The politics of valor awards

Last year, we talked about Sergeant First Class Earl D. Plumlee, the hero of Forward Operating Base Ghazni. He stopped an insurgent assault on that base while braving enemy fire and treating the friendly victims of the assault. Plumlee was recommended by his commanders for the Medal of Honor, but the nomination died at the Army’s Human Resources Command and it was downgraded to a Silver Star Medal instead. Our buddy, Dan Lamothe at the Washington Post writes about what happened in the process that derailed the nomination;