Medal of Honor Recipients in Arlington National Cemetery

I wandered onto a page listing all of the Medal of Honor recipients who are buried in Arlington Cemetery.  I selected several names at random just to read about the man behind the name.  The result was several inspiring stories of valor and bravery, of soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen.  One was a captain in the horse cavalry who fought Indians in Arizona.  Another was a marine who served in China during the Boxer Rebellion in 1900.  A soldier earned his medal in 1918, in World War I in France, and a sailor saved lives in Korea in 1951.  Of course, there were some stories from World War II as well.

There was only one name in the Z section, that of Lt. Colonel James Zeamer Jr., of the United States Army Air Corps (the service that predated the Air Force).  Zeamer won the Medal of Honor fighting off Japanese fighters from a bomber near New Guinea in 1943.  One of his crewmen, one Joseph R. Sarnoski, also won the Medal of Honor in the same plane in the same fight.  Sarnoski shot down several Japanese planes, but was mortally wounded in the fight.  Knocked down by an explosive shell, he crawled back to his machine gun and continued firing until death overtook him.  He died at his station.

Sarnoski was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously, was buried in New Guinea, his remains later relocated to the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, in Hawaii.  Read all about this brave American here.

Lt. Colonel Zeamer survived World War II and died in March 2007 at the age of 88, his interment being in Arlington Cemetery.

If you want inspiration by great Americans, do visit this site and read several obituaries at random.  You will meet great men from other times and be inspired.