MILITARY: Spec. Forces team garners ten Silver Stars - a record!

Capt. Kyle Walton and his Spec. Forces team from ...

the 3rd Battalion, 3rd Special Forces Group had been sent to kill or capture terrorists from a rugged valley that had never been penetrated by U.S. forces — or, they had been told, the Soviets before them.

He peered over the side of the cliff to the dry river bed 60 feet below and considered his options. Could he roll the wounded men off and then jump to safety? Would they survive the fall?

By the end of the six-hour battle deep within the Shok Valley, Walton would bear witness to heroics that on Friday would earn his team 10 Silver Stars, the most for a single battle in Afghanistan. [Yahoo! News]

We owe these guys a really loud ho-rah ... God bless you and your team Captain.

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OBITUARY: Honor due a hero from two nations!

We tend to fall short when it comes to honoring our war veterans ... during all wars; and I'm as guilty as the next. But Medal of Honor winners have always held a special attention for me. Since I currently pastor in Mexico, I was caught by the following report from The Arizona Republic.

Silvestre Herrera, 91, a Mexico-born recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor, died Monday at his Glendale home, authorities said.

Herrera, who rose in courage and earned a place in history, also wore Mexico's highest honor for valor on the field of battle, making him the only person to earn both.

In 1945, Herrera, an Army private from Arizona, was awarded the Medal of Honor for saving his platoon from machine-gun fire near Mertzwiller, France, not far from the German border.

The private first class with the 36th Infantry Division took out one emplacement, then charged through a minefield toward a second, losing both feet to explosions. The entire eight man German crew threw down its weapons and surrendered.

Visit the Army's "full list" of WWII (g-l) here to see Herrera's official citation.

What people dont see in the photo at the top-left of this post is President Truman congratulating Herrera for his heroism; what is also not seen is the wheelchair this Mexican-American hero had been confined to as a result of his heroism.

Medal of Honor, Silvestre Herrera