New blog for you to read…

Know Your Medal of Honor Recipients:

First Sergeant Maximo Yabes (US Army) received his Medal of Honor for his actions on February 26, 1967, near Phu Hoa Dong, Republic of Vietnam. His citation reads:

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. 1st Sgt. Yabes distiindex.html"> MIME-Versis moved through a withering hail of enemy fire to another bunker 50 meters away. There he secured a grenade launcher from a fallen comrade and fired point blank into the attacking Viet Cong stopping further penetration of the perimeter. Noting 2 wounded men helpless in the fire swept area, he moved them to a safer position where they could be given medical treatment. He resumed his accurate and effective fire killing several enemy soldiers and forcing others to withdraw from the vicinity of the command post. As the battle continued, he observed an enemy machinegun within the perimeter which threatened the whole position. On his own, he dashed across the exposed area, assaulted the machinegun, killed the crew, destroyed the weapon, and fell mortally wounded. 1st Sgt. Yabes' valiant and selfless actions saved the lives of many of his fellow soldiers and inspired his comrades to effectively repel the enemy assault. His indomitable fighting spirit, extraordinary courage and intrepidity at the cost of his life are in the highest military traditions and reflect great credit upon himself and the Armed Forces of his country.

Sergeant First Class Rodney J. T. Yano (US Army) received his Medal of Honor for his actions on January 1, 1969, near Bien Hao, Republic of Vietnam. His citation reads:

Sfc. Yano distinguished himself while serving with the Air Cavalry Troop. Sfc. Yano was performing the duties of crew chief aboard the troop's command-and-control helicopter during action against enemy forces entrenched in dense jungle. From an exposed position in the face of intense small arms and antiaircraft fire he delivered suppressive fire upon the enemy forces and marked their positions with smoke and white phosphorous grenades, thus enabling his troop commander to direct accurate and effective artillery fire against the hostile emplacements. A grenade, exploding prematurely, covered him with burning phosphorous, and left him severely wounded. Flaming fragments within the helicopter caused supplies and ammunition to detonate. Dense white smoke filled the aircraft, obscuring the pilot's vision and causing him to lose control. Although having the use of only 1 arm and being partially blinded by the initial explosion, Sfc. Yano completely disregarded his welfare and began hurling blazing ammunition from the helicopter. In so doing he inflicted additional wounds upon himself, yet he persisted until the danger was past. Sfc. Yano's indomitable courage and profound concern for his comrades averted loss of life and additional injury to the rest of the crew. By his conspicuous gallantry at the cost of his life, in the highest traditions of the military service, Sfc. Yano has reflected great credit on himself, his unit, and the U.S. Army.

Private Jacob F. Yeager (US Army) received his Medal of Honor for his actions on May 11, 1864, at Buzzard's Roost, Georgia. His citation reads:

Seized a shell with fuze burning that had fallen in the ranks of his company and threw it into a stream, thereby probably saving his comrades from injury.


For those of you looking for something else to read, I will point you to Blogging the WU... a blog about Winthrop athletics (and possibly other things) by my good friend Jeremy. So, for those of you wondering why we haven’t started a podcast yet, this should tell you. Jeremy has been too busy working on getting this blog up and running to do all of the leg work needed to get our podcast up and running. Maybe one day I will be able to get him to focus less on what he wants to do and more on what I want to do. Anyway, make sure you check out his blog. Winthrop University may not endorse it, but we at I’m just sayin… do.


Congrats to the Big South for claiming a National Championship in college baseball yesterday. That’s the nicest thing I can say on the subject. For those of you who think it is silly that I don’t like the team that won, I will simply say… of course it is. Just like it is silly that you don’t like Clemson or USC or UGA or UNC or (insert school/team here). Sports is filled with silly, irrational feelings. I accept that. You should as well.


In weight related news, I had a doctor’s appointment yesterday and weighed in at 218. Not where I wanted to be, but better than I feared I’d be. It doesn’t help that the appointment was late in the day. Still, it’s a lot better than the 249 I started at.


Stay safe this weekend.