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.c The Associated Press, October 9
WASHINGTON (AP) -- A century after Theodore Roosevelt became a hero at the
Battle of San Juan Hill, the House decided that he should be awarded the Medal
of Honor.
Roosevelt led the Rough Riders volunteers in Cuba during the
Spanish-American War and was hailed for his bravery in the bloody battles of
Kettle Hill and San Juan Hill. But partly because of a political dispute, he was
never rewarded for his service despite a personal campaign for the Medal of
Honor.
``Those who served with Teddy Roosevelt never doubted his courage,'' Rep.
Paul McHale, D-Pa., an ex-Marine who sponsored the measure, said Thursday.
``The men who went up the hill with him that day for the rest of his life
and for the rest of their own, remembered a man of extraordinary courage who in
time of battle displayed himself to enemy fire with absolute fearlessness,''
McHale said.
The measure, passed by voice, goes to the Senate. Only the president can
award the Medal of Honor.
Roosevelt's legend grew out of battles on the two hills in San Juan Heights
just east of Santiago, Cuba, on July 1, 1898, during the short-lived
Spanish-American War that made the United States a world power. The future
president led the charge of his volunteers up Kettle Hill, alongside Army
regulars, but by the time he mustered a force to reach nearby San Juan Hill it
had been taken by regulars.
The San Juan Heights action became generally known as the Battle of San Juan
Hill.
Roosevelt, who actively argued for U.S. intervention in Cuba and war with
Spain, resigned as assistant secretary of Navy and took the position of
lieutenant colonel with the First U.S. Volunteer Cavalry, the Rough Riders. The
fighting in the San Juan Heights killed 15 and wounded 73 of the unit's 490 men.
Roosevelt, said Rep. Stephen Buyer, R-Ind., was ``bold-hearted,
brave-hearted and lionhearted.''
Two reasons are often cited for why Roosevelt never got the medal.
Secretary of War Russell A. Alger disliked Roosevelt, particularly because
he was among officers who signed a letter urging Alger to order troops home from
Cuba where many were suffering Yellow Fever. The letter, leaked to the press,
was harshly critical of the administration of President William McKinley and his
secretary of war.
The second reason lay in Roosevelt's personality and his open campaign for
the medal.
AP-NY-10-09-98 0336EDT
Copyright 1998 The Associated Press. |