Hanging in...

Know Your Medal of Honor Recipients:

Private First Class William J. Grabiarz (US Army) received his Medal of Honor for his actions on February 23, 1945, at Manila, Luzon, Philippine Islands. His citation reads:

He was a scout when the unit advanced with tanks along a street in Manila, Luzon, Philippine Islands. Without warning, enemy machinegun and rifle fire from concealed positions in the Customs building swept the street, striking down the troop commander and driving his men to cover. As the officer lay in the open road, unable to move and completely exposed to the pointblank enemy fire, Pfc. Grabiarz voluntarily ran from behind a tank to carry him to safety, but was himself wounded in the shoulder. Ignoring both the pain in his injured useless arm and his comrades' shouts to seek the cover which was only a few yards distant, the valiant rescuer continued his efforts to drag his commander out of range. Finding this impossible, he rejected the opportunity to save himself and deliberately covered the officer with his own body to form a human shield, calling as he did so for a tank to maneuver into position between him and the hostile emplacement. The enemy riddled him with concentrated fire before the tank could interpose itself. Our troops found that he had been successful in preventing bullets from striking his leader, who survived. Through his magnificent sacrifice in gallantly giving his life to save that of his commander, Pfc. Grabiarz provided an outstanding and lasting inspiration to his fellow soldiers.

Chief Quartermaster Patrick H. Grace (US Navy) received his Medal of Honor for his actions on June 10-11, 1871, on board the USS Benicia. His citation reads:

On board the U.S.S. Benicia during the attack on the Korean forts, 10 and 11 June 1871. Carrying out his duties with coolness, Grace set forth gallant and meritorious conduct throughout this action.

Sergeant Peter Grace (US Army) received his Medal of Honor for his actions on May 5, 1864, at Wilderness, Virginia. His citation reads:

Singlehanded, rescued a comrade from 2 Confederate guards, knocking down one and compelling surrender of the other.

Daniel, Susie and The Wife all have ear infections… So I’m having to take care of everyone and run the house. Therefore, We will have to skip our regular Kids Show segment today. We should be back with everything tomorrow. Until then, remember to vote for the Charleston Baseball Hall of Fame. Here is who I voted for:

Tom Hatley: Longtime (24 years) James Island High baseball coach led the Trojans to AAA state titles in 1994 and 1996 (Lower state champs in '99); nine region championships; also served as an assistant coach to Citadel coach Chal Port (1981-83, 89-91); continues to coach at James Island Charter High where he has more than 453 wins; overall state coach of the year (1996 & '99); Class AAAA coach of the year twice and twice the Class AAA coach of the year; past president of SC High School Baseball Coaches Association.

Gettys Glaze: James Island native who was a standout on The Citadel's 1990 College World Series team; one of the few players ever to pitch and catch in the same game of the CWS; was a 15th round draft pick of the Boston Red Sox in 1992; inducted in 2007 as a member of The Citadel Athletic Hall of Fame.

Britt Reames: A hard-throwing right-hander who finished his Citadel career with an 18-7 record and 2.03 ERA; native of Hanahan; after his senior season, was second in school history with 296 career strikeouts, having established the mark for strikeouts in a season (135 in '94) and game (18, vs. Marshall in '95 during the SoCon Tournament); a two-time All-SoCon performer (first team in '95; second team in '94); in '94 he had the best league ERA (2.16) and in '95 was tops in the league in strikeouts per 9 innings (11.3); played on two SoCon Tournament championship teams; drafted in the 17th round by the Cardinals and in 2000 pitched for them in the NLDS against Atlanta and the NLCS against New York; played six years in the majors for the Cardinals, Expos, Athletics and Pirates; inducted in The Citadel Athletic Hall of Fame in 2008.