Good day from New York, where we are carefully following today's frightening incident at the Glasgow International Airport in Scotland.  We all know what immediately comes to mind when we hear a car has plowed into an airport terminal bursting into flames, especially a day after those two car bombs were diffused in London. The witness accounts all suggest it was a deliberate act, but at this writing, whether it is an act of international terror related to the London car bombs remains to be seen.

A year ago I was in the UK covering a terror threat to US-bound airliners from London.  That incident is the reason these days we are forced to carry our shampoo and contact solution in ziplock bags to get through airport screening checkpoints.  Before that, it was a shoe-bombing attempt aboard a London to Miami flight that resulted in us having to remove our shoes before we enter the concourse. Within hours of today's incident in Scotland, American airports were again ramping-up security, and I can't help wonder if the days of getting dropped-off at the terminal door are now numbered. Is that what we will remember this day for?

NBC News senior investigative correspondent Lisa Meyers will join us from the UK to lead our Nightly News coverage tonight of the Scottish airport incident and what investigators have learned about the London car bombers.

We are also covering the flooding situation in Texas and Oklahoma.  Our Jay Gray is working that story.

Pete Williams will take a look at the Supreme Court's strong swing to the right, and Mike Taibbi on America's newest big cities, and what the latest census numbers say about the way we live.

Thanks for checking-in. I hope you join us tonight for NBC Nightly News.

We received first word from our London bureau that something was up -- and we now know much more about what was discovered and who they are looking for. I'm writing this about 4 minutes after getting off the air with a network special report -- an update on this scary situation in London.  A car loaded with gasoline, compressed gas and roofing nails, a crowded nightclub and a cellphone detonator.  What an awful combination.  British citizens are being told to dial 999, their equivalent of 911, if they see anything suspicious.  We are quite busy assembling our package of coverage for tonight and so this will be a short final post for the week.

While the London story (and its various outgrowths) will dominate tonight, we also have a great report from Jim Maceda, just back from an embed with the very same Stryker brigade that I once spent time with.  The temperature where Jim was with these U.S. soldiers? 140 farenheit -- about the edge of human tolerance, especially considering the work they are doing.

If we have time tonight, we'll look at some of your emails, at immigration, and we'll of course end with our regular Friday "Making a Difference" segment.

I hope you can find time to read about today's Medal of Honor recipient, as we profile all 110 living recipients.  Talk about making a difference.

I would ask only that you have a good weekend, and a safe one.  Remember to take time out to watch Nightly News this weekend, and we'll see you from home base Monday night.   If you're going to be on the road in the New York area between 6 and 7pm tonight, be extra vigilant: my son has a driving lesson scheduled.  Please join us tonight for the Friday edition..

Every weekday for 110 straight days we will feature a different living recipient of the Medal of Honor. These are the men who have received their nation's highest military honor. Brian is a board member of the Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation. The words and photos are courtesy of Artisan Books, publishers of "Medal of Honor: Portraits of Valor Beyond the Call of Duty by Peter Collier with photographs by Nick Del Calzo.

FREDERICK E. FERGUSON
Chief Warrant Officer, U.S. Army  Company C, 227th Aviation Battalion,
1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile)

Frederick Ferguson got a part-time job driving a gas truck to pay for flying lessons while serving out his enlistment in the Navy, earning his pilot’s license before his discharge in 1962. Over the next two years, he hung out at airports and got his commercial license. Then he took his first helicopter ride and knew instantly that he wanted to be a helicopter pilot. He joined the Army’s Warrant Officer program and graduated from the nine-month program in May 1967 certified in rotary-winged aircraft. Two weeks later, he was in Vietnam, a copilot with the 227th Aviation Battalion of the 1st Cavalry (Airmobile). By August he was in command of his own helicopter, a UH-1D slick.

On January 31, 1968, at the beginning of the Tet Offensive, Chief Warrant Officer Ferguson was flying back to base, having just dropped off engineers to repair a damaged truck. As he was monitoring the radio traffic, he heard that a helicopter carrying members of the 1st Cavalry had gone down in the enemy-controlled city of Hue and that another helicopter had been badly shot up in a failed attempt to rescue them. "The Air Cav doesn't leave its men behind," Ferguson said to his three-man crew. They all agreed that they should go get the downed Americans.

Waiting to refuel at his base, Ferguson asked the crews of three Huey gunships if they wanted to accompany him on a rescue mission. "Why not?" was the reply, and the four helicopters took off.

On the ground, the beleaguered GIs had taken refuge in a tiny, isolated South Vietnamese Army compound, reporting by radio that they were under heavy fire. Ferguson circled until the fire abated; he knew he would have to get in and out quickly because enemy mortars had already targeted the site.

Then, despite warnings to stay clear of the area, Ferguson and his gunship escort began a low-level flight at maximum airspeed along the Perfume River. The North Vietnamese were everywhere, and the gunships were firing at them constantly. Ferguson located the compound, stood his helicopter on its tail, and began to descend blindly in the dust storm created by his rotors. When he touched down, he saw that there was a one-foot clearance between a flagpole and a rotor blade on one side of the craft and one foot between the blade and a wall on the other.

As the GIs quickly got on board, the enemy mortar fire began. One shell hit near the helicopter's tail. When the last man was pulled aboard and Ferguson was powering the helicopter straight up, another mortar hit beneath him, spinning the craft 180 degrees. He regained control, put his nose down, and headed out.

One of the Hueys was shot down as it was heading back to base, but its crew was rescued. The other two that did manage to land were so badly damaged that they were no longer able to fly.

Ferguson went home in June. He was serving as an instructor at Fort Walters in Texas a year later when he received a call from the Pentagon ordering him to go to Washington. President Richard Nixon presented him with the Medal of Honor on May 17, 1969.

I'm standing in front of an Apple store in Hollywood, California writing this on the virtual keyboard of an iPhone as about 100 of the faithful wait for them to go on sale tonight.

The glass keyboard takes some getting used to as I'm a two-thumb BlackBerry user. But, I remember that the first time I used the BlackBerry, I hated it, but got the hang of it eventually. (As I was typing "hang", I mistyped "hanh" and the iPhone suggested "hang". A tap of the virtual space bar quickly fixed it.)

The iPhone doesn't run on the fastest data networks available and when I typed www.msnbc.com, it took 30 seconds for the home page to fully load, pictures and all.

Like the iPod, the iPhone has an unswappable battery.  When it wears out, the thing has to go back to Apple for battery replacement.  That may be okay on your music player, but hey, this is your phone, too!

Still, it's a cool gadget and I suspect Steve Jobs of Apple may have a hit on his hands.

EDITOR'S NOTE: George Lewis filed this blog entry via e-mail. Watch his Web-extra video on the anticipation, the hype, and the reviews around the iPhone. 

Editor's note: Washington Producer John Rutherford writes a weekly blog on the soldiers and Marines buried at Arlington National Cemetery. There were no public burials this past week, so he is writing instead on a Purple Heart ceremony today at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C.

Small-town America is bleeding for the rest of the country.

A disproportionate number of casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan seem to be from towns most Americans have never heard of, towns like Gladys, Va., Clinton, Utah, and Spring Lake, N.C.

At a ceremony today at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, 19 soldiers, most of them from similar small towns, were awarded Purple Hearts. We asked some of them why they joined the Army.

"My dad did three tours in Vietnam, my brother was infantry," Sgt. Blayne Sheets, 21, of Berea, Ohio (pop. 18,970), said. "I just thought I'd do my part, too."

For Spc. Evan McQuistun, 24, of Trenton, Fla. (pop. 1,617),  the reason was more practical.

"For a job," he said. "There's not a lot of places to work in Trenton."

Spc. Michael Cameron, 21, of LaGrange, Ga., (pop. 25,998) was attracted by the educational benefits.

"I always liked the FBI, and I noticed that school was always expensive, and by joining the Army, they pay for college and for schooling," he said. (Click here to watch video, learn more about Cameron)

Most soldiers, either from small towns or large cities, probably enlist for similar reasons, so why so many from small-town America?

"There's nothing else to do, sir," Sgt. Sheets said. "We go out and want to have fun. That's all it is."

So the Army's fun?

"I think so, sir. I'm in for life."

Spc. Michael Brown, 24, of Torrington, Conn., (pop. 35,202) said there's not a lot of opportunities in small towns.

"But my decision was to give back to my country," he said. "I felt like I wanted to do something good, and I know I did, and I'm proud of myself for it."

So are we.

The morning of June 27 was sticky even by South Florida standards, but that didn't dissuade hundreds of supporters and sponsors from coming out to cheer the return of a young pilot who has written a new page for the history books. Drummers, singers and dancers performed in advance of the ceremonial arrival, when a small Columbia 400 buzzed the crowd at Opa Locka Airport near Miami. 23-year-old Barrington Irving completed an around-the-world solo flight -- and unofficially became the youngest and first black pilot ever to do so.

Barrington Irving waves to fans after completing an around the world solo flight, making him unofficially the youngest and first black pilot to do so.

Born in Jamaica and raised in Miami's inner city, Barrington tenaciously created a support system of sponsors to make his plane, named "Inspiration", a reality.  On March 23 he took off -- destined to see the world and to inspire young people along the way.  His then-new passport is now filled with stamps from Italy, Egypt, India, Hong Kong, Japan and more. Each stamp represents a memory immortalized.

His mentor, United Airlines pilot Carl Robinson, inspired Barrington to dream. Now Barrington is inspiring others and showing by example that not even the sky is the limit.

Click here to listen to Barrington talk about how he overcame obstacles to fulfill his dream. In this "own words" Web-exclusive video, he also describes the beauty he saw and the turbulence he experienced during his trip.

Learn more about Barrington Irving on his Web site.

/

Barrington Irving and his father Barrington Irving, Sr., at an arrival celebration after the 23-year-old returned from an around the world solo flight.

Supporters cheer Barrington as he addresses the crowd. Barrington smiles as he answers questions from the media.All photos by NBC's Stephanie Himango

This was a history-making day in the U.S. Supreme Court chamber, and that was evident from the tone of Pete Williams' voice when he walked us through his version of events for tonight. Justice Breyer provided the emotional high point of the court session during his 27-minute oral dissent -- more of a direct rebuke of the majority opinion and its authors.  We'll look at the decision, the dissent and the impact of the court's action today.

Also tonight: the death -- one more time -- of the immigration compromise, and the rise of the people in the process.  There was more bad news on the China front today, with a major export to this country stopped cold.  The weather news is grim in Texas as Don Teague will again report, but there is good news for all bald eagles and all of us who revere them: Anne Thompson will report on their removal from the endangered list.  We have a lot more planned, but I don't want to hand all of our plans over to our capable competition.

...IN ANOTHER TIME
Yesterday's power outage here in New York reminded me of one of my favorite LBJ stories. On the night of the famous New York blackout in 1965, Johnson was in his Lincoln convertible driving around his ranch in Texas.  He parked in one of his favorite spots overlooking the Pedernales River, and was listening to the local AM radio station, a CBS affiliate.  He heard first word of the blackout on the CBS radio hourly newscast.  He called the White House using the radio telephone in his car, and no one in the West Wing knew anything about a blackout in New York.  By listening to the radio and calling Washington from a scenic overlook at his ranch, the President of the United States broke the news to his own government that New York was in the dark.  He promptly appointed his aid Joe Califano (later Health and Human Services Secretary and these days with Partnership for a Drug-Free America) to be his point man for updates from New York.  The recorded phone conversations between the two men -- in the hours that follow -- indicate they investigated terrorism and sabotage as possible motives (FBI Agents physically inspected the power lines between the United States and Canada) before both were ruled out. In the end, it proves that you can learn a lot from your favorite local radio station.

The New York Times featured an article today on how more people are using Post-It Notes at home, but more notably had an error in a photo caption in the A Section: it indicated that Gordon Brown will now move his family into No. 10 Downing Street, with his elevation to Prime Minister.  The gist of the caption: that he won't have to move far, since he's been living right next door at No. 11.  In truth, the Blair family has been living at No. 11 all along, because the residence portion was more suitable for their children.

About today's featured Medal of Honor recipient: those who watch Ken Burns' new PBS World War II epic, "The War" when it airs this coming fall will get to know Walt Ehlers.  He plays a central role in Burns' film, for his heroism on the Normandy beach on D-Day.  He is as sweet a man as I've ever met.  What Walter did not know during that ugly morning of combat was that his own brother had died not far from where Walter himself was fighting and leading his men through the withering German gunfire.  Just another story in our collection of the 110 living recipients of the Medal.

We hope you can join us for tonight's broadcast, as always.

Hi. The demise of immigration reform, the rising tensions between Congress and the White House, the nervous jitters on Wall Street, and the long-held dream of a middle-aged geek (a Led Zeppelin reunion?) are the topics today.

Immigration reform  is now clearly, most sincerely D-E-A-D. BullDogPundit takes a victory lap.   Ed Morrissey muses on what to do next.   Patrick O'Conner says the GOP is official breaking up with Bush over this.  And Josh Marshall notes the President's tone in conceding defeat.

The White House is refusing to cooperate with Congressional subpoenas   Andrew Ward has some analysis.  and Glenn Greenwald writes about how much we don't know about the administration's eavesdropping program.

Cheney in the spotlight: Bruce Fein, a former Reagan Administration Justice Department official and rock-ribbed conservative says the Vice President has run amuck and must be stopped.

Andrew Leonard writes in Salon about the current chills Wall Street is experiencing in the wake of the implosion of two Bear Stearns hedge funds. And NYU economist Nouriel Roubini pronounces the outlook for the financial markets and the real economy "fugly and fuglier."  But Steve Chapman thinks Americans' economic pessimism is delusional.  Bloomberg columnist Mark Gilbert has more on those Bear hedge funds, and raises the question of whether the entire derivatives market is nothing more than an elaborate confidence game.  And leave it to the cinematically named Ambrose Evans-Pritchard writing in the London Telegraph to invoke the D-Word.  But hey who's worrying? The Financial Times writes about how the "mega rich" are leaving the "merely wealthy" in the dust. 

Adam B at Daily Kos takes a look at today's Supreme Court decision on school desegregation.. which the Court says does not overturn Brown v. Board of Education, a contention Justice Stevens seems to disagree with in his dissent. 

Your Wall Street Journal might be a little thin tomorrow -- reporters didn't show up for work today in protest of the looming takeover of their parent company by News Corp's Rupert Murdoch.

Disappointed by this summer's crop of movies? Slate looks ahead to next summer!

And the Spice Girls are reuniting? Feh. Now THIS is news!!

Every weekday for 110 straight days we will feature a different living recipient of the Medal of Honor. These are the men who have received their nation's highest military honor. Brian is a board member of the Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation. The words and photos are courtesy of Artisan Books, publishers of "Medal of Honor: Portraits of Valor Beyond the Call of Duty by Peter Collier with photographs by Nick Del Calzo.

WALTER D. EHLERS
Staff Sergeant, U.S. Army  18th Infantry, 1st Infantry Division
/

Walter Ehlers’s older brother, Roland, had bullied and protected him throughout their childhood in Kansas. By D-Day, the two had already fought their way through North Africa and Sicily in the same unit. While training for the Normandy landing, Walter was made a squad leader and transferred to a different company. The brothers wished each other luck and promised to “meet up on the beach.”The first wave was pinned down on the beach. Ehlers’s squad, along with about two hundred other soldiers, were on an LCI (landing craft, infantry) scheduled to be in the second wave. Orders were quickly changed. Ehlers and his squad were transferred to a Higgins boat and sent to the beach three hours ahead of the second wave. They were not prepared for the chaos that they found on the beach.

By June 9, Ehlers's unit had worked its way about eight miles inland, near the small town of Goville. The French countryside was checkerboarded with thick hedgerows several feet high, which provided cover for German units fighting desperate rearguard actions. As it moved ahead through the dense brush, Sergeant Ehlers's platoon suddenly came under heavy fire from machine guns and mortars. Ehlers climbed up a hedgerow and called on his men to follow. He spotted a German patrol coming up from the other side and killed four of the enemy. Ordering his men to fix bayonets, and firing from the hip, he destroyed a machine-gun nest and scattered a mortar crew. Next he attacked a second machine-gun nest, killing three more soldiers.
The platoon moved out the next morning, but it came under intense fire from both sides. When the company commander ordered a withdrawal, Ehlers realized that if someone didn't provide cover, the Americans would be picked off one by one. Motioning to his automatic rifleman to follow him, he scrambled to the top of a mound of earth that provided a vantage point on enemy positions. Then the two men began to shoot at German machine guns and mortars, drawing fire on themselves as the rest of the platoon headed for cover. Ehlers was hit in the back but managed to kill the sniper who shot him. When his automatic rifleman was badly wounded, Ehlers dragged him to safety despite his own injuries.
Ehlers was treated at a field station. The bullet that hit him had actually entered his side, ricocheted off a rib, and exited through his back into his pack—where it pierced a picture of his mother, a bar of soap, and his entrenching tool. He insisted on returning to action; unable to wear a backpack, he strapped on two bandoliers of ammunition, picked up a rifle, and went to find his men.
A month later, on July 14, Ehlers encountered his brother's company commander, who told him that Roland had died at Omaha Beach when an enemy mortar round hit his landing craft. Ehlers saluted the officer who had brought the bad news, then found a private place where, for the only time during the war, he "went to pieces."
In December 1944, on a train headed back to the front after recuperating from another wound, Ehlers read in Stars and Stripes that he had been awarded the Medal of Honor. Before he could react, the soldier sitting next to him saw the news, too. Knowing Ehlers only by his last name and knowing that he had a brother, he said, "Hey, I see that your brother just got the medal." Without looking up, Ehlers replied, "Yes, I read that, too," saying to himself that Roland certainly deserved it.

Brian's back! He's been gone from the vlog for a few days now, but today he gets in front of the camera and previews some of the stories we're working on for tonight's broadcast.

Click here or on the image to watch.

If you've watched any cable news today, you may agree that it paints a pretty grim picture of our national discourse and the political conversation in this country.  I just read Joe Klein's comments as posted on his blog back today, and so it goes.  What a contrast to the scene in Parliament today where Tony Blair received a rare ovation as he departed (while there's no shortage of vitriol in the U.K.).  In the middle of yet another cable segment on the Ann Coulter-Elizabeth Edwards encounter yesterday, a bit of local news shocked us to attention: a power outage here in Manhattan, extending into some of the City's power lines.  Knowing how these things sometimes cascade through the system, I found myself looking down 6th Avenue while on the phone, half expecting traffic lights to go dark while I watched. 

The last time the power went out in New York, I was thankful that I always carry a knife: I used it to pry open the elevator door that had just closed when everything went dark.  We just heard this is affecting the E,V,D and 4, 5 and 6 trains... from 5th Avenue (200 yards to the east of our office) East to the East river.  That's a lot of people affected. We just heard the NYPD is holding over the shift currently on duty.  That is probably safe, but can't be good.

To the task at hand: the Cheney story on the Hill is heating up, and we'll also look at the air travel woes across the country.  My thoughts on that subject are well-known in this space, and it just got worse for Northwest customers.  We learned today that fully 40 percent of New York flights (coming or going) no longer leave or arrive on schedule.  That's an embarassment.

There's news on women and pregnancy, a minor device debut from Apple, our continuing series of reports on "the new rich" and an amazing discovery in the Middle East.

Please read today's Medal of Honor Recipient biography, and I'll go watch the streetlights and monitor the coverage of this power outage while we prepare tonight's broadcast. I hope you can join us for our Wednesday edition tonight.

Brian will anchor tonight's broadcast, but NBC's Anne Thompson takes over today's vlog duties.

Click here or on the image to watch.

Every weekday for 110 straight days we will feature a different living recipient of the Medal of Honor. These are the men who have received their nation's highest military honor. Brian is a board member of the Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation. The words and photos are courtesy of Artisan Books, publishers of "Medal of Honor: Portraits of Valor Beyond the Call of Duty by Peter Collier with photographs by Nick Del Calzo.

RUSSELL E. DUNHAM
Technical Sergeant, U.S. Army  Company I, 30th Infantry, 3rd Infantry Division

In mid-1940, Russell Dunham, unable to find a job, joined the Army. After the war started, he saw action in North Africa, Sicily, and Anzio as part of the 3rd Infantry Division. In August 1944, his unit landed at Toulon in the south of France and fought its way toward Alsace-Lorraine. Five months later, Sergeant Dunham’s company was facing a significant German force at the small town of Kaysersberg, France. On the morning of Jan. 8, 1945, the men were issued white mattress covers to camouflage them in the deep snow and ordered on patrol. Heavily armed with carbine magazines and a dozen grenades hooked into his belt, Dunham scrambled through the snow up a hill where three German machine guns were dug in.

The first gun was in a bunker made of logs; Dunham took it out with a grenade. He advanced toward the second gun and had turned to call up his squad when a bullet hit him in the back and knocked him fifteen yards down the hill. As he got back on his feet, a grenade hit nearby; he kicked it away. He then crawled to the machine gun and threw his own grenade into the bunker, killing two of the Germans and taking a third prisoner. With blood staining his white wrapper, he ran fifty yards to the third machine-gun emplacement and took it out with a grenade, killing its three crew members. As German infantrymen began to jump out of the foxholes the machine guns had been protecting, he fired down on them. Chasing them down the back side of the hill, Dunham and his brother Ralph, who was in the same unit, came upon a fourth machine gun, and Ralph took it out with another grenade. Suddenly, an enemy rifleman appeared out of the trees and shot point-blank at him; he missed Dunham but killed a GI behind him. Dunham immediately shot the German with his carbine. By the end of the action, he had killed nine enemy soldiers.
Dunham's back wound had not yet fully healed when he was back on the line again. On Jan. 22,
his battalion was surrounded by German tanks at the town of Holtzwihr. Most of the men were forced to surrender and eventually sent to Germany, but Dunham managed to hide in a sauerkraut barrel right outside a barn. The next morning, as he was about to make his escape, two German soldiers took him prisoner. While they were patting him down, they found a pack of cigarettes in his pocket and began to fight over it. As a result, they never finished searching him and missed a pistol snuggled up under his arm in a shoulder holster. They held him in the barn all day; late in the afternoon, they drove him toward the German lines.
After going a few miles, the driver stopped at a roadside bar. When the other guard's attention wandered, Dunham drew his pistol and shot him in the head, then sprinted back in the direction from which they had come. He located the barn where he had hidden earlier in order to orient himself, then struck out for the American lines at night.
He hid the next day, resuming his journey at nightfall; his feet and ears were frozen. Then he was spotted by American engineers working on a bridge over the Ill River. They took him to the battalion field hospital, where doctors worked feverishly to save his feet from amputation. One of the medics treating him reported that the commanding officer had intended to recommend him for a Distinguished Service Cross but was now changing it to a Medal of Honor.
Lieutenant General Alexander Patch presented the medal to Dunham on April 23, 1945, in Nuremberg.

As I write this, there is a troupe singing opera on 6th Avenue, a few stories beneath my office.  They have microphones and amplifiers, and sadly I'm not a big fan.  So, I just increased the volume of my iPod here in the office.  Problem solved.

To the news: a primary story on our broadcast tonight happened last evening when the man once known as "Richard Nixon's Favorite Mayor" -- Indiana Republican Senator Richard Lugar -- gave a speech (after much deliberation) breaking with the president over the war in Iraq.  While not quite an "if I've lost Cronkite ..." moment, it was a moment given Lugar's reputation. We'll talk about the speech and the fallout and the policy tonight.

China is in the news on a few fronts, and we're going to double-team that story tonight, between Pete Williams and Andrea Mitchell, who's been here in New York with us all day.  We'll revisit last night's lead story -- the Lake Tahoe fire -- and look at how it's developing into something of an environmental debate.  George Lewis remains on post.

The Cheney series in the Washington Post is getting a lot of attention, and one of several components in a generalized heightening of the scrutiny surrounding the Vice President.  We'll be doing our own reporting on that subject this week.

We have a story right out of our own back yards tonight: the scourge of what seems like a new and bionic strain of poison ivy this year.  As a victim myself, I raised my voice on this topic at the editorial meeting this afternoon.  Additionally, we're going to look at hedge funds tonight (as part of a new series of reports) and we'll even take a whack at explaining how they work.  We already know a lot of people are making a lot of money -- many of them with money in the first place.

How great is Chris Colvin's prairie dog video selection today?  I had already caught that little gem on the Web.  Yes, it has come to this.  I'm discussing an animal video, and said animal has signed a development deal.

So we're moving on a lot of fronts toward tonight's broadcast.  We hope you can join us for the Tuesday night edition of NBC Nightly News.

Hi. Lots of buzz today over Republican senior statesman Richard Lugar's decision to bolt from the GOP fold on Iraq. Plus, VP Cheney in the spotlight, Obama's first commercials, and the best five seconds of video you've ever seen.

Here's the AP's take on Lugar bolting on Iraq.  But Liberal Oasis says Lugar's position should not define the opposite pole of the Iraq debate.

The Washington Post is in the midst of its jaw-dropping opus on Vice President Cheney. All of it is "Must-Read" as they say.  And Unbossed sums up many a blogger's reaction with the question: what took 'em so long?  Also, ThinkProgress updates us on Cheney's ongoing battle with Congress over his prerogatives.

NoMoreMr.NiceBlog looks at the Cheney series and today's L.A. Times piece on Bush aides reportedly considering a "truce" with Congressional Democrats on Iraq policy and sees "the end of High Bushism." And Parapundit thinks there's a good reason why Bush is in a corner on Iraq policy.. and it's not just because the war is going badly. But blogger Strata-Sphere says everyone should quit wringing their hands because Lugar-be-damned the surge IS working.

Glenn Greenwald picks up on how all of a sudden the entire Iraq insurgency is being referred to as al-Qaida.

Gay Patriot is quoting a London tabloid (hmmmm) to warn us that Iran is trying to provoke a war with the U.S.

Politics: the AP sums up Rudy Giuliani's not-good-very-bad-truly-awful week.

The Washington Post's Sally Quinn HEARTS Fred Thompson (and thinks he should replace Dick Cheney!)   But Thomas Edsall writing at Huffington Post isn't sure how the whole lobbyist thing is going to go down.

Barack Obama is up with his first TV ads in Iowa. See for yourself.

As its Senate sponsors try to revive the immigration bill today, Matthew Spalding at National Review says nay.

The economy: you may have heard something vaguely bad in the past few days about a couple of hedge funds run by big New York investment bank Bear Stearns. The funds trade in mortgage debt -- specifically the subprime mortgage market that's been in free-fall since February. The Economist talks about the systemic risk posed to the financial markets by leveraged trading in derivatives such as those mortgage debt products (called CDOs) and points out that the mortgage debt problem could be just the opening act to something much bigger. (And here's a reminder: Warren Buffett called derivatives "financial weapons of mass destruction" back in 2003.) Business Week points out that the Bear Stearns funds have gotten the attention of the SEC. (See: barn door closed, horse already out.) Oh and related to The Economist's point about CORPORATE debt ... the Blackstone Group (massive private equity fund) IPO didn't have much staying power.

OK, and now to the chipmunk. If you haven't seen it yet, drop everything. It is just as advertised: the funniest five second video you've ever seen. And Best Week Ever gets all chipmunk-meta.

Brian will anchor tonight's broadcast, but Chip Reid takes today's vlog duties from Washington, D.C.

Click here or on the image to watch.

Every weekday for 110 straight days we will feature a different living recipient of the Medal of Honor. These are the men who have received their nation's highest military honor. Brian is a board member of the Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation. The words and photos are courtesy of Artisan Books, publishers of "Medal of Honor: Portraits of Valor Beyond the Call of Duty by Peter Collier with photographs by Nick Del Calzo.

ROGER H.C. DONLON
CAPTAIN, U.S. ARMY  Detachment A-726, 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne), 1st Special Forces
/

Roger Donlon always felt that the military was his destiny in life. His father had served in World War I; all four of his brothers served in the Army or Air Force. He had wanted to go to the newly established Air Force Academy and learn to fly, but an eye examination detected the beginning of a cataract. Instead, Donlon graduated from the U.S. Military Academy Preparatory School and qualified for West Point in 1955. After two years he resigned to join the Army. He graduated from Officer Candidate School and was eventually assigned to the 7th Special Forces Group in 1963.

In the spring of 1964, Donlon, now a captain, was sent to Vietnam as commander of the twelve-man Special Forces Team A-726. Their mission was to train, advise, and assist a civil defense force that provided physical security and improved the living conditions for approximately five thousand peasants in several villages in the Nam Dong Valley, a few miles from the Laotian border. Camp Nam Dong, as the Americans' base was called, also included 311 South Vietnamese irregulars and 60 Nungs, ethnic Chinese fighters who fiercely opposed the Communists.
At around 2 a.m. on the morning of July 6, 1964, Captain Donlon, having just finished walking guard, entered the camp mess hall as a mortar round exploded on the roof, knocking him down. He got up and sprinted toward the camp's main gate. He saw three Vietcong sappers, each with dynamite strapped to their backs, and killed them. Another mortar round hit, knocking him down again and tearing off one of his boots. Hearing one of his men yell that the enemy was near the ammunition bunker, he ran there. A third mortar round exploded, tearing off his other boot and all his equipment and wounding him badly in his arm and stomach. He tore off a piece of his shirt and stuffed it into his stomach wound to stop the bleeding. He later learned that approximately nine hundred Vietcong were threatening to overrun the camp.
Over the next several hours, Donlon scampered from one position to another, providing his men with encouragement and ammunition. As he moved the wounded team sergeant to safety, another mortar round hit, injuring him in the shoulder and killing the sergeant. Donlon then treated four wounded Nungs so they could stay in the fight. Withdrawing his force to the few remaining secure areas in the camp, he was hit repeatedly by shrapnel in his face and over the rest of his body.
Finally, a U.S. aircraft dropped flares. The sky was suddenly illuminated and Donlon saw how deeply into the camp the enemy had penetrated. Directing his force's firepower, he and his men were able to keep the Vietcong at bay until daylight. The next day supplies were air-dropped to the camp, and Marine reinforcements arrived, allowing Donlon and his wounded team members to be evacuated by helicopter.
Roger Donlon left Vietnam on Nov. 20, 1964. On December 5, President Lyndon Johnson awarded Donlon the Medal of Honor, the first of the Vietnam War, as Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara read the citation. All nine survivors of Team A-726 were present. Introducing them to the President, Donlon said, "The medal belongs to them too."
Donlon later asked to go back into combat in Vietnam, but the Pentagon had learned that the Vietcong had put a bounty on his head and refused until 1972, when Donlon returned for a second tour.
He retired in 1988 as a colonel with thirty-two years' service in the Army.

It's hard not to feel sympathy for a sobbing young woman, explaining she only came to this country to work -- for a better life. She believes in her heart, despite what the law says, she has not committed a crime.

On the other hand, it's also difficult not to empathize with an elderly retiree, standing on a street corner with a picket sign, trying to rally support for laws that will remove thousands of day laborers waiting for work on the corners of a suburb that could be anywhere in America.

"We are not bad people," says Teresa Biarra in New Haven, Conn. "We are people dedicated to working." Biarra is here illegally. She's free on bail after federal immigration officers arrested her and 30 others recently.

"The whole thing is the law," says Sue Grant in Farmingville, New York. "I want our politicians to enforce the law, that's all I'm asking." Grant and a few others are picketing at a busy intersection, with signs demanding deportation for anyone here illegally.

The stories of these two women illustrate the nation's sharp divide on illegal immigration. Should we crack down or show compassion? Can we get rid of them, or are they here to stay?

The leaders of Farmingville, part of Suffolk County, New York, and the leaders of New Haven couldn't be farther apart. In Suffolk, Steve Levy is a hardline, law-and-order county executive with soaring approval ratings, and the support of both Democrats and Republicans for re-election.  He has come to personify in many ways, the local official doing everything he can with existing laws on the books to get rid of the thousands of day laborers crowding his county.

"It's not as though we went out looking  for this issue," says Levy venting his frustrations about Washington's inability to fashion an effective immigration policy. "It's hit us on the side of the head like a sledgehammer."

Over in New Haven, Mayor John DeStefano is a strong proponent of integrating illegal immigrants into the community, drawing them out of the shadows in the interest of public safety, and because of the crucial role they play in the local economy.  His police have what's essentially a "don't ask, don't tell" policy with the city's residents when it comes to matters of immigration status.

"What we rely on to create a safe community is police who know who lives in the neighborhoods and those folks have a trusting relationship," is how the mayor sees things.

Interestingly, both local leaders say the main concern is public safety, not some ideological point of view  to influence the nation's foreign policy. That has led Levy in Suffolk county to push for anti-loitering laws, and tougher enforcement of the rules of the road to break up the crowds. Opponents defeated those anti-loitering measures claiming they would criminalize standing on the street, and lead to racial profiling.

"Standing While Latino," they argued, would become a crime. So, police began turning up the heat in "routine" traffic stops. Anyone stopped without a license, and no proper identification gets sent to jail. The result, perhaps not surprisingly, is dozens of illegal immigrants behind bars. And the sting is just gathering pace.

Perhaps because of the sensitivity of targeting people of a certain race or color, Levy insists all of this is about public safety.

"The answer is to enforce the laws on the books and not to hide your eyes and pretend it's not happening," he insists. Levy also has been asking for federal immigration officers to staff the county's jails. So anyone arrested and here illegally can immediately face possible deportation. Already the sheriff has referred thousands of suspects to federal authorities. They'd like that number to rise even higher.  Essentially, removing one illegal worker at a time.   

Meanwhile, back  in New Haven, the Mayor is determined to keep federal officers out of his community -- especially after a roundup last month that swept up 31 people, including Teresa Biarra. The mayor's concern (and that's putting it mildly) is that the raid was unprecedented, and staged two days after the city formally approved a new resident identification card program, the first in the nation. Available to everyone, but particularly useful to undocumented residents, who'll now have a document to use to sign up for city services, open bank accounts, and identify themselves to police.

So, did the immigration raid happen because of the card program?

"Homeland security at every level insists that was not the case," says the mayor, based on calls all the way up to Secretary Michael Chertoff.

"If they weren't, it was just an incredible coincidence,"  the mayor said, his voice heavy with suspicion. He adds the local economy has become dependent on what's called, "the undocumented community." And he offers his view of what citizenship really is all about. "It's a set of values about working hard, about taking care of your family ... values that say you are responsible for one another and the community," he says. Values rather than a piece of paper or a passport is his point.

"I think the idea of sanctuary is just nuts," Levy fires back. "When you look the other way at illegality ... it just encourages more," he insists. Rather than a municipal ID card, he suggests a fool-proof worker ID card only available to people here legally -- that, along with punishing employers who hire workers they shouldn't.

"There's no line you can draw ... based on documented or undocumented at this point," argues DeStefano. Everyone living in cities are too close and interdependent to be separated is how he sees it. He hopes the resident cards build trust, especially with police. One reason for the program was a wave of crime directed at workers on payday, their pockets full of cash, and no one willing to speak openly to the authorities.

All of  which brings us back to where we started. Sue Grant in Suffolk continues her protests directed at the men on the corners. Protests entering year five. She believes her community can be restored to what it used to be.

"All we have to do is put a fence along the border," she suggests. "And deport the people who are here."

"I'm simply looking for a better life," says Biarra. Immigration hearings will determine if she and the others now in custody will be able to stay in this country, or be forced to go.

Crackdown or compassion. Each side believes their approach works. And just about everyone agrees the solution must come from Washington. However, with all the partisan bickering and stalemate, no one expects much from D.C. anytime soon.

The longest day of the year is now in our rear-view mirror, and we enter that nether-season where seemingly one-eighth of the American population is on some form of summer vacation at any given time.  But we trudge on.  The news never stops, nor do we.  My thanks to Lester Holt for filling in for me on Friday.  The following are our options for the start of this new week:

The Tahoe fire is still dangerously out of control, as is the drought across some areas of the country.  The Supreme Court came out with two fascinating 5-4 rulings today, which are always best explained by our own Pete Williams -- as they will be tonight.

Also tonight, we'll revisit those long days and weeks and months after Sept. 11, when the "pit" at Ground Zero in Lower Manhattan was the focal point of this city.  We now know the air was harmful -- and while common sense dictates that the air might well have been harmful, some positive EPA readings received much attention back then.  Former EPA chief Christie Todd Whitman answered for some of that today.

I realized during our editorial meeting today that I was the only person in the room with a teenage son at home.  When others scoffed at the notion of video games having an addictive quality, I paused...and thought of some of the six-hour gaming marathons I've witnessed.  We're taking a look at that story for tonight.  Also, we have a "What Works" report tonight in addition to an interesting piece of environmental reporting by Anne Thompson.

Please take a moment to read today's Medal of Honor recipient biography.  We're also thinking of Lady Bird Johnson today -- she remains hospitalized in Texas.

Back to work.  We hope to have you with us tonight for the Monday edition of NBC Nightly News.

Every weekday for 110 straight days we will feature a different living recipient of the Medal of Honor. These are the men who have received their nation's highest military honor. Brian is a board member of the Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation. The words and photos are courtesy of Artisan Books, publishers of "Medal of Honor: Portraits of Valor Beyond the Call of Duty by Peter Collier with photographs by Nick Del Calzo.

DREW D. DIX
Staff Sergeant, U.S. Army  U.S. Senior Adviser Group, IV Corps, Military Assistance Command

Drew Dix volunteered for the Army in 1962. He wanted to be in Special Forces, but at eighteen he was too young, so he spent the next three years with the 82nd Airborne and participated in the peacekeeping operation in the Dominican Republic in 1965. By 1968, Dix had become a Special Forces adviser and was in Vietnam working on a CIA project in the provincial capital of Chau Phu near the Cambodian border. His mission was to coordinate intelligence gathering with a company-size unit made up mainly of indigenous Vietnamese, Cambodians, and hinese Nungs, primarily by capturing Vietcong soldiers for interrogation.

In late January, Staff Sergeant Dix and several of his men were operating in and around Cambodia with part of a Navy SEAL platoon to try to acquire definitive intelligence about a rumored Vietcong offensive. Just after dawn on January 31, Dix's unit returned to Chau Phu in the SEAL riverboats to find that the Tet Offensive had already begun and the city had been overrun by two heavily armed Vietcong battalions. (South Vietnamese units hadn't resisted because they thought a cease-fire had been arranged for the New Year holiday.) When they tried to land, they encountered such heavy fire that one of them later said, "It was like a little Normandy."
Dix began to move methodically through the city, picking up isolated pockets of friendly soldiers as he went. One of his first objectives was to rescue an American nurse who had been working in the local hospital. Then he reached several U.S. civilians whose building was being mortared and brought them to safety. One SEAL was killed; the rest pulled out, leaving Dix with only a handful of indigenous soldiers. For the next several hours, he and his men moved from house to house in an effort to liberate Chau Phu. At one point he alone assaulted a building in the face of heavy machine-gun fire to rescue two Filipinos who had been working there; he killed six Vietcong and brought out the two trapped men.
Dix fought through the night. By the next morning, he had assembled a force of twenty men and supplied them with new machine guns and a recoilless rifle. Using classic urban warfare techniques, his force cleared the Vietcong out of the city's hotel, theater, and other buildings. At each step, Dix left wounded soldiers to hold each of the buildings and ensure that he and his men wouldn't be attacked from behind. Then he moved on to the residence of the deputy province chief and rescued the official's wife and children.
By February 2, after a running battle of fifty-six hours, the city was liberated. Dix's small band had killed an estimated two hundred enemy troops, with Dix himself accounting for some two dozen. One of the prisoners he took was the head of the enemy force that was supposed to take over and administer Chau Phu.
A year later, Dix was back in the United States. He had been told he was to receive the Medal of Honor, but he had been involved in so many dangerous actions that he wasn't sure exactly which one he was being singled out for. He was presented with the medal by President Lyndon Johnson on January 16, 1969, in one of the last official acts of his presidency.
Dix is the author of Rescue at River City, which was published in 2000.

Good afternoon from New York.

On Nightly News tonight we will of course follow the story that broke shortly before we came on the air last night. An Ohio medical examiner has now confirmed the body recovered from a forest Saturday afternoon was that of Jessie Davis, the 9-month pregnant woman who was the subject of a week-long search.  In addition to the arrest of her boyfriend, Bobby Cutts, Jr., our Janet Shamlian will report police are also looking into the possibility a second person was involved in either her murder or a cover-up.

NBC's John Yang will preview what some on Capitol Hill believe will be the make or break week for the immigration reform bill which comes back up for debate.  On a related note, Don Teague is offering a piece tonight on what could be called a private sector immigration reform plan. It's an effort to get private companies to publicly pledge not to illegally hire undocumented workers.

Last night we showed you exclusive pictures from Jim Maceda's aerial tour of Iraq's hot spots with the top U.S. General in Iraq.  Tonight: the same war, but a different view.  Kerry Sanders will let us see Iraq from the foot soldier's point of view. Many of them are shooting their own video of daily life on the front lines and posting it on internet pages. Much of it is stuff you don't normally see on TV newscasts.

We have a report out of London on Prince William taking a more visible role during the build-up to next week's Princess Diana anniversary concert. The tabloids that once followed his mother's every move are now increasingly turning their attention toward him, reporting today for example, that he is once again dating his long time love Kate Middleton. Stephanie Gosk will catch us up with the future King at age 25.

One last note.  You may have noticed a slightly new look to our broadcast last night.  We're doing some remodeling here at 30 Rock and so for the next several months I'll be broadcasting in what for me is some pretty familiar territory. The weekend editions of Nightly News will be coming out of the second floor of the TODAY show studio, better known as studio 1-A.  It's got a nice view of Rockefeller Plaza, which you will see, in some of the shots, and if you happen to stroll down west 49th Street in Manhattan between 6:30 and 7:00 EDT you'll be able to catch a glimpse of us at work.

Thanks for checking-in.  I'll see you this evening on TV.

Good afternoon from New York, where we are busy preparing tonight's NBC Nightly News.

Here in the newsroom we just heard from NBC's Jim Maceda in Baghdad who just returned to our bureau after being given rare access to tour the battlefield with America's top commander in Iraq. He spent the day with Lt. General David Patraeus flying over, and landing in the infamous 'triangle of death" to get a handle on how the troop surge is working.  The video he described to us over the phone sounds amazing, and we look forward to airing Jim's report tonight, and hearing what General Patraeus has to say about where things stand.

Tonight we will also look ahead to an in-depth series our partner the Washington Post is beginning tomorrow on Vice-President Dick Cheney, and in particular his influence in defining the administration's policy on the war on terror.  Our John Yang will look at that, and also at questions being raised about how the VP handles classified documents.

We will update the search for a missing Ohio mother, a story that has been getting wall-to-wall play on the cable networks this week. 

Kerry Sanders will tell us about a showdown brewing in Florida over property taxes, and Lisa Meyers has a story about a US Navy veteran whose trip to Iraq landed him in a secret military prison.

As always, thanks for stopping by the site and checking-in.  I'll see you on TV.

Hello from New York. Brian is off this evening so I'll be anchoring the newscast.

All of us in the newsroom have been terribly moved by the pictures from Charleston, S.C., where tens of thousands turned out to honor nine firefighters who lost their lives fighting a furniture store blaze earlier this week. The image of nine flag-draped coffins at the front of a coliseum, with thousands of fellow firefighters from across North America in attendance, was a vivid reminder of the shared sense of duty and danger that cements the bond between those who answer the fire bell in cities large and small. Martin Savage is covering that story for us.

We learned today of what German authorities believe is a credible terror threat against Germans in Afghanistan or even in Germany itself. Our Lisa Meyers will walk us through the mounting bits of intelligence and "chatter" that have European officials very worried tonight.

Pete Williams will preview the CIA's release of what it calls the "family jewels." They are closely-guarded cold war-era secrets that might more aptly be called "dirty secrets."

The space shuttle Atlantis is safely on the ground -- three thousand miles from its intended destination. The weather in Florida wasn't cooperating and so NASA diverted the orbiter to Edwards Air Force Base, California. It was a beautiful touchdown and we'll show it you tonight.

And anyone who has thrown a wedding knows the words "wedding' and "bargain" rarely go together, but some big name discount stores are trying to change that. But would you wear a $90 wedding dress from Target? Before you answer take a look at Michelle Kosinski's report tonight.

Thanks for checking-in this afternoon, we'll look for you tonight on NBC Nightly news.

The distant thunder of Vietnam, a hazy, hurtful memory for most Americans, came roaring to the White House today in a large scale protest. But the object of scorn was Vietnamese President and Communist Chairman Nguyen Minh Triet meeting with President Bush to sign a trade agreement. Several thousand Vietnamese Americans from across the country milled at the edge of Lafayette Park penned behind waist-high barriers, shouting across Pennsylvania Avenue facing the White House:

"Free All Political Prisoners"
      "Down with the Communists"
      "Democracy"
      "Murderer"

I waded through the orderly, noisy protesters, noting they were all ages: older men, some in their Vietnam War uniforms; younger men, one wearing an AC/DC rocker T-shirt, many wearing printed T-shirts, "Stop Kangeroo Court in Vietnam...Human Rights for Vietnam."  Women were as boisterous as men, taking up the cadence of the increasingly incendiary chants:

"VC (Vietcong)" the leader would yell into a bullhorn...
      "Liar" the crowd would yell back
      "VC...Terrorists"
      "VC...Mafia"
  "VC...Go to Hell"

Protesters waved some American flags, but mostly Vietnamese flags, not the Communist Star flag, but a flag of yellow background with three horizontal red bands adopted in 1948. Many carried banners with pointed barbs, "Freedom of Religion or Death,"..."Triet and his Gang are Big Liars,"...and the most common, a blow-up color photo of Catholic Father Nguyen Van Ly at "The People's Court in Hue City, March 30, 2007," an activist for religious freedom reportedly sentenced to 8 years in jail. The crowd repeatedly shouted:

      "Free Father Ly"
      "Free Father Ly"
      "Freedom for Vietnam"

As I marveled at the freedom of assembly, the freedom of speech within earshot of the White House, I began to notice how Americanized these Vietnamese-Americans have become. Ironically, while they were outside cursing what they describe as tyranny, President Bush was inside meeting cordially with the Communist President of Vietnam, and exchanging views on religion and human rights. The Presidents may not have heard, but the sounds and sights I will long remember, especially the hats worn by the protesters. All kinds of hats: a few traditional Vietnamese conical hats, a straw cowboy hat, but hundreds of baseball caps celebrating the vitality of America: 

      Sports caps: "Boston Red Sox" ..."New York Mets"..."Carolina Panthers"
      University caps:  "Notre Dame"..."UCLA" ... "Virginia Tech"
      Designers: "Tommy Hilfiger"..."CK Jeans"..."PHAT"
      Cars: "Lincoln LS" ... "Fairway Ford - Greenville, SC"
      Parks:  "Disney World" ... "Sea World"
      Beer:  "Bud"
      Cities:  "New Orleans" ... "Chicago" ..."Atlanta"
      
And more hats:

Nike, Addidas, Nautica, Izod, Mickey Mouse, camoflauge, berets, Michael Jordan, USA, Vietnam

It was a vigorous protest and a Mad Hatter's tea party. My two favorite toppers were a women who gave me the evil eye wearing a "Monster In-Law" ball cap, and a man inexplicably wearing three caps stacked on his head. I had to look twice at that to be sure. After several hours of shouting and socializing the crowd dissolved away on a sunny, summer day.

The protesters never saw Chairman Triet or President Bush or know whether they were even heard. Before leaving I saw a small group of demonstrators sitting in silence directly across from the White House. They had duct tape over their mouths and had laid a strand of barbed wire on the ground with a sign, "We Want to Speak Up - Help Us." They were heard.

Every weekday for 110 straight days we will feature a different living recipient of the Medal of Honor. These are the men who have received their nation's highest military honor. Brian is a board member of the Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation. The words and photos are courtesy of Artisan Books, publishers of "Medal of Honor: Portraits of Valor Beyond the Call of Duty by Peter Collier with photographs by Nick Del Calzo.

DUANE E. DEWEY
Corporal, U.S. Marine Corps  Company E, 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines, 1st Marine Division
/

When 19-year-old Duane Dewey joined the Marines soon after North Korean forces rolled into the South, it was an “indefinite” enlistment—the duration of the war plus six months. Dewey was part of the 1st Marine Division, which was near Panmunjom in the spring of 1952. The command had established a series of outposts beyond the main American force. Corporal Dewey was the leader of a machine-gun squad in a reinforced platoon dug in at one of these positions when it was attacked by a battalion-size Chinese force around midnight on April 16.

The American outpost was quickly overrun. Carrying their machine guns, Dewey and his men fell back; now out of their foxholes and fighting on exposed ground, they tried to stabilize their position. Dewey worked his gun—firing so regularly that he feared the barrel might melt—and the bodies of Chinese soldiers piled up on one another in front of him. Seeing that he had only three cans of ammunition left, he ran to another machine gun for more. As he was returning, a grenade exploded at his feet, knocking him down. Bleeding heavily from the thigh and groin, he lay on the ground a moment, trying to reorient himself. A medic appeared, and as he knelt over Dewey to remove his blood-soaked pants, another grenade hit the ground beside them. Dewey grabbed it and for a second considered throwing it back. But he decided he didn't have the time or the strength, so he tucked it underneath him, pulling the medic down with his other hand and yelling, "Hit the dirt, Doc." The grenade detonated, lifting Dewey several inches off the ground and tearing up his hip. The medic was unharmed.
Dewey was taken back to the aid station. For an hour he lay outside waiting for treatment, not sure
that he would make it. Then he was given a shot of morphine and taken to a trench filled with other wounded Americans. He spent the rest of the night wondering which side would win the battle raging outside. Shortly after dawn, when American troops relieved his company, he was evacuated. Doctors treating him in the field hospital found that in addition to the gaping shrapnel wounds throughout the lower part of his body, he had also taken a bullet in the stomach. He was hospitalized in Japan for a month, then flown to the States, where he would spend three more months convalescing. On the way home, the plane stopped over briefly in Hawaii, where an officer visited him in the hospital and presented him with the Purple Heart. When Dewey casually mentioned that he had heard his captain was going to recommend him for the Medal of Honor, the officer shot him a look that made him resolve never to mention it again.
Dewey was back home in South Haven, Michigan, when he received a telegram informing him that he
had indeed been awarded the Medal of Honor. On March 12, 1953, Dwight Eisenhower presented it to him at the White House. "You must have a body of steel," the president said to him after reviewing his citation.
Dewey and his wife returned home after a week in Washington to a great surprise: To honor him, the townspeople had built a three-bedroom prefabricated house for them, completely furnished and with fully stocked cupboards and refrigerator.