the period from July 23, 1950, to April 20, 1953, while serving as a rifleman with Company I, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division. While vastly out-numbered, he helped to fight off Chinese soldiers but his group was overwhelmed. He was captured and sent to a prisoner camp. There he would again save the lives of his comrades by using what he had learned as a child in a Nazi concentration camp during a two year ordeal. Then-Cpl. Rubin used what he had learned as a Holocaust survivor to aid his fellow comrades - stealing food and nursing his fellow wounded soldiers.

 

In September 2005, President Bush presented the 76-year-old Rubin with the Medal of Honor for the many sacrifices he made. Today, Rubin is a resident of Garden Grove, California.

 

Michael E. Thornton

Michael E. Thornton , a native of South Carolina, enlisted in the United States Navy in 1967. He entered basic training at the Naval Training Center, San Diego, California. Subsequently, he was selected for specialized training in Basic Underwater Demolition training in Coronado, California and the Navy’s elite SEAL community.

 

Upon successful completion of training, he was assigned to SEAL team ONE based in Coronado, California from 1968-1974. During the period of October 1968 to January 1973, he completed several tours of duty in the Republic of Vietnam and Thailand. Michael Thornton was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor on October 15, 1973. He is the first person in more than a century to receive that honor for saving the life of another Medal of Honor recipient, Thomas Norris.

 

Now retired after a distinguished Navy career that continued through Operation

Desert Storm, he resides near Houston, Texas. In May 1992, Lieutenant Thornton

retired being the last Congressional Medal of Honor recipient serving on active

duty in the Navy.

 

Patrick Brady

Major General Brady spent over 34 years in the Army serving in stations all over the world.  He was in Berlin during the building of the wall and returned in 1989 when it was torn down.  He served in the Dominican Republic during that conflict, in Korea as commander of the troops at the Joint Security area of the DMZ and for 2 years in Vietnam as a helicopter ambulance pilot. He has eight years’ service with America’s citizen soldiers, our Reserve Components, and is a former Chief of Army Public Affairs.

 

While in Vietnam he was awarded the Medal of Honor for a series of rescues during which he used 3 helicopters to rescue over 60 wounded.  At the end of the day his aircraft had over 400 holes in them from enemy fire and mines.  In two tours in Vietnam he flew over 2500 combat missions and rescued over 5000 wounded.  He developed foul weather and tactical techniques for air ambulance rescue never before executed in combat for which he is identified in the Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War and other books as the top helicopter pilot in that war. Some pundits recognize him as the most decorated living veteran.

 

Gen. Brady is the only living Army veteran of Vietnam to hold both the Medal of Honor and the Distinguished Service Cross, our nation's second highest award.  His other awards include two Distinguished Service Medals; the Defense Superior Service Medal; the Legion of Merit; six Distinguished Flying Crosses; two Bronze Stars, one for valor; the Purple Heart and 53 Air Medals, one for valor.  He is a member of both the Army Aviation and Dust Off Halls of Fame

 

He recently published with his daughter Meghan a book, Dead Men Flying, which covers his experiences with the origin and execution of Aero Medical evacuation in Viet Nam, called Dust Off, the greatest battlefield life saver in history.

 

General Brady has a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Seattle University and an MBA from Notre Dame University.

 

General Brady and his wife Nancy had 6 children, Shaun, Casey, Kelly, Shannon, Terry, and Meghan, a veteran of the war in Iraq.

 

 

Walter Elhers

Walter Ehlers joined the Army from the city of Manhattan in October 1940. He and his older brother Roland served in the same unit and participated in the fighting in North Africa and Sicily.

 

By D-Day on June 6, 1944, Ehlers was a staff sergeant and squad leader in the 18th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division. His squad, part of the invasion's second wave, waited off shore in a Landing Craft, Infantry, while the first group of soldiers landed. When the first wave became pinned down on the beach, his unit was transferred to a Higgins boat and sent forward early to assist. They fought their way off the beach and by June 9 were near the town of Goville, 8 miles (13 km) inland. On that day, he led his unit's attack against German forces and single-handedly defeated several enemy machinegun nests. The next day, his platoon came under heavy fire and he covered their withdrawal, carried a wounded rifleman to safety, and continued to lead despite his own wounds. For his actions, he was issued the Medal of Honor six months later, on December 19, 1944.

 

On July 14, more than a month after D-Day, Ehlers learned that his brother Roland had died at Omaha Beach when his landing craft was struck by a mortar shell.

 

He appeared in the 1955 film The Long Gray Line, starring Tyrone Power

 

Albert Calland, III

Vice Admiral Albert M. Calland Ill, U.S. Navy, is a native of Columbus, Ohio. He is a 1974 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, a 1975 graduate of Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S) training (Class #82), and the Industrial College of the Armed Forces (ICAF) 1996.

 

Vice Adm. Calland has commanded at all levels beginning as Platoon Commander of both a SEAL Delivery Vehicle (SDV) platoon and a SEAL Platoon and most recently as Commander, Naval Special Warfare Command. In August of 1987, while Executive Officer of Special Boat Unit 12, he deployed to the Arabian Gulf in support of Operation Earnest Will as Commander, Naval Special Warfare Task Unit, Pacific. In November 1992 Vice Adm. Calland took command of SEAL Team One, remaining in command until January 1995. From June 1997 until June 1999, he commanded the Naval Special Warfare Development Group.

 

Vice Adm. Calland assumed command of Special Operations Command Central (SOCCENT) in July 2000. Following the terrorists attacks of 11 September 2001, he transitioned his headquarters war fighting functions from MacDill Air Force Base, Fla., to the forward-deployed Joint Forces Special Operations Component Command, directing more that 3,000 U.S. and Coalition Special Operations Forces in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

 

Vice Adm. Calland served as Commander, Naval Special Warfare Command from August 2002 until March 2004 when he began his assignment as the Associate Director of Central Intelligence for Military Support, Headquarters CIA. In July 2005, he was appointed Deputy Director, Central Intelligence Agency.

 

Vice Adm. Calland's other assignments include Senior Instructor BUD/S Training; Naval Special Warfare Group 1 Research, Development, Test and Evaluation (RDT&E) Officer; Naval Surface Forces, Pacific Naval Special Warfare/Explosive Ordinance Disposal Officer; Commander, Naval Special Warfare Command Assistant Chief of Staff for Programs/RDA; U.S. Special Operations Command Directorate of Resources, Programs Division Branch Chief; Deputy J3 Joint Special Operations Command; and Executive Assistant to the Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Manpower and Reserve Affairs.

 

Vice Adm. Calland holds a Master of Science in National Resource Strategy from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces in Washington, D.C. His personal decorations include the Distinguished Service Medal, the Defense Superior Service Medal (two awards), the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star Medal, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal (two awards), the Meritorious Service Medal (five awards), the Navy Commendation Medal, and various other campaign and service awards.

 

Major General Clyde A. Hennies

Retired MG Clyde A. "Lou" Hennies served his nation for over 40 years, making major contributions to both Army and special operations aviation. He commanded four company and troop-sized units in combat during three tours in Vietnam; followed later by another air cavalry troop and then command of the 1st Sqdn., 17th Cav. Regt., stateside. From Feb. 1985 to Nov. 1986, he commanded Task Force 160 through its transformation to the 160th Special Operations Aviation Group (Airborne), forerunner of today's elite 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (SOAR). During this command, he led the Night Stalkers through their most formative and challenging re-organization, developing unprecedented capabilities, tactics, techniques and procedures, which became the baseline of today's Regiment, as well as capability infusions to the rest of Army aviation.

 

He recruited and hand-picked a superb team of self-starting, creative commanders, staff officers, and NCOs; challenging them to train hard worldwide, fly 50 percent of their time at night, and stay on the leading edge of rotary wing aviation technology and material, and operational concepts. The results of these efforts were high mission readiness with zero fatalities, in-house development of the first aerial refueling capability for the CH-47, accelerated deliveries of a new generation night vision goggles and forward looking infrared systems; development of an airborne capability and the establishment of Systems Integration and Management Office - thus establishing a solid foundation for the rapid expansion of Night Stalker capabilities that followed.

 

Later, after successful command of the Army Safety Center and as the Director of Army Safety, where he aggressively introduced risk management throughout the Army and at all levels of responsibility, he retired in 1991. But always the soldier, he donned his uniform again to serve as the Adjutant General of Alabama's Army and Air National Guard Forces from 1995 to 1999, using his active duty and Pentagon experiences to increase Alabama's relevance in the total force. Lou Hennies service to the nation, the Army, and to the Aviation branch more than qualifies him for induction into the Army Aviation Hall of Fame.

 

The Liberty Bells

The Liberty Bells are dazzling professional performers who proudly entertain for our troops and audiences around the world in the tradition of the USO these past 70 years.

 

Their four-part harmonies, solo performances, dancing and magnetic personalities bring cheering crowds to their feet. They are chosen through a competitive audition process that draws Broadway and off-Broadway talent, recording artists and professional dancers.

 

The Liberty Bells serve as ambassadors of goodwill with numerous performances for our service members and their families. Traditionally known for featuring WWII-era hit songs like “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy” and patriotic songs, the Liberty Bells performances include the standards of yesteryear as well as the contemporary hits, appealing to all generations.

 

Their past performances include ABC’s Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve, NBC’s New Year’s Eve with Carson Daly, Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, New York Yankees games and many more high-profile performances and events.