Findings

Congress finds the following with regards to the original decision to award a Silver Star to Thomas Helmut Griffin: (1) When awarding him the Silver Star, CPT Griffin’s chain of command was unaware of the full extent of his valorous actions and the numerous risks he took for his soldiers, all above and beyond the call of duty. (2) Congress notes that although CPT Griffin was struck three times by enemy fire, and at one point was completely surrounded by the enemy, he continued to fight and lead his battalion against devastating and overwhelming enemy fire. (3) Congress notes that CPT Griffin’s Commanding Officer, Colonel Dean E. Hutter (ret.), sent a letter to the Department of the Army dated November 6, 2013, in which he accounts for the revelation of additional, substantive and material evidence not known at the time of the decision to award the Silver Star, and in which he describes as compelling the justice of upgrading CPT Griffin’s sustained and varied acts of combat valor to their rightful level of recognition, the Medal of Honor. (4) Congress further notes that Colonel Hutter issued a letter to former United States Representative Sam Farr on September 15, 2011, noting his support for an upgrade from a Silver Star to a Medal of Honor, having recognized CPT Griffin’s acts of valor as, numerous, selfless demonstrations of personal risk in pressing a close-combat attack against a well-entrenched element of a battalion-size enemy formation.