Gurnee Medal of Honor recipient says living up to it is the hardest part

Getting the medal is the easy part, Allen James Lynch told a crowd of about 30 seniors and veterans at Wheeling Township offices Tuesday.

“Afterward, it's what you do with the medal that's the hard part,” said the 65-year-old Medal of Honor recipient from Gurnee, reflecting on his life since receiving the nation's highest military decoration from President Richard Nixon in 1970.

The then-24-year-old Lynch was only a year younger than Army staff Sgt. Salvatore Giunta, who Tuesday was awarded the Medal of Honor by President Barack Obama for putting himself in the line of fire in Afghanistan to save two comrades.

On Oct. 25, 2007, Giunta, from Hiawatha, Iowa, was serving as a rifle team leader in the Korengal Valley when an insurgent ambush split his squad into two groups. Giunta was under fire when he pulled a fellow soldier back to cover and rescued another who was being carried away by two insurgents, according to the Army.

He is the first living service member from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq to receive the award.

Lynch, a Vietnam War veteran, similarly disregarded his own safety during a Dec. 15, 1967 firefight in which he rescued three wounded soldiers and stayed behind to protect them when the rest of his company was forced to withdraw.

The two men have more in common than their actions or the award, having served in unpopular, protracted wars often likened to one another.

Lynch, originally from South suburban Dolton, met Giunta's parents during an Oct. 17 USO gala in Chicago and has read interviews the Army sergeant has given to newspapers since being tapped for the award.

“You can really tell that he has a quality,” Lynch said. “Everything I read about him is he's a humble guy. I think he really gets it.”

Lynch said when he first received the award he didn't quite realize the responsibility of being given such an honor. He had other things on his mind, like his new marriage, his job and his school work.

Lynch said when he and wife, Susan, returned home after he collected his medal in Washington, D.C., the first thing she told him was to take out the trash, which he had forgotten.

“That brought me down to earth real quick,” he said with a laugh.

After getting out of active military duty in 1969, Lynch served 21 years in the Army Reserve and National Guard. He retired in 2005 as chief of the Veterans Rights Bureau for the Illinois Attorney General.

He now volunteers as the chief service representative for the Illinois State Council of the Vietnam Veterans of America and ombudsman for the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve program.

Initially a shy public speaker, Lynch now frequently talks about his life and experiences at veteran's events, schools, colleges, American Legions, and anywhere people want to hear his story. He shares his opinions on everything from military policies to politics.

“He is and will be history,” Karen Gretz of Mount Prospect said after hearing Lynch speak Tuesday. “I wish we had recorded his message. I thought everything he said was right on when it came to our students in school. They don't know what our history is, what depression is, what being hungry is like. I'm happy that he's doing something with that honor beyond his military experience.”

Today he is one of only 87 living Medal of Honor recipients.

“When I first got the medal there were 400 people in the Medal of Honor Society,” he said.

Lynch's advice to Giunta, “Just keep your core values. Don't get full of yourself.”

• Daily Herald news services contributed to this report.