President Obama will present the Medal of Honor to Army 1st Lt. Alonzo Cushing posthumously on Nov. 6. The Civil War Union Army lieutenant served as commanding officer of Battery A, 4th United States Artillery, Artillery Brigade, 2nd Corps, Army of the Potomac, when his battery was charged near Cemetery Ridge in Gettysburg, Pa. During Pickett’s Charge, Cushing manned the only remaining serviceable field piece in his battery and went up against the Confederate forces, sustaining injuries to the abdomen and the right shoulder. He pressed through the injuries and continued to fire before being shot and killed by Confederate forces. He is credited with helping the Union Army repel the assault with his bravery in the battle. His cousins, Frederic Stevens Sater and Frederic Cushing Stevens III, will be in attendance for the White House ceremony, according to a Pentagon release.
Members of the House Armed Services Committee say the AIM-260 Joint Advanced Tactical Missile program has been set back three months due to the ongoing government shutdown. The comment is noteworthy because the JATM's status has been kept tightly under wraps.
