The Eighth Tribe, 1978 (5. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1978-12-01 / 12. szám
December, 1978 THE EIGHTH TRIBE Page 9 Our Heritage in America jColumn Editor: Joseph Széplaki HUNGARIANS IN AMERICA (continued from previous issues) Reprinted from: The Hungarians in America 1583-1974; by Joseph Széplaki. The book can be ordered from the editor. HUNGARIAN RECIPIENTS OF THE MEDAL OF HONOR IN THE UNITED STATES Source: Medal of Honor Recipients 1863-1973. Washington, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1973. (93d Congress 1st Session.) MOLNÁR, FRANKIE ZOLY Rank and organization: Staff Sergeant, United States Army, Company B, 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry, 4th Infantry Division. Place and date: Kontum Province, Republic of Vietnam, 20 May 1967. Entered service at: Fresno, Calif. Date and place of hirth: Feb. 14, 1943, Logan, W. Va. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Sergeant Molnár distinguished himself while serving as a squad leader with Company B, 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry, 4th Infantry Division, on 20 May 1967 during combat operations in Kontum Province, Republic of Vietnam. Shortly after the battalion’s defensive perimeter was established, it was hit by intense mortar fire as the prelude to a massive enemy night attack. Sergeant Molnár immediately left his sheltered location to insure the readiness of his squad to meet the attack. As he crawled through the position, he discovered a group of enemy soldiers closing in on his squad area. His accurate rifle fire killed five of the enemy and forced the remainder to flee. When the mortar fire stopped, the enemy attacked in a human wave THE MAGYARS IN HISTORY by S. B. Vardy, Ph.D. Professor of History ■— continued — CHAPTER XX HUNGARIAN CULTURE IN THE AGE OF PATRIMONIAL KINGDOM (Literary and Cultural Developments in the Eleventh and Twelfth Centuries) When occupying the Carpathian Basin the conquering Magyars had brought with them a way of life and culture that was considerably different from that of the contemporary7 Christian World. In the century that followed, they came into contact with, and were influenced both by Byzantine and by Western Christianity, but ultimately ended up accepting the latter. As such, the general make-up of the new Hungarian culture was based largely on Christian faith and civilization in its Latin or Roman form. Medieval European Culture The culture of medieval Western Europe was determined basically by three important institutions: the Christian Church, the feudal system, and the emerging burgher towns. Each of these represented a distinct sub-culture in Western Christian Civilization, and each of them contributed to the general make-up of that civilization. Although already a thousand years old at the time of the Christianization of Hungary, Christian ideology was just then being re-defined by the advocates of the so-called Cluniae Reform. Championed and spread by the zealous sons of St. Benedict, the essence of the new orientation was a renewed emphasis on ascetic and austere life, a rejection of the values of the material world, and a promise of heavenly beatitude. As such, the Cluniae Reform rejected the worldly orientation of the Classical Age, and attempted to direct the attention of mankind solely on the world beyond. While the guiding ideology of Medieval European Civilization was supplied by the Christian Church, its social structure and social system was determined by the institution of feudalism. According to this system European society was divided into the rulers and the ruled. The ruled constituted over ninety per cent of the population, and they were made up almost exclusively of peasant serfs, who were bound to the lands or to the will of the feudal lords. The latter were organized into
