President Obama next Monday will posthumously award the Medal of Honor to Pfc. Anthony T. Kaho’ohanohano and Pfc. Henry Svehla, Korean War soldiers. Both displayed conspicuous gallantry in combat that cost them their lives. When faced by an enemy with overwhelming numbers on Sept. 1, 1951, Kaho’ohanohano ordered his squad to take up more defensible positions, while he faced the enemy alone. When his ammunition ran out, he engaged the enemy hand to hand until he was killed. Svehla, a rifleman, charged enemy positions on June 12, 1952, when his platoon came under heavy fire. He inflicted heavy casualties. When an enemy grenade landed near his comrades, Svehla threw himself on the grenade and was mortally wounded. Members of both men’s families will be on hand to accept the medals during the ceremony in the White House’s East Room. (White House release)
The defense intelligence community has tried three times in the past decade to build a “common intelligence picture”—a single data stream providing the information that commanders need to make decisions about the battlefield. The first two attempts failed. But officials say things are different today.