Thicke.org

I didn’t know him or hear of him until tonight. But he was a medal of honor winner and a “doc” so he deserves my attention.

“TACOMA, Wash. – Robert Eugene Bush, who received a Medal of Honor for bravery in tending to the wounded while under enemy fire at Okinawa, has died at age 79.”

A Navy corpsman, Bush was honored for treating wounded Marines on May 2, 1945, at Okinawa — the longest and bloodiest battle in the Pacific Theater.

According to the citation for his medal, Bush — just 18 at the time — braved enemy fire to tend to the wounded, and was administering plasma to one wounded officer when the Japanese launched a savage attack. He kept the plasma bottle in one hand as he fired at the enemy first with his pistol, then with a discarded carbine when his own ammunition ran out, it said.

Though seriously wounded, the citation said, Bush “calmly disregarded his own critical condition to complete his mission, valiantly refusing medical treatment for himself until his officer patient had been evacuated, and collapsing only after attempting to walk to the battle aid station.”

Bush was born in Tacoma on Oct. 4, 1926, and dropped out of high school at age 17 to enlist.

After he returned from the war, he graduated from Willapa Valley High School in Menlo, Wash., and married his school sweetheart, Wanda Spooner. He and his bride traveled to Washington, D.C., that fall and he received the Medal from President Truman on Oct. 5, 1945.

He sounds like a good man to me.

Eternal rest grant unto them oh Lord. And may perpetual light shine on them. May the souls of the faithful departed through the mercy of God rest in peace. Amen.

[Wash. Medal of Honor Winner Dies at 79 - Yahoo! News]