{"id":355108,"date":"2025-01-16T23:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-01-17T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=355108"},"modified":"2025-01-17T17:13:05","modified_gmt":"2025-01-17T17:13:05","slug":"commanders-love-of-teammates-drove-him-to-risk-his-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=355108","title":{"rendered":"Commander\u2019s love of teammates drove him to risk his life"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"editor-image single\">\n<figure class=\"photo cur-photo\">\n          <span class=\"centered-image\"><br \/>\n            <span class=\"img-container\"><br \/>\n              <a class=\"rich-text-img-link\" href=\"https:\/\/api.army.mil\/e2\/c\/images\/2025\/01\/17\/9e351c72\/original.jpg\" target=\"_blank\"><\/p>\n<p>              <\/a><br \/>\n                          <\/span><br \/>\n          <\/span><figcaption>\n                        <span class=\"image-caption\"><br \/>\n              <span class=\"caption-text\"><br \/>\n                Laura Blevins, center, daughter of former Army Gen. Richard Cavazos, receives a framed Medal of Honor flag from Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin during the Hall of Heroes Induction Ceremony in Conmy Hall at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall, Va., on Jan. 4th, 2025. Cavazos \u2013 who later achieved the distinction of becoming the U.S. Army\u2019s first Hispanic four-star general \u2013 was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor at the White House, Jan. 3, 2025, for his acts of extraordinary heroism during the Korean War on June 14, 1953, near Sagimak, Korea, while serving in Echo Company, 2nd Battalion, 65th Infantry Regiment. (U.S. Army Photo by Staff Sgt. Derek Hamilton)<br \/>\n                <span class=\"caption-author\"> (Photo Credit: Staff Sgt. Derek Hamilton)<\/span><br \/>\n              <\/span><br \/>\n              <a href=\"https:\/\/api.army.mil\/e2\/c\/images\/2025\/01\/17\/9e351c72\/original.jpg\" title=\"View original\" target=\"_blank\">VIEW ORIGINAL<\/a><br \/>\n            <\/span><br \/>\n          <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>WASHINGTON \u2014 During a pivotal three-hour battle during the Korean War in June 1953, then-1st Lt. Richard Cavazos decided he could not leave his men.<\/p>\n<p>A heavy mortar and artillery battle with North Korean forces dealt Cavazos\u2019 unit numerous casualties and injuries. Cavazos received orders to withdraw his forces.<\/p>\n<p>The Soldier followed orders but soon returned to the hill alone to rescue five injured Soldiers while taking on enemy fire. His valiant efforts more than seven decades ago earned him another prestigious honor.<\/p>\n<p>President Joe Biden awarded Cavazos the nation\u2019s highest military award, the Medal of Honor, during a ceremony Jan. 3 at the White House. Cavazos\u2019 daughter, Laura Blevins accepted the award, which was an upgrade from the Distinguished Service Cross he initially received. Cavazos also received an induction into the Pentagon\u2019s Hall of Heroes Jan. 4.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI believe my father would assert that he was very much a humble, ordinary man,\u201d said Cavazos\u2019 son, Tommy Cavazos. \u201cHe was a man of deep faith who loved his country, loved his family; loved his Soldiers. And it was that love, that selfless love of which there&#8217;s no greater, that drove him up the hill that night in 1953 to collect the men of his company and get them to safety.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Following his service in the Korean War, the Army assigned Cavazos to Fort Hood, Texas, an installation that would eventually be renamed in his honor seven decades later. Cavazos would go on to become the Army\u2019s first Hispanic American four-star general.<\/p>\n<p>Troops who served under Cavazos said his dedication to his Soldiers distinguished him from his peers. He would often fight alongside them on the frontlines.<\/p>\n<p>Cavazos once again earned the Distinguished Service Cross in the Vietnam War during a counterattack operation near Loc Ninh. During the battle, he exposed himself to enemy fire in leading an effective artillery attack.<\/p>\n<p>After 33 years in the Army, Cavazos retired from military service in 1984. He passed away in 2017 at the age of 88.<\/p>\n<p><strong>RELATED LINKS:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.army.mil\/medalofhonor\/cavazos\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\">Medal of Honor: General Richard E. Cavazos<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.army.mil\/arnews\" target=\"_blank\">Army News Service<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.army.mil\/news#army_news_service\" target=\"_blank\">ARNEWS archives<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Laura Blevins, center, daughter of former Army Gen. Richard Cavazos, receives a framed Medal of Honor flag from Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin during the Hall of Heroes Induction Ceremony in Conmy Hall at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall, Va., on Jan. 4th, 2025. Cavazos \u2013 who later achieved the distinction of becoming the U.S. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":355110,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-355108","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/355108","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=355108"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/355108\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":355111,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/355108\/revisions\/355111"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/355110"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=355108"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=355108"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=355108"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}