Medal of Honor

The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of valor.

When President Reagan placed the Congressional Medal of Honor around my neck, it all came racing back to me. The blood flooding the floor of the helicopter and gushing out of the doors as we banked and ran from that Cambodian jungle. The sights and sounds of my six hours in hell. The agony of the wounded and dying kept repetitively flashing through my mind while I watched the honor guard and heard the president, my commander-in-chief, read the details of the award. I was not ashamed of the tears that blinded my eyes. ~ Roy Benavidez

Then Jeff recognized General Blunt. Dumbfounded, he wondered what this was all about. In a bass voice sonorous as a bell, Blunt began reading from the document in his hand: "...for gallantry beyond the call of duty... distinguished themselves conspicuously at the risk of life... voluntarily assisted a battery that was hard pressed, although it was their first experience with artillery and they had already participated intrepidly in the infantry charge... the Medal of Honor, presented in the name of Congress." ~ Harold Keith

B

Life to you was rich and sweet,
Yet with a purpose high and brave,
You willed it that your comrades keep
What you so nobly gave.
- Jessie Lee Bailey, 3rd stanza of "Memory of Sergeant Herbert J. Thomas," originally printed in the Richmond Times & the Charleston Gazette, reprinted in Ut Prosim: "Above and Beyond," The Story of Virginia Tech's Medal of Honor Recipients (2001) by Lieutenant Colonel John A. Coulter II, U.S. Army, Ret., Blacksburg: Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets Development Council, paperback, p. 3.65

General Sladen told me then that I could stand at ease, and I was altogether more comfortable physically than I'd been before. But I was still upset in my mind. I kept thinking how awful it would be if there'd been some mistake, and they'd picked out the wrong fellow to decorate.
I still didn't know what it was General Pershing had pinned on me, so as soon as I dared I squinted along my nose. I couldn't see anything but a little blue ribbon with white stars. I knew that the medal beneath it was the Congressional Medal of Honor. There'd been two of those in our family before. The first one had been given to a major-general who was related to my mother's family.
- John L. Barkley, Scarlet Fields: The Combat Memoir of a World War I Medal of Honor Hero (1930), originally published as No Hard Feelings!, Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2012 edited reprint, hardcover, p. 221

"Into the Hot Zone," the article Mick Ware writes about that night, is Time magazine's cover story less than two weeks later. I earn a Silver Star. But all I hear for ten years is, "Bullshit. I don't believe it. That didn't happen." Then I get a call from the military paper Stars and Stripes. "Hey, you're nominated for the Medal of Honor, did you know that? I hear there's a videotape. Do you have a comment? I'm immediately on the defensive. No one who's served in Iraq has received the US Armed Forces' highest military decoration, except posthumously. "What's on the tape? How did you find out?" The Army's trying to tell me that I'm getting the Medal of Honor, and I'm acting like they're trying to put me in jail. Turns out Ware sold a documentary to HBO. He filmed the entire firefight. Honestly, Ware's anti-war and pro-freedom for the press to tell the truth, but he's got the biggest balls of anyone I've ever met in my life. He was right there the whole time. Because of Michael Ware, everything is corroborated. He was recording the fight the entire time.
- David Bellavia, American Heroes (2024) by James Patterson & Matt Eversmann, New York: Little, Brown & Company, hardcover, p. 146

They name me the first living recipient to earn the Medal of Honor for bravery in the Iraq War. A coworker of mine reads about the award. "Hey, some guy with your name is getting the Medal of Honor. Isn't that weird? How many David Bellavias are out there?" "I know, right? It's so weird," I say. It's surreal and unnatural to get credit when you've lived your entire life to be about the team. It's never about the individual. I'm not here to celebrate me.
I decide to be the first guy to bring his entire unit to the ceremony. If I'm going to go through with this, I'm going to go with the guys that I did it with fifteen years ago. So I get the whole crew in. I bring thirty-two service members to the ceremony in the East Room at the White House in June 2019, including the twelve who were there with me on that night in 2004, plus five Gold Star families, the interpreter, and Mick Ware.
- David Bellavia, American Heroes (2024) by James Patterson & Matt Eversmann, New York: Little, Brown & Company, hardcover, p. 146-147

I served with some of the greatest men I've ever met in my entire life. And I truly believe that 99 percent of our military is Medal of Honor capable. Any soldier who is put in a position to bleed in order to save people would do exactly what I did. This is who we are and how we were raised in the Armed Forces. There are a million reasons why we're divided in this country, but I've never cared what your skin color was, who you worshipped, how you voted, or who you loved. Male, female, if you are willing to get shot at for me and my buddies, I will follow you, and I will lead you anywhere. We're family. That's what makes us elite American warriors. When I was younger, I thought I needed hate to win, hate and anger at my enemy to sustain myself. Now, as I look back, I recognize that we don't fight out of hate. We fight for love- love of our country, our homeland, our family, and our unit. That's stronger than anything the enemy has.
- David Bellavia, American Heroes (2024) by James Patterson & Matt Eversmann, New York: Little, Brown & Company, hardcover, p. 147

When President Reagan placed the Congressional Medal of Honor around my neck, it all came racing back to me. The blood flooding the floor of the helicopter and gushing out of the doors as we banked and ran from that Cambodian jungle. The sights and sounds of my six hours in hell. The agony of the wounded and dying kept repetitively flashing through my mind while I watched the honor guard and heard the president, my commander-in-chief, read the details of the award. I was not ashamed of the tears that blinded my eyes.
- Master Sergeant Roy Benavidez, U.S. Army, Retired, with John R. Craig, Medal of Honor: A Vietnam Warrior's Story (1995), hardcover, p. xv

When I was a young man in the 1950s, right after World War II, there was a special category of hero everyone in America recognized: the men who wore the distinctive ribbon and star of the Medal of Honor. In those years when the legacy of war and sacrifice, bravery and humility was a touchstone in every community, the very mention of the Medal of Honor was part of the secular liturgy, an ideal to be honored and always remembered.
- Tom Brokaw, "A Special Category of Hero", Medal of Honor: Portraits of Valor Beyond the Call of Duty (2003), by Peter Collier (text) & Nick Del Calzo (photographs), New York: Artisan, October 2006 second edition, p. x

I have learned from the MOH recipients invaluable and common lessons. They have an enduring humility about their heroic acts, almost always saying, "I'd rather talk about my buddy who didn't come back." They represent the fundamental fabric of America ethnically, geographically, and economically. They come in all sizes. My friend Jack Jacobs, a Vietnam-era MOH recipient, is a bantamweight. The late Joe Foss looked as if he could be a middle linebacker until the day he died in his mid-eighties. Bob Bush lost an eye on Okinawa, but he sees reality twice as well as anyone I know.
Over the years I've been privileged to attend any number of big deals, from presidential summits to state dinners to royal weddings, World Series, Super Bowls, and Broadway openings, but nothing means as much to me as the time I've spent with the Medal of Honor recipients, many of whom you will read about in this book. They always make me laugh, make me cry, and, most of all, make me proud that we're fellow citizens.
- Tom Brokaw, "A Special Category of Hero", Medal of Honor: Portraits of Valor Beyond the Call of Duty (2003), by Peter Collier (text) & Nick Del Calzo (photographs), New York: Artisan, October 2006 second edition, p. xi

It's not necessarily anything I welcome, but it's part of my job now. This isn't something we ask for, this is something that is bestowed upon you. And with it comes some obligations.
- Command Master Chief Petty Officer Edward Byers, in a statement to Navy Times on 27 February 2016[[1]

C

To tell you the truth, I did it. I know I did it. Other people know I did it. But I'll be God damned if I know how I did it. Put it that way.
- Hector A. Cafferata Jr. as quoted in Beyond Glory: Medal of Honor Heroes in Their Own Words (2003) by Larry Smith, New York: W.W. Norton & Company, hardcover, p. 129

I don't remember much about the incident and I definitely don't remember what I was thinking about in the moment, but, again, that's the amazing thing about people: You never know how you're going to step up, or when.
- Kyle Carpenter, You Are Worth It: Building a Life Worth Fighting For (2019), co-written with Don Yeager, New York: William Morrow, hardcover, p. 304

Whereas the Medal of Honor is the highest distinction that can be awarded by the president, in the name of the congress, to members of the armed forces who have distinguished themselves conspicuously by gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of their lives above and beyond the call of duty ... Whereas public awareness of the importance of the Medal of Honor has declined in recent years; and Whereas the designation of National Medal of Honor Day will focus the efforts of national, State, and local organizations striving to foster public appreciation and recognition of Medal of Honor recipients."
- 101st United States Congress, Public Law 101-564, signed into law by President George H. W. Bush on 15 November 1990, establishing Medal of Honor Day for every 25 March starting in 1991.

The Medal of Honor is the United States' highest award for military valor in action. And while over 150 years have passed since its inception, the meaning behind the Medal has never tarnished. Etched within are the very values that each Recipient displayed in the moments that mattered—bravery, courage, sacrifice, integrity. A deep love of country and a desire to always do what is right.
A distinguished award presented only to the deserving, the Medal tells a story of its own.
- Congressional Medal of Honor Society, Medal of Honor

Real heroes don't seek recognition- their acts of bravery generally take place under circumstances which permit no thought of medals or special awards. Sometimes heroism is prompted by the instinct for survival. Sometimes the unnatural excitement of battle drives men to apparently superhuman feats that surprise the performers as much as their witnesses. And, sometimes the deeds are coolly calculated by men who are fully aware of the possible risks and consequences involved. However, regardess of the types of men who become heroes and regardless of their motivations, Medal of Honor winners share certain attributes in common because of the rules established for the award.
- Donald E. Cooke, For Conspicuous Gallantry (1966), Maplewood: C.S. Hammond & Company, hardcover, p. 11

Despite changes in the law, from 1862 forward, the Medal of Honor has represented the Nation's highest award for heroism in war and- occasionally- in peace. It has been the subject of many legends and misconceptions, but the fact is that most recipients have been modest men who have neither exploited it nor sought wide publicity for it.
Being a Medal of Honor hero has its moment of supreme glory when the award is made by a high official, often at a personal audience with the President of the United States. The wearers hold the honor with pride for the rest of their lives. But most of them prefer to cherish the medal quietly, without subsequent fanfare- not merely out of a sense of modesty, but because public knowledge of the award can actually become a liability. Often so much is expected of a Medal of Honor winner that if he makes even a slight mistake at his job or gets into any kind of financial or marital trouble, he is likely to be subjected to far more adverse criticism and unpleasant publicity than an ordinary citizen.
- Donald E. Cooke, For Conspicuous Gallantry (1966), Maplewood: C.S. Hammond & Company, hardcover, p. 12

The figures tend to indicate that it is more difficult to earn a Medal of Honor now than in the past, and the fact is regulations governing this Nation's highest award have tightened over the years. The care with which legal terminology and restrictions have been worked out in connection with the Medal has made it virtually impossible for an undeserving person to become a recipient. However, no specific regulations can ever give assurance that all genuine heroes will be publicly honored. Undoubtedly there have been thousands of acts of supreme bravery that have gone unrecognized and unrewarded. But it is equally certain that to most of these heroes, courage, like virtue, is its own reward.
- Donald E. Cooke, For Conspicuous Gallantry (1966), Maplewood: C.S. Hammond & Company, hardcover, p. 13

During the Civil War, and for some years afterward when the Army was fighting Indians on the western plains, the Medal of Honor was often awarded for deeds that would now be considered more melodramatic than heroic. In some cases, citations were later stricken from the roll after regulations for the Award were tightened. But in reviewing some of the past records, it becomes clear that popular notions of valor have changed to some degree with the changing times. War has lost its oldtime aura of glamor. An act which was once considered heroic might now be looked upon as merely foolhardy. Modern warfare is seen as a strictly practical, if ugly and unpleasant, job to be done. Because it is a mortally dangerous job, the men who see it through are the heroes.
- Donald E. Cooke, For Conspicuous Gallantry (1966), Maplewood: C.S. Hammond & Company, hardcover, p. 86

The Medal of Honor was first awarded during the Civil War. Of the millions of Americans who have served in uniform since, only 3,429 have received America's highest award. Today only 164 recipients are living; one of whom is Colonel Wesley L. Fox (USMC Ret) who currently serves as Deputy Commandant at Virginia Tech. The Commandant of Cadets between 1884 and 1887 was Lieutenant John C. Gresham. Four years after leaving Virginia Tech his valor in action during the Indian Wars was recognized with the Medal of Honor.
Two great Americans who were not recipienst themselves perhaps best reflect the honor associated with the medal. President Harry S. Truman once said of the award, "I'd rather have this than be President." General George S. Patton told a recipient, "I would give my immortal soul for that medal."
- Lieutenant Colonel John A. Coulter II, U.S. Army, Ret., Ut Prosim: "Above and Beyond," The Story of Virginia Tech's Medal of Honor Recipients (2001), Blacksburg: Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets Development Council, paperback, preface

When I began this book, I felt that those heroes of Virginia Tech would likely have a common characteristic- perhaps a family trait, religion, athletic ability, or academic success. I found no such commonality. What Id id discover was seven men from different backgrounds and experiences, each set apart in a special way.
As I reviewed newspapers, official documents, personal letters, and interviewed family, friends and comrades, I started to feel as if I knew each of these men long departed from the light of this earth. Each responded to the nation's call to service immediately. Those who survived their gallantry continued to serve their nation in the way they were best suited. All exemplified the University's motto Ut Prosim (That I May Serve.) And they each were models in their lives of that trait which our nation has always depended on in its hours of need.
- Lieutenant Colonel John A. Coulter II, U.S. Army, Ret., Ut Prosim: "Above and Beyond," The Story of Virginia Tech's Medal of Honor Recipients (2001), Blacksburg: Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets Development Council, paperback, preface

F

[They have] whatever it takes to go out and do what they did to get the Medal of Honor, whatever it is- the guts, the courage, or whatever. They had the guts, and stupidity too. I didn't have enough sense to come in out of the rain. But I was mad a lot of the time, pissed off. I can truthfully say that I don't remember being scared to death. But I was God damn mad. Anger, hunger, and sex; those are the greatest instincts that we've got. Those are things we are born with. What else is there?
- John William Finn, as quoted in Beyond Glory: Medal of Honor Heroes in their Own Words (2003) by Larry Smith, New York: W.W. Norton & Company, hardcover, p. 68-69

I have been asked if the Medal of Honor helped me advance throughout my career. When U.S. Army centralized selection boards meet to consider a soldier's qualifications for schools, commands, and promotion, awards and decorations are certainly considered. My philosophy has been straightforward- I paid little attention to where my officers went to college or what awards they have received in the past. Instead, I focused on what they could do today, tomorrow, and the next day in leading their soldiers and enhancing unit readiness. I am convinced that my superiors have, for the most part, exercised a similar outlook.
- Lieutenant General Robert F. Foley, U.S. Army, Retired, Standing Tall: Leadership Lessons in the Life of a Soldier (2022), Philadelphia, Casemate, hardcover, p. 165

On the other hand, there have been incidents in the past where Medal of Honor recipients expected special treatment. On one occasion, I received a phone call from the Fort Benning garrison commander requesting my advice about a newly arrived Medal of Honor recipient who complained that he was not being saluted as he wore his award around post and wanted to know when his welcome parade would be scheduled. I took very little time to straighten this soldier out. I see no evidence of expectations from today's recipients, but I have witnessed disdain from a few leaders with preconceived notions about the self-aggrandizing nature of Medal of Honor recipients. For example, one time a general officer and senior rater of my officer efficiency report said to me, "The blue ribbon you wear is an albatross around your neck." I am convinced that I have earned respect from others not due to past awards but because of who I am and the leadership attributes I possess that can help accomplish the mission and make a difference in leading soldiers.
- Lieutenant General Robert F. Foley, U.S. Army, Retired, Standing Tall: Leadership Lessons in the Life of a Soldier (2022), Philadelphia, Casemate, hardcover, p. 165

G

There were more bullets in the air than stars in the sky. A wall of bullets at every one at the same time with one crack and then a million other cracks afterwards. They're above you, in front of you, behind you, below you. They're hitting in the dirt early. They're going over your head. Just all over the place. They were close— as close as I've ever seen.
- Salvatore Giunta, remarks on the 25 October 2007 battle that resulted in Giunta being awarded the Medal of Honor three years later. As quoted by Tim Hetherington in the Vanity Fair article "Medal of Honor Winner Salvatore Giunta on Bravery, Brotherhood, and the Korengal", published 11 November 2010. [2]

The president clasps the medal around my neck, and I can feel the weight of it now. We embrace for a moment- the president and me. Blinking back tears, I turn to face the audience and applause fills the room. But I know it's not for me alone. I know I am part of something bigger, something vast and still incomprehensible. I look at my mom and dad. I look at Brennan's parents, and I look at Mendoza's. And I try to communicate to Brennan and Mendoza wordlessly: This is for you... and for everyone who has fought and died. For everyone who has made the ultimate sacrifice. I am not a hero. I am just a soldier.
- Salvatore Giunta, Living With Honor (2012), New York: Simon & Schuster, hardcover, p. 3-4

I think about my daughter often when I'm out traveling around, giving speeches, shaking hands, talking about my friends in the military. I want her to be proud of me, and to know that what I'm doing is important. I want her to know that I accept the Medal of Honor not for myself, but because it provides a forum for talking about my brothers and the job they are doing, and the sacrifices they've made. Those men and women who do the fighting- too often, they don't get to talk. I want their voices to be heard.
- Salvatore Giunta, Living With Honor (2012), New York: Simon & Schuster, hardcover, p. 291

H

I love watching the brass lock their heels and snap to attention when they see that itty bitty ribbon.
- Heartbreak Ridge (1986), directed by and starring Clint Eastwood. Said by character Sergeant Major Choozoo.

J

When I was decorated in 1969, there were 450 living recipients of the Medal of Honor. Today, there are only about one hundred, and the average age is near eighty. Statistically, in five years there will only be fifty or sixty still alive, and in less than fifteen years there will be none of us left. There has not been a living Medal of Honor recipient from any conflict since the war in Vietnam.
- Jack H. Jacobs, If Not Now, When? Duty and Sacrifice in America's Time of Need (2008), hardcover, p. 271

Perhaps now resigned to the verity that time waits for no one, recipients get together as often as possible, but forty years ago, when men now long gone were still young and were going to live forever, we gathered only every other year. At the first Medal of Honor Society dinner I attended, my tablemates included Charles "Commando" Kelly, the first recipient in Europe in World War II; the flamboyant Marine aviator Pappy Boyington; and the World War I ace Eddie Rickenbacker, who sat to my immediate right. I was twenty-six and passing dinner rolls to a man who had piloted a biplane in dogfights against the Kaiser's "Flying Circus," before my father was born. And it is even more astonishing that also in attendance was Bill Seach, who was born in England in 1877 and had recieved the Medal of Honor for, among other exploits, leading a bayonet charge during the Boxer Rebellion in China in 1900. These men, proud representatives of both their nation and the valor of their fallen comrades, are all gone now.
- Jack H. Jacobs, If Not Now, When? Duty and Sacrifice in America's Time of Need (2008), hardcover, p. 271-272

Today, the oldest living recipient of the Medal of Honor is John Finn, who was decorated for action on Pearl Harbor Day. Born in 1909, John joined the Navy in 1926, and, loquacious as we all tend to be when we finally grasp that we have too many stories and not enough time, he will transfix anyone who cares to listen with tales of what it was like to grow up before the First World War and to ply the Yangtze River as a young sailor aboard an American gunboat.
In 1941, he was stationed in Kaneohe Bay, with a squadron of Navy patrol planes. Rudely rousted from bed by the cacaphony of the Japanese bombs destroying the fleet anchored at Pearl Harbor, John raced from his quarters, sped to the hangars that housed his aircraft, and manned a .50-caliber machine gun mounted on an exposed section of a parking ramp. For the next two hours, Finn, in the open and suffering from more than twenty shrapnel wounds in his back and stomach, blasted at the attacking enemy planes, hitting many of them and not relinquishing his post until the attack was over. Even when we were young, those of us who were raised on stirring John Wayne war movies assumed there was more than a little hyperbole and cinematic license in them. But for forty years I have known a man whose real-life exploits render the movies limp, pallid, and ineffectual in contrast. Art can often approximate life, but it has a hard time doing it justice.
- Jack H. Jacobs, If Not Now, When? Duty and Sacrifice in America's Time of Need (2008), hardcover, p. 272

Recipients of the Medal of Honor really have little in common. They have been from every state, economic station, and ethnic group. But they have shared a strong sense of duty and of purpose and the motivating burden of personal responsibility at the perilous moment of decision. They feared death, but their biggest fear was failing themselves, their friends, and their nation, and thus they have been no different from the tens of millions of the other men and women who have served in uniform.
- Jack H. Jacobs, If Not Now, When? Duty and Sacrifice in America's Time of Need (2008), hardcover, p. 273

I never thought about it. I was sent there to participate, but they still wanted to know if there was anybody who would volunteer to pick these guys up. My answer is, 'It was the right thing to do. And I was the most logical person to do it.' By that time I was a military professional. My thoughts were: You should save your butt. The mission was to get the three guys, I got the three guys, and we got of there okay, and I'm happy. That's the limit of my thinking.
If you start thinking about medals, you're gonna lose your shirt. I've heard of several people who set out to win, not win, but be awarded the Medal of Honor, and, to my knowledge, every one of them got killed.
- Colonel Joe M. Jackson, as quoted in Beyond Glory: Medal of Honor Heroes in Their Own Words (2003) by Larry Smith, New York: W.W. Norton & Company, hardcover, p. 348-349

K

The day before the army left Rhea's Mills, Jeff was surprised to hear his name called while the company was lined up at a morning inspection. Noah's name was called too. Obediently each took two steps forward and saluted. With a measured stamping of feet on the drill ground, half a dozen officers approached. Out of the corner of one eye, Jeff spied Clardy among them. Recoiling, he felt his insides tighten. What had he done now? The tramping stopped. A big man with black whiskers and two curved rows of brass buttons on the front of his blue dress coat, ambled up to Jeff and Noah. He was short and heavyset, with a thick neck and sloping shoulders. He walked with a roll, swaying his hips and planting his feet carefully, like a sea captain. In one hairy hand he carried a piece of paper. Everybody saluted. Then Jeff recognized General Blunt. Dumbfounded, he wondered what this was all about. In a bass voice sonorous as a bell, Blunt began reading from the document in his hand: "...for gallantry beyond the call of duty... distinguished themselves conspicuously at the risk of life... voluntarily assisted a battery that was hard pressed, although it was their first experience with artillery and they had already participated intrepidly in the infantry charge... the Medal of Honor, presented in the name of Congress."
- Harold Keith, Rifles for Watie (1957), New York: Thomas Y. Crowell, hardcover, p. 141-142

Then the general stepped so close that Jeff could smell the pomade on his thick black hair. Leaning forward, he passed a ribbon around Jeff's neck and underneath his collar. Suspended from the ribbon was a tiny piece of red, white and blue fabric. And dangling from the fabric was a shiny bronze star and eagle that flashed more brilliantly in the sunshine than even the general's gold shoulder bars. Noah got one, too. Just as Jeff began to realize that he and Noah were being decorated, the general was shaking hands stiffly with each of them. Jeff couldn't hide the embarrassment and the unbelief in his face. Somebody had made a mistake. He hadn't done anything in the battle but follow Noah. If this was the way the army handed out decorations, then something was wrong with the system. "Shoot, General," Jeff blurted in protest, "all we did was load her and swab her."
- Harold Keith, Rifles for Watie (1957), New York: Thomas Y. Crowell, hardcover, p. 142

Because the Medal of Honor is presented “in the name of the Congress of the United States,” it is frequently called the Congressional Medal of Honor. The terms are used interchangeably, but regardless of designation, the Medal of Honor remains the most prestigious and treasured of all decorations in the armed services.
- Colonel Cole C. Kingseed, U.S. Army, Retired, Medal of Honor Recipients Beat Prejudice, The Enemy, Association of the United States Army, 1 April 2022

The Medal of Honor is the most revered and highest award for military valor in action. Since the decoration’s inception in 1861, for the Navy, the medal has been bestowed in the name of Congress 3,530 times, including on one woman and on 19 individuals who have received multiple awards. The standards to award the medal have evolved over time. On July 25, 1963, Congress approved guidelines and established the current criteria to recognize “conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of one’s life above and beyond the call of duty.” Secretary of War Edwin Stanton first bestowed the medal on the surviving members of a Union Army scouting detachment known as Andrews’ Raiders on March 25, 1863. Pvt. Jacob Parrott holds the distinction of being the medal’s initial recipient. Though each honoree possesses a unique story and deserves the gratitude of the nation, three recipients illustrate that heroism can overcome prejudice.
- Colonel Cole C. Kingseed, U.S. Army, Retired, Medal of Honor Recipients Beat Prejudice, The Enemy, Association of the United States Army, 1 April 2022

L

On Thursday, former President Donald Trump spoke at an event where he made some flippant remarks about the Medal of Honor and the heroes who have received it. In the video that has circulated online and in the media, the former president was recognizing Miriam Adelson in the audience who he awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom during his time in office. As he described the medal as the civilian version of the Medal of Honor, he went on to opine that the Medal of Freedom was “much better” than the military’s top award, because those awarded the latter are, in his words, “ … either in very bad shape because they’ve been hit so many times by bullets or they’re dead.” He continued by comparing Miriam to MoH recipients saying, “She gets it and she’s a healthy beautiful woman. They are rated equal.”
These asinine comments not only diminish the significance of our nation’s highest award for valor, but also crassly characterizes the sacrifices of those who have risked their lives above and beyond the call of duty.
When a candidate to serve as our military’s commander-in-chief so brazenly dismisses the valor and reverence symbolized by the Medal of Honor and those who have earned it, I must question whether they would discharge their responsibilities to our men and women in uniform with the seriousness and discernment necessary for such a powerful position. It is even more disappointing when these comments come from a man who already served in this noble office and should frankly already know better.
- Al Lipphardt, National Commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, "VFW Admonishes Former President for Medal of Honor Remarks", 16 August 2024

While the Presidential Medal of Freedom maybe our nation’s highest civilian award, the Medal of Honor is more sacred as it represents the gallantry and intrepidity of courageous and selfless service members, often at the cost of grievous wounds and even their lives. It’s because of our Medal of Honor recipients that great Americans like Miriam Adelson have the freedom to live to their fullest potential and make such lasting contributions to our great nation.
We would like to remind Mr. Trump that the 12 times he had the honor of awarding the Medal of Honor as president of the United States, those were heroes not of his own choosing. He bestowed those medals on behalf of Congress, representing all Americans of a grateful nation. We hold the donation of their lives in service to our country in the highest esteem, and so should he.
- Al Lipphardt, National Commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, "VFW Admonishes Former President for Medal of Honor Remarks", 16 August 2024

M

These medal winners were not blessed with an ethereal gift that somehow rendered them fearless. To the contrary, they were as petrified as anyone else would be. Who wouldn't be afraid when outnumbered, outgunned, and alone? Who wouldn't tremble when a simple mistake will cost not only your life but the lives of many others? These heroes did not simply confront certain death. They got up in its face, smelled its heat, and challenged it to take them. One common trait that everyone in this collection had was an almost casual indifference to personal suffering. They each had responsibilities that trumped their almost certain demise, but they moved ahead nonetheless. Observe the actions of these Medal of Honor winners and you will see that first in their minds was the well-being of their fellows. They were willing to die to save lives. They each wanted to help more than they cared about living.
- Thomas P. McCarthy (editor), The Greatest Medal of Honor Stories Ever Told (2018), Guilford: Lyons Publishing, paperback, p. vi

In all the wars since the first medal was presented in 1861, there have been just a few more than 3,500 acts deemed worthy of this, the most prestigious medal the United States presents to its soldiers- and half that number of medals were bestowed during the Civil War. The winners of the Congressional Medal of Honor are in a rare and stratospheric atmosphere, as well they should be. Most Medal of Honor winners received theirs posthumously- a darkly simple way to gauge what it took to get one. The actions of these extraordinary heroes were, as Abraham Lincoln noted, "the last full measure of devotion."
- Thomas P. McCarthy (editor), The Greatest Medal of Honor Stories Ever Told (2018), Guilford: Lyons Publishing, paperback, p. vi

The men- and one woman to win a Congressional Medal of Honor- who performed such unimaginable acts of bravery had the ability to master fear so they could face the most horrible of deaths, and still move forward. What made them remarkable was that they controlled the fear. They acted as if it didn't matter that they would be suddenly and violently dispatched to Kingdom Come in an instant if things did not work out properly- and things rarely work out properly on the battlefield. Make a mistake in combat and it will be your last.
These Medal winners- all medal winners- confronted their fears and moved into the fray. These remarkable soldiers had in common an unshakeable nonchalance about their responsibilities and the heavy consequences they might face. They did not dwell on such vagaries, though. Uncommon valor is an indelible trait that staves off sway from the bloody battlefields of the Civil War through the lonely mountains of Afghanistan. That was their duty. The lives of others meant more to them than their own.
- Thomas P. McCarthy (editor), The Greatest Medal of Honor Stories Ever Told (2018), Guilford: Lyons Publishing, paperback, p. vii

But courage was not the purview of only the poor. Teddy Roosevelt, a man born of wealth, loved his country too. And he was willing to put his own privileged life on the line, just like the other heroes in this collection. He wrote of his men, two Rough Riders about to take San Juan Hill during the Spanish-American War: "Capron was going over his plans for the fight when we should meet the Spaniards on the morrow, Fish occasionally asking a question. They were both filled with eager longing to show their mettle, and both were rightly confident that if they lived they would win honorable renown and would rise high in their chosen profession. Within twelve hours they were both dead." Roosevelt knew what he was up against, and kept going. That's what every Medal of Honor winner has done: They faced death, and they rode on.
- Thomas P. McCarthy (editor), The Greatest Medal of Honor Stories Ever Told (2018), Guilford: Lyons Publishing, paperback, p. ix

The progression of the Medal of Honor, from an award intended to stimulate "efficiency" in the Navy to something only for those who have utterly disregarded their own lives for the sake of others, was something that could never have come to pass only by passage of laws and issuance of regulations. The Medal of Honor has been infused with a sanctity by the recipients themselves. During the Second World War, for the first time, more awards of the Medal of Honor were made to the dead than to the living. The same was true in Korea and Vietnam. If the Medal of Honor today has an intangible and solemn halo around it, it is partly due to those men who did not survive to wear it. The survivors who wear the medal frequently acknowledge this. They very rarely speak of glory, preferring instead to speak simply of their immense gratitude. As of this writing, there are 3,456 Medal of Honor recipients. Of those, only 147 are alive today.
- Allen Mikaelen, Medal of Honor: Profiles of America's Military Heroes From the Civil War to the Present (2003), New York: Hyperion, first edition hardcover, p. xxvi-xxvii

The Medal of Honor has been awarded to many who rose to prominence after they got home. Douglas MacArthur (and his father, Arthur), Audie Murphy, Eddie Rickenbacker, Alvin York, Bob Kerrey, James Stockdale, and Daniel Inouye are a few. But the overwhelming majority simply went on with their lives, or tried to. This book concentrates on them. Some stayed in the military; some rose to prominence as public servants; some lived in a state of constant financial trouble. But all of them lived lives that would be forgotten except for the efforts of relatives and, in some cases, a few dedicated historians.
- Allen Mikaelen, Medal of Honor: Profiles of America's Military Heroes From the Civil War to the Present (2003), New York: Hyperion, first edition hardcover, p. xxvii

Six fellow soldiers also received the Medal of Honor with me on that warm, clear day in June, 1971. However, only one man stood beside me. Tragically, the other five were awarded posthumously. Such sorrow reflects the magnitude of the actions of those individuals who are considered for the CMH. A female lieutenant colonel once asked me if I knew why they gave me the medal. She asked the question in such a way that I took it as meaning she knew the reason- did I? Her question pissed me off. I thought, what the hell do you know? How could you, who have never seen combat, possibly know? I was preparing to give it to her with both barrels at the conclusion of her comment.
However, she said something profound that hit the nail right square on the head. She said, "They gave you the medal because they realize that something has happened to you that they can't understand."
You were absolutely right, ma'am. My apologies.
- Command Sergeant Major Franklin D. Miller, Reflections of a Warrior (1991), co-written with Elwood J.C. Kureth, Novato: Presidio Press, hardcover, p. 191

It seemed like the entire world knew I'd come out of Womack's Nut Ward, and as a result I was accused of everything from shoplifting to armed robbery to murder. Nobody took my word for anything. Any derogatory stories that could be old about me were given maximum dissemination. When you have the Medal of Honor, all actions- good, bad, true, or false- are magnified, and an undue amount of significance is attached to each. My every move- real or imagined- became front-page news. Maybe I'm exaggerating, but not much.
- Command Sergeant Major Franklin D. Miller, Reflections of a Warrior (1991), co-written with Elwood J.C. Kureth, Novato: Presidio Press, hardcover, p. 198

I was resting, and some sergeant comes up to me and says, 'There's a guy from your home state wants to talk with you.' I said, 'Who?' He said, 'I don't know. Just follow me.' So I follow him into another room, nothing but lights in that room. A desk and a commanding general standing at the foot of it, a brigadier general of the Third Division. His name was Osborne. I was told to go up and see him. I'm wondering, 'What the hell am I going to see him for?' And he tells me, he says, 'Do you know you received the Congressional Medal of Honor?' All I could say was, 'What?' I'll never forget that. 'What for?'
Then he asked me to relate my story. Why? I figured. Hell, I said, 'Geez.' I figured I might get court-martialed. And I told him I just felt I was doing my job, doing what I was trained to do. I didn't think I was a hero deserving of the Medal. That's when he told me the reason they didn't let my family know was they were afraid of reprisal from the enemy. Even though they finally released names and all, they still didn't let my wife know I'd received the Medal. They just told her I was alive.
Then we were sent to a port of debarkation, and I was given a choice of flying home or going home by troopship with the rest of the fellas. I figured, geez, that's a good time to recuperate, get built up a little. I think I weighed ninety-eight pounds. That ship took nineteen days to reach San Francisco. I was seasick I think eleven days on that boat. I went to Italy and back on a ship, never got sick. I went over the Japan Sea, one of the roughest, never got sick. And here was the smoothest ride back home, and I got sick. Anyway, we docked in San Francisco and I was the first one to debark. They gave me that honor.
- Hiroshi Miyamura, as quoted in Beyond Glory: Medal of Honor Heroes in their Own Words (2003) by Larry Smith, New York: W.W. Norton & Company, hardcover, p. 180-181

I was the type of person, and I still am, who always wanted to be in the background. I'm a good listener. I'd rather be a listener than the one up there doing the talking. All through my school years, I could never get up in front of a class, and talk, read even. But wearing the Medal requires us to be in the public's eye, especially for the youngsters, the schoolkids. We get asked to talk to them whenever we attend the Medal of Honor conventions. That has changed my life.
- Hiroshi Miyamura, as quoted in Beyond Glory: Medal of Honor Heroes in their Own Words (2003) by Larry Smith, New York: W.W. Norton & Company, hardcover, p. 183

P

Every recipient has got to be different because, you take a guy from a coal mine or steel mill or the farm, and he's awarded the Medal of Honor, his life changes immediately.
- Colonel Mitchell Paige, as quoted in Beyond Glory: Medal of Honor Heroes in their Own Words (2003) by Larry Smith, New York: W.W. Norton & Company, hardcover, p. 18

We're loyal Americans, Number One. Most of them are dependable. You can depend on them for anything. I think there's a feeling of unity in the Society that no other group in the country has because you know that people expect a lot of things from you, and you'll make a concerted effort to abide by that, and honor it. And I always mention that this doesn't belong to me. It belongs to thirty-three other guys, too. And then I can tell the story about that. I don't know how else to tell it because, after all, they were there and fought with me, but they didn't get anything but Purple Hearts. And half of them died. The last thing I ever thought about was a medal.
- Colonel Mitchell Paige, as quoted in Beyond Glory: Medal of Honor Heroes in their Own Words (2003) by Larry Smith, New York: W.W. Norton & Company, hardcover, p. 18

R

In April of 2011, almost a year after arriving back in the States, I ended my military career, moved my family from Colorado to North Dakota, and tried to put the Army behind me by taking a job as a safety supervisor in the oil fields just outside the town of Minot. It was there, in the autumn of 2012, that I found myself sitting in the cab of a pickup truck next to an oil rig when a call arrived from a colonel who was stationed at the Pentagon. He was phoning to ask if I'd be willing to hop on a plane to DC and drop by his office.
I had n idea what this might be about, but I'd already used up my vacation time for the year, so it was anothe rmonth before I could comply with the request. When I was finally able to make the trip, I was brought into a conference room and invited to join a group of colonels and generals who were sitting at a long table. It was at this point that I requested and explanation for why I was there. "You don't know?" someone asked. When I shook my head, they explained that after conducting an extensive review of my actions during the Battle for Keating, I was slated to receive the Medal of Honor, the highest military award the country can bestow.
- Clinton Romesha, Red Platoon (2016), p. 365

It would be an understatement to say that I found this news confusing. In fact, it made no sense whatsoever. Singling me out for such a superlative commendation struck me as both inappropriate and wrong. In my view, nothing that I'd done that day was any different from what my comrades had accomplished. What's more, I could easily have picked half a dozen men- especially Gallegos, Kirk, Hardt, Mace, and Griffin- who truly deserved selection because they had given their lives in an effort to save others.
But me? No way. The idea seemed to violate my sense of what was most important- and what deserved to be commemorated- about that day. Although I didn't know it at the time, it turns out that most Medal of Honor recipients feel exactly the same way. It also turns out this fact has had very little impact on the way that I feel about the honor that I was selected to receive- and everything else that would later unfold from it. They picked the wrong guy.
- Clinton Romesha, Red Platoon (2016), p. 365

As for the medal itself, when I got back home, a question arise for which I really didn't have an answer: What exactly do I do with this thing? I don't know what most of the other recipients do, although I've asked a handful of them. A few have ordered up replacements so that they have something to wear and to show folks when they ask to see it, while they store the original in a safe-deposit box. Others keep the medal in a sock drawer or on their nightstand. As for me, I never bothered to ge a duplicate and I eventually took to carrying the original around in my front pocket. As a result, it's taken several accidental trips through the washing machine, so the gilded surface is a bit tarnished, and the blue ribbon has begun to fade. But that doesn't bother me a bit. In fact, I kind of like it that way, perhaps- in part- because I don't truly regard it as mine.
Like it or not, there are eight other guys with whom I served to whom that medal rightly belongs, because heroes- true heroes, the men whose spirit the medal embodies- don't ever come home. By that definition, I'm not a true hero. Instead, I'm a custodian and a caretaker. I hold the medal, and everything it represents, on behalf of those who are its rightful owners. That, more than anything, is the truth that now sustains me- along with one other thing too, which is a belief I hold in my heart.
I know, without a shred of doubt, that I would instantly trade the medal and everything attached to it if it would bring back even one of my missing comrades in arms.
- Clinton Romesha, Red Platoon (2016), p. 369

S

The exact words from the citation of a Medal of Honor recipient state: "For conspicious gallantry and intrepidity, at the risk of life above and beyond the call of duty." Those last words are particularly meaningful: "above and beyond the call of duty." Duty. Robert E. Lee used that word in explaining why he had to leave the Union Army and go into the Confederate Army. He said, "Duty is the sublimest word of them all." Lee was a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, the institution I also attended. Its motto is "Duty, Honor, Country."
- General Norman Schwarzkopf Jr., Introduction to Beyond Glory: Medal of Honor Heroes in their Own Words (2003) by Larry Smith, New York: W.W. Norton & Company, hardcover, pages xi

Over the years I've met many people who were heroes, and the interesting thing I've found about every single one of them, bar one, was that they did not think of themselves as heroes. They would say things like, "I couldn't leave my buddy out there. I couldn't do that." Or, someone would say, "Those bastards were shooting at us, and I was going to shoot back before one of my men got hurt." Or, "Shucks, sir, it was my duty." They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Well, valor is also in the eye of the beholder. Not one of the people who hold the Medal of Honor said at the time he took action, "Well, I think I'm getting ready to carry out a heroic act." Absolutely not.
In the minds of every single one of them at the time was something like, "Gosh, I've got to do it, because it's my duty to my country." Not even that. Rather, "It's my duty to my outfit." And not even that. "It's my duty to my buddy on my right, or my buddy on my left. That's what it was all about, as the stories in this volume will show. That's truly what it was all about.
And somebody else- the recipients probably don't even know to this day who- saw them do it. And said, "There's a hero." And truly the recipients of this great award, I am sure, even to this day would say, "Gosh, it was just my duty. It was just my job. It was just my buddy It was just my outfit. I had to do it." And that's what makes them heroes in my mind. The men who tell their stories in this book- indeed all the recipients of the Medal of Honor- embody the sense of duty in its deepest form. We thank them for doing their duty in serving their country.
- General Norman Schwarzkopf Jr., Introduction to Beyond Glory: Medal of Honor Heroes in their Own Words (2003) by Larry Smith, New York: W.W. Norton & Company, hardcover, p. xi-xii

V

On February 4 an invitation to the White House interrupted this schedule. My family and I were ushered into President Roosevelt's office. I had known the President, who with his charm made us feel completely at ease. With my wife and son looking on he read a citation and placed the Medal of Honor around my neck.
- Alexander Vandegrift, Once a Marine: The Memoirs of General A.A. Vandegrift, U.S.M.C. (1964), New York: W.W. Norton & Company, first edition, hardcover, p. 212

From then on, for me, it was just busy times with the Medal, but I had good teachers. A lot of the generals told me, 'Don't blow it. Watch your drinking. Don't cause any trouble because you've earned the highest medal. You're always gonna be showtime. You can't get a parking ticket.' And that's the hardest part, you can't... [live it up] like the old college days. But you've really got to watch yourself. And I think they knew that I've always been a "we" man, us." I don't think I'll ever change. That Medal could have gone to sixty-eight other guys that day, really could. So when I wear it, I wear it for everyone who's ever served. That's the way I look at the Medal.
- Colonel Jay R. Vargas, as quoted in Beyond Glory: Medal of Honor Heroes in their Own Words (2003) by Larry Smith, New York: W.W. Norton & Company, hardcover, p. 314

They're very confident people. It's amazing. We all came from little bitty towns. A lot of us came from very poor families. They're down-to-earth people. They're not braggers. They just seem like they were put into a position for a very short period and whatever came out of them came out ten times stronger than you would ever expect your body or person to do in a particular situation. What drove me was I cared so much for my Marines. That was my family, and my responsibility was to lead them. That's a strong loyalty that comes from every Medal recipient I've met, and they're patriotic. It's like those country-and-western songs I grew up with. You know, they love kids, dogs, and all women.
- Colonel Jay R. Vargas, as quoted in Beyond Glory: Medal of Honor Heroes in their Own Words (2003) by Larry Smith, New York: W.W. Norton & Company, hardcover, p. 314

W

My first contact with a Medal of Honor recipient didn't take place until 1957, long after I'd returned to civilian life and resumed my career in broadcast journalism. By that time, I was doing a weekly interview show on ABC, and one night the object of my scrutiny was a U.S. Army veteran who'd been getting a lot of controversial attention- as well as the Medal of Honor- for his heroic exploits during World War II. His square name was Charles Kelly, but to those familiar with his story, he was mainly known by his colorful nickname- "Commando" Kelly. (In our interview that night, I called him Chuck.)
In introducing Kelly to our viewers, I marveled at his various feats of valor, especially at the Battle of Salerno, where, single-handed, he'd killed 40 German soldiers in a span of 20 minutes.
But the controversy about Kelly dealt with his failure to flourish in civilian life. During the postwar years he had tried his hand at a number of jobs and business ventures, and nothing had panned out very well. There were reports that his booze problems had been at the root of his problems, and we talked about that. And as I would later discover, Kelly was not the only Medal of Honor recipient who had the melancholy experience of going from war hero to washout.
- Mike Wallace, Introduction to Medal of Honor: Profiles of America's Military Heroes From the Civil War to the Present (2003) by Allen Mikaelen, New York: Hyperion, first edition hardcover, p. xii

General George Patton once said that he would have given his immortal soul for the medal, and at least two occupants of the White House- Harry Truman and Lyndon Johnson- told recipients they would rather have the medal than be president.
Incidentally, when the presentation ceremonies are held at the White House, it is customary for the President- the commander in chief of our Armed Forces- to salute the recipient, who then returns the salute. That tradition extends throughout the chain of command: When a recipient is wearing the Medal of Honor, he is generally the one to be saluted first, regardless of how low his rank may be.
- Mike Wallace, Introduction to Medal of Honor: Profiles of America's Military Heroes From the Civil War to the Present (2003) by Allen Mikaelen, New York: Hyperion, first edition hardcover, p. xv

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