I roto i ana haerenga e whā ki Vietnam, he maha ngā wā i whawhai ai a Meia John J. Duffy i muri i ngā rārangi hoariri. I tētahi o aua haerenga, ko ia anake i whakaora i tētahi ope taua o Vietnam ki te Tonga i te parekura. E rima tekau tau i muri mai, ka whakahōnoretia te Distinguished Service Cross i whakawhiwhia ki a ia mō ēnei mahi ki te Medal of Honor.
I whānau mai a Duffy i te 16 o Poutū-te-rangi, 1938 i Brooklyn, New York, ā, i uru atu ki te Ope Taua i te Poutū-te-rangi 1955 i te 17 o ōna tau. Nō te tau 1963, i whakatairangatia ia hei āpiha, ā, i uru atu ki te 5th Special Forces Unit, arā, ko ngā Green Berets.
I roto i tana mahi hōia, e whā ngā wā i tukuna ai a Duffy ki Vietnam: i te tau 1967, 1968, 1971 me te 1973. I tana mahi tuatoru, i whakawhiwhia ia ki te Mētara Whakahonore.
I te tīmatanga o Āperira 1972, ko Duffy te kaitohutohu matua mō tētahi ope taua rangatira i roto i te Ope Taua o Vietnam ki te Tonga. I te ngana a te Ope Taua o Vietnam ki te Raki ki te hopu i te turanga tautoko ahi a Charlie i ngā maunga waenga o te whenua, i whakahaua ngā tāngata a Duffy kia aukati i ngā ope taua o te ope taua.
I te tata o te mutunga o te wiki tuarua o te whakaekenga, i mate te rangatira o Vietnam ki te Tonga e mahi tahi ana me Duffy, i whakangaromia te pou whakahaere o te ope taua, ā, i iti haere te kai, te wai, me ngā matā. E rua ngā whara o Duffy engari i whakakahore kia whakawāteatia.
I ngā hāora wawe o te 14 o Āperira, i ngana a Duffy ki te whakatū i tētahi wāhi taunga mō ngā waka rererangi hei tuku taonga anō, engari kāore i angitu. I te neke haere tonu, i taea e ia te tata atu ki ngā tūranga ārai-waka a te hoariri, ka puta he whakaekenga ā-rangi. I whara te meia i te tuatoru o ngā wā i ngā kongakonga pū, engari i whakakahoretia anō te tiaki hauora.
I muri tata mai, ka tīmata te whakaekenga pū a ngā hōia o te Raki o Vietnam i te turanga. I noho a Duffy ki te wāhi tuwhera hei ārahi i ngā hērakapeta whakaeke a te US ki ngā tūranga o te hoariri hei aukati i te whakaekenga. I te wa i mutu ai te pakanga nā tēnei angitu, ka arotakehia e te meia te kino o te turanga, ā, ka whakarite kia nekehia ngā hōia o te Tonga o Vietnam kua whara ki te wāhi haumaru. I whakarite hoki ia kia tohatohahia ngā matā e toe ana ki te hunga e kaha tonu ana ki te tiaki i te turanga.
I muri tata mai, ka tīmata anō te hoariri ki te whakaeke. I haere tonu a Daffy ki te pupuhi i a rātou mai i te kaipuke pū. I te ahiahi, ka tīmata ngā hōia hoariri ki te rere mai ki te turanga mai i ngā taha katoa. Me neke haere a Duffy i ia tūranga ki ia tūranga hei whakatika i te pupuhi whakahoki, hei tautuhi i ngā ūnga mō ngā kaitātari pū, tae atu ki te pupuhi tika mai i tētahi kaipuke pū i tōna ake tūranga, kua takahia.
I te tōnga o te pō, kua mārama ka hinga a Duffy me āna tāngata. Ka tīmata ia ki te whakarite i tētahi hokinga whakamuri, me te karanga mō te tautoko a ngā kaipuke pū i raro i te pupuhi huna a Dusty Cyanide, ā, ko ia te mea whakamutunga ki te wehe atu i te turanga.
I te atatu o te rā i muri mai, ka whakaekea e ngā ope taua a te hoariri ngā hōia o Vietnam ki te Tonga e hoki whakamuri ana, ā, ka nui ake ngā mate me te marara o ngā toa. Ka noho a Duffy ki ngā tūranga tiaki kia taea ai e āna tāngata te pana i te hoariri ki muri. Kātahi ka arahina e ia te hunga i toe—he tokomaha o rātou i whara kino—ki te rohe whakawātea, ahakoa te whai tonu a te hoariri i a rātou.
I te taenga atu ki te wāhi whakawātea, ka whakahau a Duffy i te hērakapa kia pupuhi anō ki te hoariri, ā, ka tohua te wāhi taunga mō te hērakapa whakaora. Kāore a Duffy i pai ki te eke ki tētahi o ngā hērakapa kia eke rā anō te katoa ki runga. E ai ki te pūrongo whakawātea a te San Diego Union-Tribune, i te wā e taurite ana a Duffy i runga i tētahi pou i te wā e whakawātea ana i tana hērakapa, ka whakaorangia e ia tētahi parachute Vietnamese ki te Tonga kua tīmata te taka mai i te hērakapa, ka hopukina ia e ia ka tōia whakamuri, kātahi ka āwhinahia e te kaipū o te tatau o te hērakapa, i whara i te wā e whakawātea ana.
I te tuatahi i whakawhiwhia a Duffy ki te Distinguished Service Cross mō ngā mahi i runga ake nei, heoi kua whakanuia ake tēnei tohu ki te Medal of Honor. I whakawhiwhia a Duffy, 84 tau te pakeke, me tōna teina, a Tom, ki te tohu ā-motu teitei rawa atu mō te pūkenga hōia mai i te Perehitini Joseph R. Biden i roto i tētahi hui i te Whare White i te 5 o Hūrae, 2022.
"He mea whakamiharo te kite atu kei te ora tonu te 40 tāngata kāore he kai, he wai, he matā i roto i ngā rōpū kohuru a te hoariri," te kī a te Tumuaki Tuarua o ngā Ope Taua, a Joseph M. Martin, i te hui. Tae atu ki te karanga kia whakaekea tōna ake tūranga kia taea ai e tana ope taua te hoki whakamuri, i taea ai te mawhiti. E whakapono ana ngā tuakana o Meiha Duffy o Vietnam ... nā ia i whakaora tā rātou ope taua i te whakangaromanga katoa."
I te taha o Duffy, tokotoru atu anō ngā hōia Vietnamese, ngā ope motuhake o te ope taua, i whakawhiwhia ki te mētara. Ko Dennis M. Fujii, ko te Satini o te Ope Taua, ko Edward N. Kaneshiro, me te Satini o te Ope Taua, ko Dwight Birdwell.
I reti a Duffy i te marama o Mei 1977. I roto i ana tau 22 e mahi ana, i whakawhiwhia ia ki ētahi atu tohu me ngā tohu motuhake e 63, tae atu ki ngā tohu Purple Hearts e waru.
I muri i tana reti i te Meiha, ka neke ia ki Santa Cruz, California, ā, i te mutunga ka tūtaki ia ki tētahi wahine ko Mary tōna ingoa, ka moe wahine hoki. I a ia e noho ana hei tangata whenua, ko ia te perehitini o tētahi kamupene whakaputa pukapuka i mua i tana noho hei kaihoko hea, ā, ka whakatūria e ia tētahi kamupene kaihoko hekenga utu, ā, i te mutunga ka riro i a TD Ameritrade.
I riro anō hoki a Duffy hei kaitito, e whakaatu ana i ētahi o ana wheako pakanga i roto i ana tuhinga, e tuku ana i ngā kōrero ki ngā whakatipuranga o muri mai. He maha āna rotarota kua whakaputaina ki te ipurangi. E ono ngā pukapuka rotarota i tuhia e Major, ā, i whakaingoatia ia mō te Tohu Pulitzer.
Kei runga i tētahi whakamaharatanga i Colorado Springs, Colorado, he rotarota nā Duffy i tuhi, ko "Front Line Air Traffic Controllers" te taitara, hei whakahonore i ngā patunga o ngā kaiwhakahaere rererangi o mua. E ai ki te paetukutuku a Duffy, nāna anō i tuhi te Requiem, i pānuitia i te huraina o te whakamaharatanga. Nō muri mai, i tāpirihia te Requiem ki te wāhanga waenga o te whakamaharatanga parahi.
Nā te Kānara Reti o te Ope Taua a William Reeder, Jr., he hōia tawhito, i tuhi te pukapuka Extraordinary Valor: Fighting for Charlie Hill in Vietnam. E whakaatu ana te pukapuka i ngā mahi toa a Duffy i te pakanga o te tau 1972.
E ai ki te paetukutuku a Duffy, ko ia tētahi o ngā mema whakatū o te Special Warfare Association, ā, i whakaurua ia ki te OCS Infantry Hall of Fame i Fort Benning, Georgia i te tau 2013.
Mā te Tari Tiaki o te Ao e whakarato te mana hōia e hiahiatia ana hei ārai i te pakanga, hei pupuri hoki i te haumaru o tō tātou whenua.
Wā tuku: Whiringa-ā-rangi 16-2022
