The Medal of Honor…
…the highest award for valor that a soldier in the United States armed forces can receive. Since its inception the United States has had a population of more or less of 554 million people. 3459 medals have been awarded, making the chances of you receiving one: 1 in 160,161…as if any of the awards were obtained by chance.
Of course we all know that these awards were not earned by some chance circumstance. These men joined the Armed Forces knowing full well that they might meet challenges and tests that might maim them or kill them. None of them fully understood how they would be tested and that to pass their tests they would need uncommon Valor. None of them really knew how they might react when faced with perilous circumstances…yet the fear of unknown, the fear of the possibility of failure and of being branded a coward by your countrymen did not cause these men to choose lesser professions. Perhaps none of them knew they even had such Valor within them. Many would sincerely and humbly profess that they have no such character. Yet their actions reveal it. A child is known by his actions; likewise, men are known for theirs.
Now, being members of the fighting race and of royal lineage, it is also not just mere chance that the MacCarthy Clan would also have one of our own standing in the ranks of Medal of Honor recipients, so this Memorial day weekend we honor:
After his service in WW II, he also served in Korea. Joseph spent the rest of his days working for the Chicago Fire Department. He died in 1996 and is buried in Arlington Cemetery.
Matthew McCarty
mccartyheritage 
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