News-Record.com – Greensboro, North Carolina: News: Protesters stay peaceful during anti-war rally
“Traitor!” a man in a leather biker vest screamed into a megaphone Saturday afternoon on one side of Greene Street.On the other side of the street, an anti-war demonstrator shouted back: “I have three Bronze Stars! How much combat have you seen?”
After reading the story about the event Saturday at Phill G. McDonald Plaza, I asked Susan who Phill McDonald was.
Army Pfc. Phill McDonald was a Medal of Honor winner, killed in 1968 in Vietnam. The medal was presented posthumously in 1970 by President Richard M. Nixon.
Jim Schlosser wrote a story in 1993 about how his family was angry because the news media constantly called the plaza “governmental plaza,” and many in the community weren’t even aware of who Phill G. McDonald was.
I can claim ignorance since I’m not native to Greensboro. I can’t anymore.
McDonald was a hero in an unpopular war, like so many soldiers who are dying now overseas. I hope we all remember their names after all the shouting.