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Son of Black Marine to receive father’s military service medal

Son of Black Marine to receive father’s military service medal

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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Even as the United States reeled from the Japanese advance throughout the Pacific in 1942 and the military sought desperately to ramp up the American war machine, it was remarkable that James Cook Sr. was even allowed to enlist.

It took the existential threat of world war for the military to open new roles to African American men, and Cook was in the first wave of Black Marines. Cook started his military journey at Camp Montford Point, a segregated Marine training camp in Jacksonville, North Carolina, and went on to serve in the Pacific Theater.

Growing up, James “Jimmy” Cook Jr., who is now 75 and a Knoxville resident, knew nothing about his father’s storied place in history as one of the Montford Point Marines, who served in all-Black units and distinguished themselves in war.

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Now, Jimmy Cook will receive on his father’s behalf the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest honor Congress can award for distinguished achievements and contributions by individuals or institutions.

The Montford Point Marines were awarded the honor in 2012 after President Barack Obama announced the group distinction in 2011, noting the members’ personal sacrifice during World War II. But Cook Sr. had passed away at 81 in 2005, and it was only recently that Jimmy Cook learned what his father was due.

“You know when I found this out, I knew he had done some amazing things, but that just topped it for me. I’m like, ‘Oh, my God,’” he said.

Jimmy Cook, himself a retired Army veteran who served in Vietnam, will travel to a ceremony set for Aug. 25 at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, during the 57th annual Montford Point Marines Day. Other Montford Marines or their families will be presented the award as well.

It wasn’t until Jimmy Cook was in high school in the early ‘60s that he stumbled upon a trunk in the attic filled with military uniforms and awards. He asked his dad if he was in the Army.

“And he said, ‘No son, I was in the Marines.’ And that was the end of it,” Jimmy recalled.

Jimmy says his dad kept his thoughts and memories of his military service to himself. “The only thing he would say is that he was stationed in the Pacific.”

Then, in 2021, Jimmy was casually talking to a retired Marine who revealed to Jimmy about his father’s forgotten Congressional Gold Medal.

Jimmy began doing online research on Camp Montford Point and requested his father’s military records to verify he was one of the Montford Marines. Reduced staffing due to COVID-19 caused delays in securing the records, but Jimmy’s sister made her own discovery while cleaning out their mom’s garage.

“She gave me this big envelope with all of his records in it and I just about went to tears,” Jimmy recalled.

James Cook Sr. was kind and soft-spoken. But in hindsight, there were glimmers of his military background, Jimmy said, describing his father as a disciplinarian.

“I tell people, by the time I got to basic training in ‘65, I thought it was Girl Scouts compared to dealing with my daddy. But like I said, he was a very patient man,” Jimmy joked.

Living in Cleveland, Ohio, with his wife, Earline, and five kids, Cook Sr. worked as an electrician and owned a television and radio repair shop. He was using skills he had learned from the Marines, where he served as a radar operator.

But Jimmy has come to learn more of what his father carried with him after the Marine Corps.

“[The Montford Marines] caught hell because they were the first to integrate. And they stuck them in the back of Parris Island and made them build their own barracks. It was just God awful,” Jimmy said.

As Jimmy has learned more about his father’s experience, his respect for the man has grown even more.

“My chest sticks out a block away. I’m just so proud of him and to know what he endured and went through,” he said.

Jimmy wishes his dad was able to receive the medal himself, but he is honored to accept it on his behalf.

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3 Vietnam Marine veterans receive Bronze Stars more than 50 years later

3 Vietnam Marine veterans receive Bronze Stars more than 50 years later

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When Medal of Honor recipient and retired Marine Sgt. Maj. John L. Canley was speaking about his award in 2018, he said it meant a lot to him because of what it meant for his fellow Marines.

“It’s not about me,” he had said at the time, according a recent Marine Corps press release. “It’s about the Marines who didn’t receive the appropriate recognition when we got home.”

Now, for three of those Marines, the time for that recognition finally has arrived ― all because Canley, who died in May at age 84, had put the packages in.

Three Marine Corps veterans who fought alongside Canley were awarded the Bronze Star Medal on June 24 at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, more than 54 years after the Marines’ courageous actions in Vietnam.

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Riflemen John Ligato III and Larry Lewis, and corpsman Michael Ker, all with Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 1st Marines, were awarded for their heroism in Vietnam combat.

“Nobody wanted any medals … but the one thing [Canley] said every time he was interviewed, every time … was that his junior enlisted Marines got no recognition,” Ligato told Marine Corps Times in July.

All three men had put themselves in the line of enemy fire to complete their mission and rescue fallen comrades during the Battle of Hue City in early 1968, according to a Marine Corps press release.

The group followed the lead of Canley, the company’s gunnery sergeant, who took over after that unit’s commander was injured in battle.

Ker’s citation read, “His company commander suffered a life threatening wound to his femur. Utilizing an entrenching tool as a splint, Hospital Corpsman Second Class Ker and two Marines lifted the stricken commander onto a poncho and carried him to safety amid withering small arms, rocket, and automatic weapons fire.”

Ligato helped cover Canley as the Marines “cleared the building from room to room engaging in close combat with the enemy.”

“When the attack stalled due to fierce resistance, another Marine maneuvered amid enemy rocket and automatic weapon fire to employ an explosive charge,” his citation reads. “Private First Class Ligato exposed himself to enemy fire in order to provide cover for the Marine, enabling success of the mission.”

Canley initially received the Navy Cross for his valiant initiative during the war. He later was notably upgraded to a Medal of Honor in 2018, following a decade of campaigning by Ligato and others.

It made Canley the first living Black Marine to receive such an honor.

Congresswoman Julia Brownley, D-California, helped Ligato to speed up the Congressional process for Canley to obtain his award.

“Humble in every interaction we had, Sergeant Major Canley always spoke of his fellow Marines,” she said in a statement. “They served as an inspiration to him, and they serve as an inspiration to us all to live up to the ideals of this great nation for which they served to protect.”

“When Sergeant Major Canley passed earlier this year, I found comfort in knowing that these men, his brothers in uniform, were duly recognized.”

The San Diego installation’s commanding general, Brig. Gen. Jason Morris, along with retired Maj. Gen. Ray L. Smith, who relieved Canley of his command during the Battle of Hue City, presented the awards.

Also in attendance were 12 other Alpha 1/1 veterans and the Canley family.

The Bronze Star Medal — a highly respected military decoration given to service members who distinguish themselves while engaged in action against a foreign force — is not the only award the Marine veterans have received. Ligato previously was awarded three Purple Hearts for his service in Vietnam.

After being expelled from college, Ligato served in the Marine Corps from 1967 until he was wounded in 1969.

Although his recruiter initially told him he would be assigned embassy duty and could avoid being deployed to Vietnam, that quickly changed. It would not be long before he and his fellow Marines followed Canley into enemy fire.

After the war he went into a career with the FBI. He is also an author and now hosting his own talk show on YouTube.

The day after the ceremony the members of Alpha 1/1 attended the christening of the newest U.S. Navy expeditionary sea base class ship, the expeditionary mobile base John L. Canley, according to the press release. The ship, officially designated in honor of Canley in November 2020, began its service 34 days after its namesake passed away in May.

“I was with him when he found out that they were naming the ship after him,” said Ligato, who also shared that Canley was able to visit the ship while it was being built. “And he’s not like a jump up and down guy, but he had this little smile when he was happy about something.”

Although Ligato lost touch with many of his fellow Marines following the war, he was thankful for social media in helping them to reconnect so that men like Canley could be rightfully honored.

He argued however that there is still much more work to be done.

“The Marines of Alpha Company, they are unrecognized … people don’t know about the Alpha Company Marines,” said Ligato.

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Global Veterans News

Panel Application; educational benefits; 38 C.F.R. § 21.9635(o); Carr, 961 F.3d at 173; the Federal Circuit interpreted the phrase “may receive” as referring only to an initial calculation of a veteran’s entitlement and not to the amount of benefits that a person may, in fact, receive; It then concluded that the statute does not preclude an individual, who has accumulated and used a total of 48 months of educational benefits from a combination of chapters, from receiving an extension in benefits until the end of a semester. Carr, 961 F.3d at 173;

Panel Application; educational benefits; 38 C.F.R. § 21.9635(o); Carr, 961 F.3d at 173; the Federal Circuit interpreted the phrase “may receive” as referring only to an initial calculation of a veteran’s entitlement and not to the amount of benefits that a person may, in fact, receive; It then concluded that the statute does not preclude an individual, who has accumulated and used a total of 48 months of educational benefits from a combination of chapters, from receiving an extension in benefits until the end of a semester. Carr, 961 F.3d at 173;

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UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR VETERANS CLAIMS
No. 16-3438
SAMANTHA E. CARR, APPELLANT,
V.
DENIS MCDONOUGH,
SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS, APPELLEE.
ROBERT M. CARR, INTERVENOR
On Remand from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
(Decided February 19, 2021)
Samantha E. Carr, pro se.
Meghan Flanz, Interim General Counsel; Mary Ann Flynn, Chief Counsel; Selket N. Cottle,
Deputy Chief Counsel; and Sara W. Fusina, Senior Appellate Attorney, all of Washington, D.C.,
were on the brief for the appellee.
Robert M. Carr, pro se, as intervenor.
Before BARTLEY, Chief Judge, and PIETSCH and TOTH, Judges.

TOTH, Judge: Air Force veteran Robert Carr transferred a portion of his 48 months of
education benefits to his daughter, Samantha Carr, so that she could pay for her college tuition.
After she used these benefits to pay for two semesters, Ms. Carr began the fall 2013 semester with
a single day of entitlement remaining. Invoking 38 C.F.R. § 21.9635(o), she sought to extend her
benefits until the end of the semester, but the Board determined that subsection (y) of that
regulation prohibited a transferee from receiving an extension—even though a veteran in the same
situation would be entitled to one.
Ms. Carr brought this appeal to challenge the validity of § 21.9635(y), arguing that it is
inconsistent with its authorizing statute, 38 U.S.C. § 3319. We didn’t reach that question in our
initial decision because we concluded that 38 U.S.C. § 3695 prevented anyone—veteran or
dependent—from receiving benefits in excess of 48 months. The Federal Circuit reversed our
decision, however, interpreting the phrase “may receive” as referring not to the amount of benefits
a person may receive,

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