By Tom Roeder - The Gazette via the AP
Posted : Saturday Oct 8, 2011 8:31:31 EDT
FORT CARSON, Colo. — First Sgt. David McNerney was a small man with a legendary temper and a stare that would blister paint.
His soldiers in a 4th Infantry Division company say they were terrified by him and compare him to John Wayne, only meaner.
But there was another side to McNerney. One that will be on display after his most prized possession was given to the soldiers of Fort Carson.
The crew-cut, 5-foot-8 sergeant earned the Medal of Honor in Vietnam, but said it was never really his.
He stood by that statement in his last will and testament.
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Sgt. Julio Chavez carries 1st Sgt. David McNerney's Medal of Honor to the Fort Carson Historical Center following a ceremony Thursday, October 6, 2011. Before his death, Medal of Honor recipient McNerney instructed that his medal be presented to the 4th Infantry Division. Mark Reis, The Gazette
MARK REIS, THE GAZETTE
Fort Carson receives medal left by Vietnam War hero
October 06, 2011 4:24 PM
TOM ROEDER
THE GAZETTE
Fort Carson soldiers gathered in formation Thursday during a ceremony with a simple lesson.
The event honored 1st Sgt. David McNerney, a Vietnam War hero died in Texas last year and in his will left his Medal Honor to troops in Colorado Springs.
Friends, family members and comrades talked about McNerney and what he did in 1967 to earn the medal during a day long firefight in the jungle. They talked about McNerney’s generosity, loyalty to family and uncompromising values.
Soldiers with Fort Carson’s A Company of the 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment, McNerney’s old unit, heard all that and something else.
“I have some huge shoes to fill,” said 1st Sgt. Andrew Whittingham, who holds McNerney’s old job.
The medal will be displayed at the Mountain Post Historical Center near the post’s main gate and commanders will use it to teach young soldiers about the commitment it takes to serve in the Army.
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