A Warrior's Final Tribute

Portrait of Valor: Hero of Afghanistan Sgt. Jared Monti Wins Medal of Honor Posthumously

Soon after Sgt. Jared Monti died -- killed by a rocket-propelled grenade while trying to save a comrade high in the mountains of Afghanistan in 2006 -- his father Paul found hidden in his son's bedroom drawer a bronze star, five Army commendation medals and four Army achievement medals.

"He never told anyone he won them. He was always very humble. He didn't want accolades. He didn't want medals. He wanted his work to speak for itself. When he was a kid he was never one to jump up and down and say 'look at me,'" said Paul Monti.

Soon Monti, 30, will be awarded another medal, the highest award the U.S. military
bestows for bravery -- the Medal of Honor.

These are the people that give me hope for our country. The brave men and women fighting to keep us free; the ones that we don't often hear about. These are the heros, the ones that die doing what they love so that their comrades-in-arms might live. All so that we are free to sit at our keyboards and bicker amongst ourselves regarding the current state of the state.

"If I see far, it is because I have ridden on the shoulders of giants". Sir Isaac Newton quipped something to that effect when talking to his contemporaries; it is never more fitting than now. I am not fit to shine the shoes of men like Jared Monti; all I can do is honor his memory and offer him the praise he never sought, yet truly deserves.

Throw open the doors of Valhalla; a warrior dines with Odin tonight.

That is all.