- For most of his political life, Lyndon B Johnson wore
a second world war military decoration for valour under fire despite never
having seen combat, an investigation broadcast on CNN yesterday revealed.
-
- LBJ was awarded the Silver Star, the third-highest US
combat medal, for a 1942 fact-finding mission over the Pacific while he
was a Texas congressman and an acting lieutenant commander in the navy.
-
-
- The citation, issued in the name of General Douglas MacArthur,
said the plane, a B-26 bomber, was "intercepted by eight hostile fighters"
and that Johnson "evidenced coolness".
-
-
-
- In fact, according to surviving members of the crew,
the plane developed mechanical problems before reaching its target and
never came under fire. No other crew member received a medal for the mission.
-
-
-
- The biographer of LBJ, Robert Dallek, said the medal
was the outcome of a deal with Gen MacArthur, under which Johnson was honoured
in return for a pledge "that he would lobby the president, FDR, to
provide greater resources for the southwest Pacific theatre".
|