Charley Liteky: A REAL Hero

[OrdinaryTa]

Not everybody has it in them to be a hero, but Chaplain Angelo "Charley" Liteky has unquestionably been a hero throughout his life. A true man of God, he did not hesitate to risk his life to save the wounded and dying in Vietnam in December 1967. The citation for Liteky's Medal of Honor reads in part:

In a magnificent display of courage and leadership, Chaplain Liteky began moving upright through the enemy fire, administering last rites to the dying and evacuating the wounded. Noticing another trapped and seriously wounded man, Chaplain Liteky crawled to his aid. Realizing that the wounded man was too heavy to carry, he rolled on his back, placed the man on his chest and through sheer determination and fortitude crawled back to the landing zone using his elbows and heels to push himself along.

.... On several occasions when the landing zone was under small arms and rocket fire, Chaplain Liteky stood up in the face of hostile fire and personally directed the medivac helicopters into and out of the perimeter, constantly encouraging and inspiring the men. Upon the unit's relief on the morning of 7 December 1967, it was discovered that despite painful wounds in the neck and foot, Chaplain Liteky had personally carried over 20 men to the landing zone for evacuation during the savage fighting.

Liteky didn't keep the medal. Protesting U.S. policy in Central America, he gave it back and renounced the $600 tax free monthly pension that came with it. He later spent a year in prison for antiwar activities. Recently the 72-year old Liteky returned from Baghdad where he'd been a witness against the bombing.

“You could feel the shock waves,” said Liteky, a former priest, a Vietnam War hero and the subject of the SN&R cover story “An American in Baghdad,” published the week before the start of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. “The explosions were huge; the noise was horrendous,” he said. Every time he heard a blast, he wondered how many more innocent people were dead.

http://www.newsreview.com/issues/sacto/2003-05-15/news.asp



Liteky in Vietnam, 1969


Liteky in Baghdad, 2003

[eablair3]

1. this guy is a hero

thanks so much for posting that.

I have seen him on some talk shows on WorldlinkTV, and in a documentary about the "School of Assassins" (known as the School of Americas at Fort Benning in Georgia) where they trained the armed forces of the Central American armies who went out and killed hundreds of thousands of people, including massacres of civilians, as well as assassinating Archbishop Oscar Romero, raping and killing the churchwomen, and the jesuit priests. The film highlighted Father Roy Bourgeois but showed where Liteky along with his brother Patrick were arreasted with Father Roy protesting at the "School of Assassiins." It was an excellent film.

Liteky is a Congressional Medal of Honor recipient, as you stated, but the mainstream corporate mass media never put this American hero on TV. Has anyone seen him on those channels, ever?

I'd bet that most Americans have no clue who he is.