Political Quotes

“Lieutenant Thomas G. Kelley was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions, and going above and beyond the call of duty, against the enemy in Vietnam. Lieutenant Kelley was in charge of a column of eight river assault aircrafts which were extracting one company of U.S. Army infantry troops on the east bank of the Ong Muong Canal in Kien Hoa province when one of the armored troop carriers reported a mechanical failure of a loading ramp. At approximately the same time, Viet Cong forces opened fire from the opposite bank of the canal. After issuing orders for the crippled troop carrier to raise its ramp manually and for the remaining boats to form a protective cordon around the disabled craft, Lieutenant Commander Kelley, realizing the extreme danger to his column and its inability to clear the ambush site until the crippled unit was repaired, boldly maneuvered the monitor in which he was embarked to the exposed side of the protective cordon, in direct line with the enemy's fire, and he ordered the monitor to commence firing. Sustaining serious head wounds from the blast which hurled him to the deck of the monitor, Lieutenant Commander Kelley disregarded his severe injuries and attempted to continue directing the other boats. It is for his courage and unwavering devotion to duty that I am proud to honor and remember the actions of Lieutenant Thomas G. Kelley. Honoring Master Sergeant Ronald E. Rosser”