CHR - Veterans Day: Government Bureaucrats Make America’s Military Heroes Wait

TOP LINE

Credible sources report the Biden White House put out a directive to the Defense Department in late September that they would not receive any more Medal of Honor upgrades after October 1 – shutting the door on multiple deserving service members.

This comes after several cases have stalled in a years-long review process - known as “staffing” - at the Defense Department.

DEEP DIVE

The Medal of Honor is the highest award for military valor in action.   These service members are the living, breathing embodiment of bravery, courage, integrity and sacrifice.  

The acknowledgement and thanks of a grateful nation should never be stalled by bureaucracy, but that is apparently the case for two deserving Vietnam heroes, retired CPT Isaac Camacho and retired SFC Cliff Newman. 

Credible sources report the Biden White House put out a directive to the Defense Department in late September that they would not receive any more Medal of Honor upgrades after October 1.  The move limits the number of awards the President can review and approve before January 20.

Neither the White House Press Office nor the Office for the Secretary of Defense responded to our requests for comment. 

The timing feels very arbitrary, coming just four months before the inauguration. It’s not clear whether the directive reflects the priorities of White House staffers or whether President Biden was even consulted. 

Retired and active Special Forces say the directive suggests that Biden White House staffers have other priorities beyond veterans who have already waited five decades for the nation’s highest military honor.

While multiple cases are affected, we are highlighting the accomplishments and service of two Vietnam heroes whose upgrades to the Medal of Honor are impacted.

RETIRED CPT ISAAC CAMACHO

On July 9, 1965 then-Sergeant First Class Isaac Camacho escaped from a POW camp in Cambodia, and days later, became the FIRST American to successfully escape captivity in the Vietnam War.

According to congressional correspondence from Senator Hassan (D-NH)  to Army Secretary Wormuth, newly declassified records show that “SFC Camacho stood by the Code of Conduct and resisted the enemy’s attempt at interrogation.  As the senior ranking officer, his leadership was vital to his fellow soldier’s moral and ability to resist his captors’ efforts of indoctrination..”

87-year-old Camacho has already been recognized with a Silver Star.  The Medal of Honor would fully acknowledge his leadership as the senior military officer for his fellow POWs.  

This citation, from the “Hall of Valor” at the Military Times, details his capture by the Viet Cong:

“…At the beginning of the attack, Sergeant First Class Camacho ran from his sleeping area to a mortar position. Having successfully maneuvered through a hail of bullets and mortar fragments, Sergeant First Class Camacho calmly manned the mortar and began to concentrate his fire on the Viet Cong who were attempting to breach the wall of the compound. Disregarding his own personal safety and realizing that he was the only man not pinned down by the Viet Cong, Sergeant First Class Camacho valiantly engaged the enemy until he was ordered by his commanding officer to withdraw from the camp. Reluctantly, he gave up his position and moved into the darkness. In the confusion of battle, Sergeant First Class Camacho and his commanding officer became separated. Sergeant First Class Camacho was captured by the Viet Cong only when he no longer had any means to resist….”

RETIRED SFC CLIFF NEWMAN

Cliff Newman is a legend among many in the Special Forces community.  Newman, now 80, is credited with the First combat HALO jump that stands for High Altitude Low Opening Jump.  A retired Special Forces Colonel described HALO as, “You risk your life on every jump. You have to physically pull the pin and at an altitude that doesn’t leave you much time to recover if there is a malfunction…a lot can go wrong.”

According to correspondence from Congressman Richard Hudson (R-NC) to Secretary Wormuth, Newman’s stunning accomplishments include, “the first combat freefall mission in the history of the United States Army in 1970…and volunteering for the hazardous “Bright Light” missions…to extract teams under enemy attack….”

The Special Forces Charitable Trust says of the 1971 extraction mission, “Sergeant First Class Clifford M. Newman, United States Army, distinguished himself by conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity, at the risk of his life, above and beyond the call of duty on 19-20 February 1971 while serving with a 12-man quick reaction force deep within enemy held territory adjacent to the infamous A Shau Valley in the Republic of Vietnam.  After volunteering to join the team and inserting into Laos, SFC Newman and the team moved through difficult and highly contested terrain to a helicopter crash site to recover American personnel.  In the early morning hours of 20 Feb 1971, the small team came under a vicious attack from a company-sized enemy force.  Over the next five hours, SFC Newman assumed command of the team from the disabled team leader, led the team in repelling the attack, carried a wounded teammate to safety, coordinated and directed bombing and strafing runs from helicopter gunships and fixed wing aircraft, and was the last man to be extracted from the battlefield, all at great risk to his own life.  His actions that day clearly saved the lives of every member of his team.”  

CAMACHO AND NEWMAN “STAFFING” DELAYS NOT ISOLATED CASES

Camacho and Newman’s cases have been in the Defense Department review process, known as “staffing,” for a combined total of more than three years.  Camacho is 87 and Newman is 80.  It is vital these awards are considered expeditiously given their ages, and the awards should not be unnecessarily delayed by inefficiency or ego of government bureaucrats. 

The upgrades would normally be included in the NDAA or the National Defense Authorization Act.  But because of the staffing delays, the awards missed this year’s NDAA deadline. 

Further delay is also possible after January 2025.  It’s unclear whether the Camacho and Newman awards may have to start all over again with the approval of a new SECDEF and SEC ARMY?

My understanding is that packets already at the White House will not be returned to the Pentagon to be restaffed. The incoming President can approve and award.

MEDAL OF HONOR PACKET FOR GREEN BERET PARIS DAVIS ALSO FACED YEARS LONG DELAY

These are not isolated cases. Three years ago, I learned of retired COL Paris Davis, one of the first black officers in the elite Green Berets.  Davis’ Medal of Honor paperwork was “lost” twice at the height of the civili rights movement. Davis told me he believed race was a factor.  

While working at CBS News as a senior investigative correspondent, I took up Davis’ case and reported on the slow, incremental progress.  I personally brought the years-long delay to the attention of Secretary Wormuth.  To her credit, she moved quickly, and decisively to support Davis’ upgrade, after bureaucrats in the Office of the Secretary of Defense kept sending Davis’ paperwork back.

Once Davis’ Medal of Honor packet hit the White House for final review and approval, there were more bureaucratic obstacles. I was lectured by a White House aide who said their review process could take six months before Davis’ case reached President Biden’s desk for final approval.

I responded to the White House aide that the additional vetting suggested the White House did not trust the judgment of their own people, the Secretary of Defense and the Army Secretary, who had already signed off on the Davis upgrade. 

I warned the White House aide that a months-long, White House mandated review, could mean Davis would die waiting, and the Medal of Honor would be a posthumous award.   I emphasized that the White House's insistence on another lengthy review, after years of staffing delays, would become the story. I would report it at every opportunity.

It seemed the Biden White house listened.  In a matter of weeks, Davis’ Medal of Honor ceremony was scheduled.

In his remarks at the March 2023 White House ceremony, President Biden recalled Davis’ commitment to his team.  Given the order to pull out, Davis responded,  “I’m just not going to leave. I still have an American out there.”

The day before the Battle of Bong Son in 1965, SPC Robert Brown had learned he was a new father.  Davis wanted to give him a chance to meet his son.

After Brown was gravely injured, Davis located his position and began crawling toward him amid gunfire and grenades.

When he reached the position, Brown asked Davis, “Am I going to die?”  Davis responded, “Not before me.”

At the ceremony, I was humbled to sit with the widow and son of Robert Brown. At the Battle of Bong Son, Davis also rescued Special Forces and CIA legend Billy Waugh. After 9/11, at the age of 71, Waugh was among the first into Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom.

On this Veterans Day, we can re-double our efforts to secure long overdue recognition for Camacho, Newman and many other deserving service members whose valor awards are stalled by government bureaucrats and endless years of Defense Department staffing.

Inside the SCIF

Joe Rogan Breaks The Back of 60 Minutes

The general consensus from this week’s inbox is that the 2024 election saw Joe Rogan break the back of 60 Minutes in terms of impact and audience reach.

The candidate Trump/Joe Rogan interview now sits at 48 million views versus the 60 Minutes Kamala Harris interview at 3.7 million.

It is another indicator of the tectonic shift in the media and the public’s consumption of news on platforms like X.