Mixed Emotions

Sometimes you write a post and think you are done. I wrote recently about Medal of Honor recipient Robery Dunlap from Abingdon, Illinois. I was helping my mom with her income taxes today and when we got ready to mail them I gave her a Medal of Honor stamp. I mentioned Robert Dunlap and she said there was a newspaper article about him yesterday in the local paper. This as my dear friend Mike and Paul Harvey say, is the rest of the story.

The fellow in the picture is Brad Simpson from Simpson Collectors Firearms in Galesburg, Illinois. The gun he is holding is a Johnson Automatic Rifle M1941 serial number A00009. The gun was issued to the late Marine Major Robert Dunlap. It was the gun he carried on Iwo Jima and was with him when he earned the Medal of Honor. Major Dunlap's gun came up for auction last October and the winning bid was submitted by Simpson Collectors Firearms. The gun will not be offered for sale but displayed in their business as a reminder of local history. The Dunlap family had apparently fallen on difficult times and had to sell the rifle.

The story of Major Dunlap and his gun is more than a story about earning the Medal of Honor. Major Dunlap credited the gun with saving his life in a couple of ways. He said it was the most accurate gun he ever shot and he hit whatever he aimed at. It is one thing to shoot target practice, let's keep in mind he is being shot at when he talks about accuracy. The other way the rifle saved him was that Japanese snipers didn't think an officer would carry a rifle and American officers on Iwo Jima did not wear rank insignia. Major Dunlap believed they didn't shoot at him because he didn't look like an officer.

I relayed that Major Dunlap had been wounded in action on February 26, 1945. There is more to that story as well. His left hip was shattered by an enemy shell. When he was carried from the field on a stretcher more than 100 marines stood and saluted as he passed while they were still under fire. Major Dunlap would later relate that the gesture of respect by those Marines meant more to him than the Medal of Honor. It is that and one other bit of information that shows you why Major Dunlap and so many others of his generation deserve our respect, admiration and thanks. In 1949 Major Dunlap had two meetings and a lunch with John Wayne. Paramount Pictures offered Major Dunlap $20,000 for the movie rights to his story. He declined. He could not go along with a movie about a battle where so many were killed.

So when you wonder if there are heroes in the world. If the men who fought World War 2 were the greatest generation. If there are things in life more important than money. Think about the humility of Major Robert Dunlap. Think of his bravery under fire. Think of the respect shown him by his fellow Marines even in the heat of battle. You will know in your heart there are great men, humble men, heroes to be admired because you know the rest of the story.