Heroes

I just saw a great post on David Bellavia's website about winners of the Medal of Honor. It brought back some memories of my brush with a couple of heroes. One of whom was Captain Harold Fritz. I posted this comment on David's website.

When I was a young PFC in 1975 and driving a jeep for the 11th Cav S4, Captain Harold Fritz climbed in the back seat and rode with us for the trip from Fulda to Graf. The weather was cold and damp and Captain Fritz limped a little. I asked him about it and he said he had a sore ankle for a few years. He never said anything else about it, and we passed the time, two captains and a PFC – I said “Yes, sir” a lot and still remember just how nice a guy I thought this Captain was. A couple of months later I happened to be there when LTG Starry came visiting the Regiment. And I saw the damndest thing. A three-star general saluting a captain. What the hell? And somebody told me that Captain Fritz had the medal. And I went to the library and found his citation. Damn. I had spent days on end with a true hero and didn’t have a clue. I knew Captain Fritz for about two years until we both rotated our separate ways and I’ve never seen him since. But he has stayed in my mind for these 30 some years. His story is readily available on line – look him up.