There are three distinct variants of the medal: one for the Department of the Army, awarded to soldiers; one for branches of the Department of the Navy, awarded to sailors, marines, and coast guardsmen; and one for military branches of the Department of the Air Force, awarded to airmen and guardians.[1][15] The Medal of Honor was introduced for the Naval Service in 1861,[16] soon followed by the Army's version in 1862.[17] The Air Force used the Army's version until they received their own distinctive version in 1965.[18] The Medal of Honor is the oldest continuously issued combat decoration of the United States Armed Forces.[19] The president typically presents the Medal of Honor at a formal ceremony intended to represent the gratitude of the American people, with posthumous presentations made to the primary next of kin.[20][21][22]
As of September 2023, there have been 3,536 Medals of Honor awarded, with over 40% awarded for actions during the American Civil War.[11] A total of 911 Army medals were revoked after Congress authorized a review in 1917, and a number of Navy medals were also revoked before the turn of the century—none of these are included in this total except for those that were subsequently restored.[23] In 1990, Congress designated March 25 as Medal of Honor Day.[24]
History
Medal of Honor (without the suspension ribbon) awarded to SeamanJohn Ortega in 1864.Medal of Honor awarded posthumously in 1866 to John Morehead Scott, one of the Andrews Raiders
On December 9, 1861, IowaSenatorJames W. Grimes, Chairman on the Committee on Naval Affairs,[26] introduced bill S. 82.[27][28] The bill included a provision authorizing 200 "medals of honor,"[29] "to be bestowed upon such petty officers, seamen, landsmen, and marines as shall most distinguish themselves by their gallantry in action and other seaman-like qualities during the present war...."[30] On December 21, the bill was passed and signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln. Secretary Welles directed the Philadelphia Mint to design the new military decoration.[31][32][33] On May 15, 1862, the United States Department of the Navy ordered 175 medals ($1.85 each) from the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia with "Personal Valor" inscribed on the back of each one.[34]
On February 15, 1862, Senator Henry Wilson, the chairman of the Senate Committee on Military Affairs and the Militia, introduced a resolution (equivalent to a bill) for a Medal of Honor for the Army.[35] The resolution (equivalent to a modern Act of Congress) was approved by Congress and signed into law on July 12, 1862.[35] This measure provided for awarding a medal of honor "to such non-commissioned officers and privates as shall most distinguish themselves by their gallantry in action and other soldier-like qualities during the present insurrection."[35] By mid-November the Department of War contracted with Philadelphia silversmith William Wilson and Son, who had been responsible for the Navy's design, to prepare 2,000 medals for the Army ($2.00 each) to be struck at the mint.[36] The Army's version had "The Congress to" written on the back of the medal. Both versions were made of copper and coated with bronze, which "gave them a reddish tint."[37][38]
On March 3, 1863, Congress made the Army Medal of Honor a permanent decoration by passing legislation permitting the award to such soldiers "as have most distinguished or who may hereafter most distinguish themselves in action."[39] The same legislation also authorized the medal for officers of the Army.[40] On March 25, the Secretary of War presented the first Medals of Honor to six U.S. Army volunteers in his office.[41]
In 1896, the ribbon of the Army's version of the Medal of Honor was redesigned with all stripes being vertical.[42] Again, in 1904 the planchet of the Army's version of the Medal of Honor was redesigned by General George Lewis Gillespie.[42] The purpose of the redesign was to help distinguish the Medal of Honor from other medals,[43] particularly the membership insignia issued by the Grand Army of the Republic.[44]
In 1917, based on the report of the Medal of Honor Review Board, established by Congress in 1916, 911 recipients were stricken from the Army's Medal of Honor list because the medal had been awarded inappropriately.[45] Among them were William Frederick "Buffalo Bill" Cody and Mary Edwards Walker. In 1977, the Army's board for correction of military records unilaterally restored Walker's medal at the request of a relative.[46] The board had no authority to overturn a statute, and the restoration violated not only the period law during the Civil War, but also the law requiring revocation in 1916, and modern law in 1977.[46] As a reaction to Walker's restoration, a relative of Cody's requested the same action from the Army's board for correction, and it reinstated the medals for Cody and four other civilian scouts on June 12, 1989.[47] Subsequent litigation over the Garlin Conner award, which was recommended by the Army's board for correction of military records in 2015, established that the correction boards lack the authority to unilaterally award Medals of Honor. In Conner's case, the board merely recommended the medal, which was then referred to the Senior Army Decorations Board, and ultimately to the Secretary of the Army, the Secretary of Defense, and the President, who requested a waiver be passed by Congress.[48]
A separate Coast Guard Medal of Honor was authorized in 1963 but was not designed or awarded.[49][7] A separate design for a version of the medal for the Department of the Air Force was authorized in 1956,[50] designed on April 14, 1965,[18] and first awarded in January 1967.[18] Previously, airmen of the U.S. Air Force received the Army's version of the medal.[51]
Appearance
There are three versions of the Medal of Honor, one for each of the military departments of the Department of Defense (DoD): the Department of the Army, Department of the Navy (including the Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard), and Department of the Air Force (Air and Space Forces). Members of the Coast Guard, part of the Department of Homeland Security, are eligible to receive the Naval version. Each medal is constructed differently, and the components are made from gilding metals and red brass alloys with some gold plating, enamel, and bronze pieces. The United States Congress considered a bill in 2004 which would require the Medal of Honor to be made with 90% gold, the same composition as the lesser-known Congressional Gold Medal, but the measure was dropped.[52]
Army Medal of Honor
Naval Medal of Honor
Air and Space Forces Medal of Honor
Army variant
The Army's version is described by the Institute of Heraldry as "a gold five-pointed star, each point tipped with trefoils, 1+1⁄2 inches [3.8cm] wide, surrounded by a green laurel wreath and suspended from a gold bar inscribed VALOR, surmounted by an eagle. In the center of the star, Minerva's head surrounded by the words UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. On each ray of the star is a green oak leaf. On the reverse is a bar engraved THE CONGRESS TO with a space for engraving the name of the recipient."[53] The pendant and suspension bar are made of gilding metal, with the eye, jump rings, and suspension ring made of red brass.[54] The finish on the pendant and suspension bar is hard enameled, gold plated, and rose gold plated, with polished highlights.[54]
Naval variant
The Naval version is described as "a five-pointed bronze star, tipped with trefoils containing a crown of laurel and oak. In the center is Minerva, personifying the United States, standing with her left hand resting on fasces and her right hand holding a shield emblazoned with the shield from the coat of arms of the United States. She repulses Discord, represented by snakes (originally, she was repulsing the snakes of secession). The medal is suspended from the flukes of an anchor. It is made of solid red brass, oxidized and buffed.[55]
Air and Space Forces variant
The Air and Space Forces version is described as "within a wreath of green laurel, a gold five-pointed star, one point down, tipped with trefoils and each point containing a crown of laurel and oak on a green background. Centered on the star, an annulet of 34 stars is a representation of the head of the Statue of Liberty. The star is suspended from a bar inscribed with the word VALOR above an adaptation of Jupiter's thunderbolt from the Department of the Air Force's seal. The pendant is made of gilding metal.[56] The connecting bar, hinge, and pin are made of bronze.[56] The finish on the pendant and suspension bar is hard enameled, gold plated, and rose gold plated, with buffed relief.[56]
The Medal of Honor has evolved in appearance over time. The upside-down star design of the Naval version's pendant adopted in early 1862 has not changed since its inception. The Army's 1862 version followed and was identical to the Naval version except an eagle perched atop cannons was used instead of an anchor to connect the pendant to the suspension ribbon. The medals featured a female allegory of the Union, with a shield in her right hand that she used to fend off a crouching attacker and serpents. In her left hand, she held a fasces. There are 34 stars surrounding the scene, representing the number of states in the union at the time.[57] In 1896, the Army version changed the ribbon's design and colors due to misuse and imitation by nonmilitary organizations.[53] In 1904, the Army "Gillespie" version introduced a smaller redesigned star and the ribbon was changed to the light blue pattern with white stars seen today.[53] The 1904 Army version also introduced a bar with the word "Valor" above the star.[57] In 1913, the Naval version adopted the same ribbon pattern.
After World War I, the Department of the Navy decided to separate the Medal of Honor into two versions, one for combat and one for non-combat. This was an attempt to circumvent the requirement enacted in 1919 that recipients participate "in action involving actual conflict with the enemy," which would have foreclosed non-combat awards.[58] By treating the 1919 Medal of Honor as a separate award from its Civil War counterpart, this allowed the Department of the Navy to claim that it was not literally in violation of the 1919 law.[59] The original upside-down star was designated as the non-combat version and a new pattern of the medal pendant, in cross form, was designed by the Tiffany Company in 1919. Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels selected Tiffany after snubbing the Commission of Fine Arts, which had submitted drawings that Daniels criticized as "un-American".[60] The so-called Tiffany Cross was to be presented to a sailor or marine who "in action involving actual conflict with the enemy, distinguish[es] himself conspicuously by gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty."[61] Despite the "actual conflict" guidelines, the Tiffany Cross was awarded to Navy CDR (later RADM) Richard E. Byrd and Floyd Bennett for their flight to the North Pole in 1926. The decision was controversial within the Navy's Bureau of Navigation (which handled personnel administration), and officials considered asking the attorney general of the United States for an advisory opinion on the matter.[62] Byrd himself apparently disliked the Tiffany Cross, and eventually requested the alternate version of the medal from President Herbert Hoover in 1930.[63] The Tiffany Cross itself was not popular among recipients—one author reflected that it was "the most short-lived, legally contentious, and unpopular version of the Medal of Honor in American history."[60] In 1942, in response to a lawsuit, the Department of the Navy requested an amendment to expressly allow noncombat awards of the Medal of Honor.[64] When the amendment passed, the Department of the Navy returned to using only the original 1862 inverted 5-point star design and retired the Tiffany Cross.[65]
In 1944, the suspension ribbons for both versions were replaced with the now-familiar neck ribbon.[53] When the Air and Space Force's version was designed in 1965,[18] it incorporated similar elements and design from the Army version. At the Department of the Air Force leadership's insistence, the new medal depicted the Statue of Liberty's image in place of Minerva on the medal and changed the connecting device from an eagle to Jupiter's thunderbolt flanked with wings as found on the Department of the Air Force's seal.[66][67][68] The Air Force diverged from the traditional depiction of Minerva in part due to a desire to distinguish itself from the Army, including the Institute of Heraldry that traditionally designs awards, but which falls under the Army.[68]
On May 2, 1896, Congress authorized a "ribbon to be worn with the medal and [a] rosette or knot to be worn in lieu of the medal."[33][53][69][70] The service ribbon is light blue with five white stars in the form of an "M."[53] It is placed first in the top position in the order of precedence and is worn for situations other than full-dress military uniform.[53] The lapel button is a 1⁄2-inch (13mm), six-sided light blue bowknot rosette with thirteen white stars and may be worn on appropriate civilian clothing on the left lapel.[53]
Since 1944, the Medal of Honor has been attached to a light blue colored moiré silk neck ribbon that is 1+3⁄16in (30mm) in width and 21+3⁄4in (550mm) in length.[2][71] The center of the ribbon displays thirteen white stars in the form of three chevron. Both the top and middle chevrons are made up of 5 stars, with the bottom chevron made of 3 stars. The medal itself differs by branch:
Army: A gold five pointed star, each point tipped with trefoils, 1½ inches wide, surrounded by a green laurel wreath and suspended from a gold bar inscribed "VALOR" surmounted by an eagle. In the center of the star, Minerva's head surrounded by the words "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA." On each ray of the star is a green oak leaf. On the reverse is a bar engraved "THE CONGRESS TO" with a space for engraving the name of the recipient.[72]
Department of the Navy: The current Navy Medal of Honor is a five-pointed bronze star, tipped with trefoils containing a crown of laurel and oak. In the center is Minerva, personifying the United States, standing with left hand resting of fasces and right hand holding a shield blazoned with the shield from the coat of arms of the United States. She repulses Discord, represented by snakes. The medal is suspended from the flukes of an anchor.[73]
Department of the Air Force: Within a wreath of green laurel, a gold five-pointed star, one point down, tipped with trefoils and each point containing a crown of laurel and oak on a green background. Centered on the star, an annulet of 34 stars is a representation of the head of the Statue of Liberty. The star is suspended from a bar inscribed with the word "VALOR" above an adaptation of the thunderbolt from the Air Force Coat of Arms.[74]
The Medal of Honor is one of only two United States military awards suspended from a neck ribbon.[75] The other is the Commander's Degree of the Legion of Merit, and is usually awarded to individuals serving foreign governments.[76][77]
Devices
In 2011, Department of Defense instructions in regard to the Medal of Honor were amended to read "for each succeeding act that would otherwise justify award of the Medal of Honor, the individual receiving the subsequent award is authorized to wear an additional Medal of Honor ribbon and/or a 'V' device on the Medal of Honor suspension ribbon" (the "V" device is a 1⁄4-inch-high (6.4mm) bronze miniature letter "V" with serifs that denotes valor). The Medal of Honor was the only decoration authorized to use the "V" device (none were ever issued) to designate subsequent awards in such a fashion. Nineteen individuals, all now deceased, were double Medal of Honor recipients.[78] In July 2014, DoD instructions were changed to read, "A separate MOH is presented to an individual for each succeeding act that justified award," removing the authorization for the "V" device.[79]
Medal of Honor Flag
Medal of Honor Flag
On October 23, 2002, Pub. L.107–248 (text)(PDF) was enacted, modifying 36U.S.C.§903, authorizing a Medal of Honor Flag to be presented to each person to whom a Medal of Honor is awarded. In the case of a posthumous award, the flag will be presented to whomever the Medal of Honor is presented to, which in most cases will be the primary next of kin of the deceased awardee.[80][81]
The flag was based on a concept by retired U.S. Army Special Forces First Sergeant Bill Kendall of Jefferson, Iowa,[82] who in 2001, designed a flag to honor Medal of Honor recipient Army Air Forces Captain Darrell Lindsey, a B-26 pilot from Jefferson who was killed in action during World War II. Kendall's design of a light blue field emblazoned with 13 white five-pointed stars was nearly identical to that of Sarah LeClerc's of the Institute of Heraldry. LeClerc's gold-fringed flag, ultimately accepted as the official flag, does not include the words "Medal of Honor" as written on Kendall's flag. The color of the field and the 13 white stars, arranged in the form of a three-bar chevron, consisting of two chevrons of five stars and one chevron of three stars,[2] emulate the suspension ribbon of the Medal of Honor. The flag has no defined proportions.[83]
The first Medal of Honor Flag recipient was U.S. Army Sergeant First Class Paul R. Smith, whose flag was presented posthumously. President George W. Bush presented the Medal of Honor and Flag to the family of Smith during the award ceremony for him in the White House on April 4, 2005.[84]
A special Medal of Honor Flag presentation ceremony was held for over 60 living Medal of Honor recipients on board the USSConstitution in September 2006.[85]
There are two distinct protocols for recommending and adjudicating the Medal of Honor. The first and most common is recommendation within three years and approval within five years through the chain of command of the service member.[86] The second method, which normally applies outside of the statute of limitations, is when a recommendation is referred to a military service by a member of the U.S. Congress, generally at the request of a constituent under 10U.S.C.§1130. In both cases, if the proposal is outside the time limits for the recommendation, approval to waive the time limit requires a special Act of Congress. The Medal of Honor is presented by the President on behalf of, and in the name of, the Congress.[87] Since 1980, nearly all Medal of Honor recipients—or in the case of posthumous awards, the next of kin—have been personally decorated by the president.[88][89][90] Since 1941, more than half of the Medals of Honor have been awarded posthumously.[91]
Evolution of criteria
19th century (Navy): Navy regulations published in 1865 specified that "The medal shall only be awarded to those petty officers, and others indicated, who shall have evinced in battle some signal act of valor or devotion to their country; and nothing save such conduct, coupled with good general qualities in the service, shall be held to establish a sufficient claim to it."[92] The regulation also permitted awards to seamen for "extraordinary heroism in the line of their profession," which meant heroism outside of combat operations.[93]
19th century (Army): Several months after President Abraham Lincoln signed Public Resolution 82 into law on December 21, 1861, for a Navy medal of honor, a similar resolution was passed in July 1862 for an Army version of the medal. Six U.S. Army soldiers who hijacked a Confederatelocomotive named The General in 1862 were the first Medal of Honor recipients;[94]James J. Andrews led the raid. He was caught and hanged as a U.S. spy, but as a civilian he was not eligible to receive the medal. Many Medals of Honor awarded in the 19th century were associated with "saving the flag" (and country), not just for patriotic reasons, but because the U.S. flag was a primary means of battlefield communication at the time. Because no other military decoration was authorized during the Civil War, some seemingly less exceptional and notable actions were recognized by a Medal of Honor during that conflict.
20th century: Early in the twentieth century, the Department of the Navy awarded many Medals of Honor for peacetime bravery. For instance, in 1901, John Henry Helms aboard USSChicago was awarded the medal for saving the ship's cook from drowning. Seven sailors aboard USSIowa were awarded the medal after the ship's boiler exploded on January 25, 1904. Richard Byrd and Floyd Bennett were awarded the medal—the combat ("Tiffany") version despite the existence then of a non-combat form of the Navy medal—for the 1926 flight they claim reached the North Pole.[95] And Admiral Thomas J. Ryan was awarded the medal for saving a woman from the burning Grand Hotel in Yokohama, Japan, following the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake.[96] Between 1919 and 1942, the Department of the Navy issued two separate versions of the Medal of Honor, one for acts related to combat and one for non-combat bravery. The criteria for the award tightened during World War I for the Army version of the Medal of Honor, while the Navy version retained a non-combat provision until 1963. In an Act of Congress of July 9, 1918, the War Department version of the medal required that the recipient "distinguish himself conspicuously by gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty," and also required that the act of valor be performed "in action involving actual conflict with an enemy."[97] This followed shortly after the results of the Army Medal of Honor Review Board, which struck 911 medals from the Medal of Honor list in February 1917 for lack of basic prerequisites.[45] These included the members of the 27th Maine erroneously awarded the medal for reenlisting to guard the capital during the Civil War, 29 members of Abraham Lincoln's funeral detail, and six civilians, including Buffalo Bill Cody (restored along with four other scouts in 1989)[98] and a doctor, Mary Edwards Walker, who had cared for the sick (this last was restored posthumously in 1977).[99]
World War II: As a result of lawsuits, the Department of the Navy requested the Congress expressly authorize non-combat medals in the text of the authorizing statute, since the department had been awarding non-combat medals with questionable legal backing that had caused it much embarrassment.[64] The last non-combat Navy Medal of Honor was awarded in 1945, although the Department of the Navy attempted to award a non-combat Medal of Honor as late as the Korean War.[100] Official accounts vary, but generally, the Medal of Honor for combat was known as the "Tiffany Cross", after the company that designed the medal. The Tiffany Cross was first awarded in 1919, but was unpopular partly because of its design as well as a lower gratuity than the Navy's original medal.[60] The Tiffany Cross Medal of Honor was awarded at least three times in non-combat circumstances. By a special Act of Congress, the medal was presented to Byrd and Bennett (see above).[101][102] In 1942, the Department of the Navy reverted to a single Medal of Honor, although the statute still contained a loophole allowing the award for both "action involving actual conflict with the enemy" or "in the line of his profession."[103] Arising from these criteria, approximately 60 percent of the medals earned during and after World War II have been awarded posthumously.[104]
Public Law 88–77, July 25, 1963: The requirements for the Medal of Honor were standardized among all the services, requiring that a recipient had "distinguished himself conspicuously by gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty."[105] Thus, the act removed the loophole allowing non-combat awards to Navy personnel. The act also clarified that the act of valor must occur during one of three circumstances:[106]
While engaged in action against an enemy of the United States
While engaged in military operations involving conflict with an opposing foreign force.
While serving with friendly foreign forces engaged in an armed conflict against an opposing armed force in which the United States is not a belligerent party.[107][108]
Congress drew these three circumstances of combat from President Kennedy's executive order of April 25, 1962, which previously added the same criteria to the Purple Heart. On August 24, Kennedy added similar criteria for the Bronze Star Medal.[109][110] The amendment was necessary because Cold War armed conflicts did not qualify for consideration under previous statutes such as the 1918 Army Medal of Honor statute that required valor "in action involving actual conflict with an enemy,"[111] since the United States has not formally declared war since World War II as a result of the provisions of the United Nations Charter.[112] According to congressional testimony by the Army's Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel, the services were seeking authority to award the Medal of Honor and other valor awards retroactive to July 1, 1958, in areas such as Berlin, Lebanon, Quemoy and Matsu Islands, Taiwan Straits, Congo, Laos, Vietnam, and Cuba.[109]
Revocation
19th century: Early Navy regulations published in the Civil War era permitted the Navy Department to unilaterally rescind Medals of Honor for dishonorable behavior, including being "convicted of treason, cowardice, felony, or any infamous crime."[113] As a result, at least 15 medals were revoked in the nineteenth century, including a medal for Third-Class Boy George Hollat, whose medal was revoked for desertion.[113] Hollat's name erroneously remains on the Navy's list of medal recipients in modern times.[113] The Army did not revoke any medals until the twentieth century.
20th century: In the early twentieth century the Medal of Honor Legion requested that some Army Medals of Honor be revoked, in particular the 864 medals awarded to members of the 27th Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment for reenlisting to guard the capital during the Civil War.[114] The Judge Advocate General of the Army determined that it would be unlawful for the Army to revoke the medals unilaterally absent "fraud, mistake in matters of fact arising from errors in calculation, or newly discovered material evidence," since this would require reopening acts or decisions of predecessors, and thus unsettling administrative res judicata (an administrative finality doctrine).[115] This interpretation led Congress to authorize a review to revoke these medals in 1916, leading to the revocation of 911 medals.[115] The Army later authorized revocation of service medals due to misconduct in 1961, and eventually expanded this authority to include valor decorations (including the Medal of Honor) in 1974.[116] The Army regulation stated "[o]nce an award has been presented, it may be revoked if facts subsequently determined would have prevented original approval of the award, had they been known at the time of award."[117] Eventually, all services' regulations permitted revocation on similar grounds: the Air Force adopted unilateral revocation of valor decorations in 1969,[118] and Navy adopted regulations permitting revocation of valor decorations in 1976.[119]
21st century: Unilateral revocation of decorations (including the Medal of Honor) were eventually standardized by the Office of the Secretary of Defense after controversy surrounding the revocation of the Distinguished Service Cross approved for Army Major Mathew L. Golsteyn, who was charged with murdering a detainee but then pardoned (a grant of forgiveness, which differs from a court's finding of innocence) by President Trump before trial.[120] This incident led DoD to clarify the prerequisites for revoking military awards due to misconduct in the DoD Awards Manual in 2019: "[t]he revocation of [personal military decorations] under the 'honorable' service requirement should be used sparingly and should be limited to those cases where the Service member's actions are not compatible with continued military service, result in criminal convictions, result in determinations that the Service member did not serve satisfactorily in a specific grade or position, or result in a discharge from military service that is characterized as 'Other Than Honorable,' 'Bad Conduct,' or 'Dishonorable.'"[121] DoD also requested that Congress expand the statutory requirement for honorable service after award qualification to include all military decorations, which passed in December 2019.[122] In 2019, a bill titled "Remove the Stain Act" sought to revoke Medals of Honor awarded for conduct during the Wounded Knee Massacre of 1890.[123] The bill directed revocation of 20 Medals of Honor, and also directed removal of the recipients from the Medal of Honor Roll.[123] The number of medals awarded for conduct at Wounded Knee–which was actually 19–was based on a mistake in the War Department's circular listings in the 1890s, which transcribed Private Marvin Hillock as a Wounded Knee recipient despite actually earning the medal at White Clay Creek a day later.[124] Directing revocation from the MoH Roll was also a mistake, as the Roll of that time was merely a pension listing for recipients who lived past the age of 65 and separated honorably from the military without retiring.[125][126] Since many of the Wounded Knee recipients did not live to the age of 65, were discharged dishonorably, or were retired from the military, this meant they never would have been on the Roll.[127] The Remove the Stain Act did not pass despite being added to the House version of the FY2022 National Defense Authorization Act.[128] In that particular case, the Senate Committee on Armed Services reflected that "these Medals of Honor were awarded at the prerogative of the President of the United States, not the Congress," suggesting that it was not the role of the legislature to direct awarding or revocation of medals, rather to control the authorizing criteria for the award.[128] In July 2024, the Secretary of Defense announced a joint DoD/DoI review to consider revoking the Wounded Knee Medals of Honor.[129] Notably, the DoD review cited the joint explanatory statement for the FY2022 National Defense Authorization Act (which removed the Remove the Stain Act from the bill) as the impetus for the medal review.[130]
The President may award, and present in the name of Congress, a medal of honor of appropriate design, with ribbons and appurtenances, to a person who while a member of the [Army] [naval service] [Air Force] [Coast Guard], distinguished himself conspicuously by gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty.[131]
Privileges and courtesies
The Medal of Honor confers special privileges on its recipients:[132][133]
Each Medal of Honor recipient may have his or her name entered on the Medal of Honor Roll (10U.S.C.§1134a and 38U.S.C.§1562) so long as they qualified for the medal under modern statutory authority.
Each person whose name is placed on the Medal of Honor Roll is certified to the United States Department of Veterans Affairs as being entitled to receive a monthly pension above and beyond any military pensions or other benefits for which they may be eligible. The pension is subject to cost-of-living increases; as of December1,2023[update], it is $1,671.16 a month.[134]
Enlisted recipients of the Medal of Honor are entitled to a supplemental uniform allowance.[135]
Recipients receive special entitlements to air transportation under the provisions of DOD Regulation 4515.13-R. This benefit allows the recipient to travel as deemed fit, as well as allows the recipient's dependents to travel either overseas–overseas, overseas–continental U.S., or continental U.S.–overseas when accompanied by the recipient.[136]
Special identification cards and commissary and exchange privileges are provided for Medal of Honor recipients and their eligible dependents.[137]
Recipients receive a ten percent increase in retired pay.[140]
Those awarded the medal after October 23, 2002, receive a Medal of Honor Flag. The law specified that all 103 living prior recipients as of that date would receive a flag.[141]
As with all medals, retired personnel may wear the Medal of Honor on "appropriate" civilian clothing. Regulations specify that recipients of the Medal of Honor are allowed to wear the uniform "at their pleasure" with standard restrictions on political, commercial, or extremist purposes (other former members of the armed forces may do so only at certain ceremonial occasions).[143]
Forty states offer a special license plate for certain types of vehicles to recipients at little or no cost to the recipient.[144][145] The states that do not offer Medal of Honor specific license plate offer special license plates for veterans for which recipients may be eligible.[146]
In 1969, the Nebraska State Legislature amended the Nebraska Hall of Fame statutes "to provide that Nebraskans awarded the Medal of Honor shall be named to the Hall of Fame" and required that the Hall of Fame Commission procure a plaque with the names of the Medal of Honor recipients.[147]
Although not required by law or military regulation of all military services,[148][149][150] members of the uniformed services are encouraged to render salutes to recipients of the Medal of Honor as a matter of respect and courtesy regardless of rank or status, whether or not they are in uniform.[151] This is one of the few instances where a living member of the military will receive salutes from members of a higher rank. According to paragraph 1.8.1.1 of Air Force Instruction 1-1, the United States Air Force requires that salutes be rendered to Medal of Honor recipients.[152]
Legal protection
This section needs to be updated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(March 2021)
1904: The Army redesigned its Medal of Honor, largely a reaction to the copying of the Medal of Honor by various veterans organizations, such as the Grand Army of the Republic.[114][153] To prevent the making of copies of the medal, Brigadier General George Gillespie, Jr., a Medal of Honor recipient from the Civil War, applied for and obtained a patent for the new design.[153][154] General Gillespie received the patent on November 22, 1904,[154] and he transferred it the following month to the Secretary of War at the time, William Howard Taft.[153]
1923: Congress passed a statute (the year before the 20-year term of the patent would expire)—which would later be codified at 18 U.S.C. §704—prohibiting the unauthorized wearing, manufacturing, or sale of military medals or decorations.[155] In 1994, Congress amended the statute to permit an enhanced penalty if the offense involved the Medal of Honor.[156]
2006: The Stolen Valor Act of 2005 was enacted.[157] The law amended 18 U.S.C. § 704 to make it a federal criminal offense for a person to deliberately state falsely that he or she had been awarded a military decoration, service medal, or badge.[158][159][160] The law also permitted an enhanced penalty for someone who falsely claimed to have been awarded the Medal of Honor.[160]
June 28, 2012: In the case of United States v. Alvarez, the Supreme Court of the United States held that the Stolen Valor Act of 2005's criminalization of the making of false claims of having been awarded a military medal, decoration, or badge was an unconstitutional violation of the First Amendment's guarantee of free speech.[161] The case involved an elected official in California, Xavier Alvarez, who had falsely stated at a public meeting that he had been awarded the Medal of Honor, even though he had never served in any branch of the armed forces. The Supreme Court's decision did not specifically address the constitutionality of the older portion of the statute which prohibits the unauthorized wearing, manufacturing, or sale of military medals or decorations. Under the law, the unauthorized wearing, manufacturing, or sale of the Medal of Honor is punishable by a fine of up to $100,000 and imprisonment of up to one year.[162]
June 3, 2013: President Barack Obama signed into law a revised version of the Stolen Valor Act, making it a federal offense for someone to falsely represent themselves as awardees of medals for valor in order to receive "money, property, or other tangible benefit" (including grants, educational benefits, housing, etc.).[163][164] False representations about the Medal of Honor or other valor decorations still result in a fine or imprisonment up to one year, or both, but are now narrowly tailored to financial gain rather than protected speech.[165] As of 2017, there were only two reported arrests and prosecutions under the law, leading at least 22 states to enact their own legislation to criminalize stolen valor amid claims that the federal law was virtually unenforced.[166]
Duplicate medals
Medal of Honor recipients may apply in writing to the headquarters of the service branch of the medal awarded for a replacement or display Medal of Honor, ribbon, and appurtenance (Medal of Honor flag) without charge. Primary next of kin may also do the same and have any questions answered in regard to the Medal of Honor that was awarded.[167]
On This Day In History: The Medal of Honor was created in 1862.
The first Medals of Honor were awarded and presented to six U.S. Army soldiers ("Andrews Raiders") on March 25, 1863, by Secretary of WarEdwin Stanton, in his office of the War Department. Private Jacob Parrott, a U.S. Army volunteer from Ohio, became the first actual Medal of Honor recipient, awarded for his volunteering for and participation in a raid on a Confederate train in Big Shanty, Georgia, on April 12, 1862, during the American Civil War. After the medal presentations, the six decorated soldiers met with President Lincoln in the White House.[32][168]
Bernard John Dowling Irwin was the first (chronologically by action) Medal of Honor recipient during the Apache Wars. His actions on February 13, 1861, are the earliest for which the Medal of Honor was awarded.[169]
The first U.S. Navy sailors were awarded the Medal of Honor on April 3, 1863. 41 sailors received the award, with 17 awards for action during the Battle of Forts Jackson and St. Philip.[170]
The first, and so far only, Coast Guardsman to be awarded the Medal of Honor was Signalman First Class Douglas Munro. He was posthumously awarded it on May 27, 1943, for evacuating 500 marines under fire on September 27, 1942, during the Battle of Guadalcanal.[172]
The only woman awarded the Medal of Honor is Mary Edwards Walker, who was a civilian Army acting assistant surgeon during the American Civil War. She received the award in 1865 after the Judge Advocate General of the Army determined that she could be given a retroactive commission or brevet, but Secretary of War Stanton ruled against her in spite of this legal advice.[173] Instead of a commission, President Andrew Johnson directed that "the usual medal of honor for meritorious services be given her."[174] Evidently, Johnson did not know that the award was restricted by law to soldiers, which made the award to a contract surgeon (a civilian) unlawful. This defect later led to the award's revocation in 1917, and then questionable reinstatement by the Army's Board for Correction of Military Records in 1977.[175] The reinstatement is often attributed to President Jimmy Carter, in error.[46]
The first black recipients of the Medal of Honor were sixteen Army soldiers and sixteen Navy sailors that fought during the Civil War. The first black recipient was Robert Blake, who received the medal on April 16, 1864 for serving as a powder boy on the USS Marblehead.[176] The first Army award was announced on April 6, 1865, to twelve black soldiers from the five regiments of U.S. Colored Troops who fought at New Market Heights outside of Richmond on September 29, 1864.[57] The first action by a black man to eventually earn the Medal of Honor was by William Harvey Carney. He earned the Medal during the Battle of Fort Wagner, but was not presented with it until 1900.
President Dwight D. Eisenhower congratulates SSG Miyamura after having awarded him the Medal of Honor on October 27, 1953.The only Medal of Honor to be classified as "top secret" was awarded to Hiroshi "Hershey" Miyamura for his actions on April 24, 1951, during the Korean War when he was presumed dead. The Medal of Honor, which had not been publicly announced, was classified as top secret for his protection until his release in August 1953.[177]
The 1917 Medal of Honor Board revoked 911 awards, but only 910 names from the Army's Medal of Honor list,[178] including awards to Mary Edwards Walker, William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody and the first of two awards issued February 10, 1887, to George W. Mindil, who retained his award issued October 25, 1893. None of the 910 impacted recipients were ordered to return their medals, although on the question of whether the recipients could continue to wear their medals, the Judge Advocate General advised the Medal of Honor Board that the Army was not obligated to police the matter. Walker continued to wear her medal until her death. Although some sources claim that President Jimmy Carter formally restored her medal posthumously in 1977,[179] this action was actually taken unilaterally by the Army's Board for Correction of Military Records.[46] The Army Board for Correction of Military Records also restored the Medals of Honor of Buffalo Bill and four other civilian scouts in 1989.[47]
Sixty-one Canadians who served in the United States Armed Forces earned the Medal of Honor, most during the American Civil War. Since 1900, four Canadians have received the medal.[180] The only Canadian-born, naturalized U.S. citizen to receive the medal for heroism during the Vietnam War was Peter C. Lemon.[181]
While the governing statute for the Army's Medal of Honor (10U.S.C.§6241), beginning in 1918, explicitly stated that a recipient must be "an officer or enlisted man of the Army," "distinguish himself conspicuously by gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty," and perform an act of valor "in action involving actual conflict with an enemy,"[97] exceptions have been made:
Charles Lindbergh, 1927, civilian pilot, and U.S. Army Air Corps reserve officer.[182] Lindbergh's medal was authorized by a special act of Congress, which effectively waived his ineligibility on the grounds of not being on military duty, not performing an act of gallantry, and not being in action (combat) against an enemy.[97][183] Lindbergh's award also violated President Coolidge's executive order prohibiting multiple awards for the same action, as he also received a Distinguished Flying Cross for the same transatlantic flight.[183]
Major General (Retired) Adolphus Greely was awarded the medal in 1935, on his 91st birthday, "for his life of splendid public service." The result of a special act of Congress similar to Lindbergh's, Greely's medal citation did not reference any acts of valor.[184]
U.S. unknown recipients include one each from four wars: World War I,[186] World War II,[187] Korea,[188] and Vietnam.[189] The Vietnam Unknown was later identified as Air Force First Lieutenant Michael Blassie through the use of DNA identification. Blassie's family asked for his Medal of Honor, but the Department of Defense denied the request in 1998. According to Undersecretary of Defense Rudy de Leon, the medal was awarded symbolically to all Vietnam unknowns, not to Blassie specifically.[190] The action also resulted in clarification of unknown medal awards in the FY2005 defense bill, which expressly stated such medals are "awarded to the member as a representative of the members of the armed forces who died in such war or other armed conflict and whose remains have not been identified, and not to the individual personally."[191]
Note that the number of Air Force recipients does not count recipients from its pre-September 19, 1947, Army-related predecessor organizations. Nevertheless, the Air Force's transfer agreement gave it retroactive jurisdiction over military awards to the date the Air Corps was authorized by statute: Jul. 2, 1926. Thus, were a decoration submitted retroactively for an aviator's actions on or after that date (including a Medal of Honor), it would be processed by the Air Force despite the fact that the Air Force did not yet exist as a separate service.[195]
Double recipients
Nineteen service members have been awarded the Medal of Honor twice.[196] The first double Medal of Honor recipient was Thomas Custer (brother of George Armstrong Custer) for two separate actions that took place several days apart during the American Civil War.[197]
Five "double recipients" were awarded both the Army's and Navy's Medal of Honor for the same action, with all five of these occurrences taking place during World War I.[198] This was a consequence of the marine recipients serving under Army command, which had been reviewed by the Army's judge advocate general. According to the judge advocate general, the marines were "a party 'of the Army'" since they were detached for service under the Army by presidential directive, and thus were subject to the Army's decoration statutes for that time period.[199] No modern recipients have more than one medal because of laws passed for the Army in 1918, and for the Navy in 1919, which stipulated that "no more than one medal of honor . . . shall be issued to any one person," although subsequent awards were authorized by issuance of bars or other devices in lieu of the medal itself.[200] The prohibition on double awards did not technically apply to the double recipients of WWI because they received Medals of Honor from different services, which meant the same medals were not duplicated and had independent statutory authority. Later, in 1927, President Coolidge issued an executive order that forbade issuing more than one federal decoration for the same action, a policy that continues through the present time.[183] The statutory bar on issuing multiple medals was finally repealed in the FY2014 defense bill,[201] at the request of the Office of the Secretary of Defense, meaning that recipients can now be issued more than one medal rather than simply receiving a device for subsequent awards. However, it is still true that no more than one medal may be issued for the same action.[202]
To date, the maximum number of Medals of Honor earned by any service member has been two.[49] The last living individual to be awarded two Medals of Honor was John J. Kelly, on October 3, 1918; the last individual to receive two Medals of Honor for two different actions was Smedley Butler, in 1914 and 1915. None of the double awardees earned two distinct medals under modern Medal of Honor criteria, although the WWI awardees qualified under substantially modern statutes.
Arthur MacArthur, Jr. and Douglas MacArthur are the first father and son to be awarded the Medal of Honor. The only other such pairing is Theodore Roosevelt (awarded in 2001) and Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. Notably, one member in each pair was strongly influenced by political considerations; Douglas MacArthur's medal was approved for service (rather than gallantry) in violation of both law and policy that prohibited such action,[204] and Theodore Roosevelt's medal was approved after members of Congress successfully lobbied the Secretary of the Army to reverse a prior determination that "Theodore Roosevelt's bravery in battle did not rise to the level that would justify the Medal of Honor and, indeed, it did not rise to the level of men who fought in that engagement."[205]
Seven pairs of brothers have received the Medal of Honor:
Charles and Henry Capehart, in the American Civil War, the latter for saving a drowning man while under fire.
Antoine and Julien Gaujot. The Gaujots also have the unique distinction of receiving their medals for actions in separate conflicts, Antoine in the Philippine–American War and Julien when he crossed the Mexican border to rescue Mexicans and Americans in a Mexican Revolution skirmish.
Since 1979, 86 late Medal of Honor awards have been presented for actions from the Civil War to the Vietnam War. In addition, five recipients whose names were included on the Army's medal revocations in 1917 had their awards restored.[206] A 1993 study commissioned by the U.S. Army investigated "racial disparity" in the awarding of medals.[207] At the time, no Medals of Honor had been awarded to U.S. soldiers of African descent who served in World War II. After an exhaustive review, the study recommended that ten Distinguished Service Cross recipients be awarded the Medal of Honor. On January 13, 1997, President Bill Clinton presented the Medal of Honor to seven of these World War II veterans, six of them posthumously and one to former Second Lieutenant Vernon Baker.[208]
In 1998, a similar study of Asian Americans resulted in Clinton presenting 22 Medals of Honor in 2000.[209] This was following a historical review conducted by a team of historians headed by Jim McNaughton at the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center, located in the Presidio of Monterey, California.[210] The review ultimately forwarded at least 47 cases of Distinguished Services Crosses for potential upgrade, as well as one Silver Star.[211] Twenty of the resulting medals went to U.S. soldiers of Japanese descent of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team (442nd RCT) who served in the European Theater of Operations during World War II.[209][212] One of these Medal of Honor recipients was Senator Daniel Inouye, a former U.S. Army officer in the 442nd RCT.[208]
On April 11, 2013, President Obama presented the Medal of Honor posthumously to Army chaplain Captain Emil Kapaun for his actions as a prisoner of war during the Korean War.[214] This follows other awards to Army Sergeant Leslie H. Sabo, Jr. for conspicuous gallantry in action on May 10, 1970, near Se San, Cambodia, during the Vietnam War[215] and to Army Private First Class Henry Svehla and Army Private First Class Anthony T. Kahoʻohanohano for their heroic actions during the Korean War.[216]
As a result of a congressionally mandated review to ensure brave acts were not overlooked due to prejudice or discrimination, on March 18, 2014, President Obama upgraded Distinguished Service Crosses to Medals of Honor for 24 Hispanic, Jewish and black individuals—the "Valor 24"—for their actions in World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War.[217] Three were still living at the time of the ceremony.[217]
In 2010 and again in 2014, Congress directed the Department of Defense to "survey military leaders . . . to the lowest level of command to determine if there is a trend of downgrading awards . . . for medals related to acts of valor and gallantry," and also to "review the Medal of Honor process to ensure that the nomination process, valor requirements, and timeliness of the process do not unfairly penalize service members." This ultimately resulted in a review of all post 9/11 valor awards, several of which resulted in Medals of Honor.[218]
Another historical review for World War I medals that may have been tainted by discrimination was authorized in the FY2021 National Defense Authorization Act.[219] Conducted under the George S. Rob Centre at Park University, the review is still ongoing but has already identified some 200 medals for potential upgrade.[220]
During the Civil War, Secretary of WarEdwin M. Stanton promised a Medal of Honor to every man in the 27th Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment who extended his enlistment beyond his separation date. The Battle of Gettysburg was imminent, and 311 men of the regiment volunteered to serve until the battle was resolved. The remaining men returned to Maine, and with the Union victory at Gettysburg the 311 volunteers soon followed. They arrived back in Maine in time to be discharged with the men who had returned earlier. Since there seemed to be no official list of the 311 volunteers, the War Department exacerbated the situation by forwarding 864 medals to the commanding officer of the regiment. The commanding officer only issued the medals to the volunteers who stayed behind and retained the others on the grounds that, if he returned the remainder to the War Department, the War Department would try to reissue the medals.[221]
In 1916, a board of five Army generals on the retired list convened under act of law to review every Army Medal of Honor awarded. The board was to report on any Medals of Honor awarded or issued "for any cause other than distinguished conduct by an officer or enlisted man in action involving actual conflict with an enemy."[45] The board, led by Nelson A. Miles, identified 911 awards for causes other than distinguished conduct. This included the 864 medals awarded to members of the 27th Maine regiment; 29 servicemen who served as Abraham Lincoln's funeral guard; six civilians, including Mary Edwards Walker and Buffalo Bill Cody; and 12 others.[222][223] Walker's medal was restored by the Army Board for Correction of Military Records in 1977, an action that is often attributed to President Jimmy Carter in error.[224] Cody and four other civilian scouts who rendered distinguished service in action, and who were therefore considered by the board to have fully earned their medals, also had their medals restored by the Army Board for Correction of Military Records in 1989.[225] The report issued by the Medal of Honor review board in 1917 was reviewed by the Judge Advocate General, who also advised that the War Department should not seek the return of the revoked medals from the recipients identified by the board. In the case of recipients who continued to wear the medal, the War Department was advised to take no action to enforce the statute.[226]
Similarly-named U.S. decorations
The following decorations, in one degree or another, bear similar names to the Medal of Honor, but are entirely separate awards with different criteria for issuance:
Congressional Space Medal of Honor: the highest medal awarded by NASA (although military astronauts are also eligible for the Medal of Honor, and there is no formal precedence between the two awards)
The Legion of Merit (LOM) is a military award of the United States Armed Forces that is given for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements. The decoration is issued to members of the eight uniformed services of the United States as well as to military and political figures of foreign governments.
The Purple Heart (PH) is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the president to those wounded or killed while serving, on or after 5 April 1917, with the U.S. military. With its forerunner, the Badge of Military Merit, which took the form of a heart made of purple cloth, the Purple Heart is the oldest military award still given to U.S. military members. The National Purple Heart Hall of Honor is located in New Windsor, New York.
The Silver Star Medal (SSM) is the United States Armed Forces' third-highest military decoration for valor in combat. The Silver Star Medal is awarded primarily to members of the United States Armed Forces for gallantry in action against an enemy of the United States.
The Commendation Medal is a mid-level United States military decoration presented for sustained acts of heroism or meritorious service. Each branch of the United States Armed Forces issues its own version of the Commendation Medal, with a fifth version existing for acts of joint military service performed under the Department of Defense.
The Navy and Marine Corps Medal is the highest non-combat decoration awarded for heroism by the United States Department of the Navy to members of the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps. The medal was established by an act of Congress on 7 August 1942, and is authorized under 10 U.S.C. § 6246.
The Navy Cross is the United States Naval Service's second-highest military decoration awarded for sailors and marines who distinguish themselves for extraordinary heroism in combat with an armed enemy force. The medal is equivalent to the Army's Distinguished Service Cross, the Air and Space Forces' Air Force Cross, and the Coast Guard Cross.
The Distinguished Service Cross (DSC) is the United States Army's second highest military decoration for soldiers who display extraordinary heroism in combat with an armed enemy force. Actions that merit the Distinguished Service Cross must be of such a high degree that they are above those required for all other U.S. combat decorations, but which do not meet the criteria for the Medal of Honor. The Army Distinguished Service Cross is equivalent to the Naval Services' Navy Cross, the Air and Space Forces' Air Force Cross, and the Coast Guard Cross. Prior to the creation of the Air Force Cross in 1960, airmen were awarded the Distinguished Service Cross.
The Soldier's Medal is an individual decoration of the United States Army. It was introduced as Section 11 of the Air Corps Act, passed by the Congress of the United States on July 2, 1926. The Soldier's Medal is equivalent to the Navy and Marine Corps Medal, the Air and Space Forces' Airman's Medal, and the Coast Guard Medal. Prior to the creation of the Airman's Medal in 1960, airmen were awarded the Soldier's Medal.
Various medals, service ribbons, ribbon devices, and specific badges recognize military service and personal accomplishments of members of the U.S. Armed Forces. Such awards are a means to outwardly display the highlights of a service member's career.
The Air Force Cross (AFC) is the United States Air Force and United States Space Force's second highest military decoration for airmen and guardians who distinguish themselves with extraordinary heroism in combat with an armed enemy force. The medal is awarded to any person, while serving in any capacity with the Air Force or Space Force, who distinguish themselves by heroism which is extraordinary but not sufficient for the award of a Medal of Honor.
A "V" device is a metal 1⁄4-inch (6.4 mm) capital letter "V" with serifs which, when worn on certain decorations awarded by the United States Armed Forces, distinguishes a decoration awarded for combat valor or heroism from the same decoration being awarded for a member's actions under circumstances other than combat.
The Citation Star was a Department of War personal valor decoration issued as a ribbon device which was first established by the United States Congress on July 9, 1918. When awarded, a 3⁄16-inch (4.8 mm) silver star was placed on the suspension ribbon and service ribbon of the World War I Victory Medal to denote a Citation (certificate) for "Gallantry In Action" was awarded to a soldier, or to a marine or attached to the Army's Second Division, American Expeditionary Forces. The Citation Star was replaced in 1932 with the introduction of the Silver Star Medal.
John (Juan) Ortega, was the first Spanish sailor to be awarded the United States' highest military decoration for valor in combat — the Medal of Honor. He distinguished himself, during the South Atlantic Blockade, by the Union Naval forces, during the American Civil War.
The Stolen Valor Act of 2005, signed into law by President George W. Bush on December 20, 2006, was a U.S. law that broadened the provisions of previous U.S. law addressing the unauthorized wear, manufacture, or sale of any military decorations and medals. The law made it a federal misdemeanor to falsely represent oneself as having received any U.S. military decoration or medal. If convicted, defendants might have been imprisoned for up to six months, unless the decoration lied about is the Medal of Honor, in which case imprisonment could have been up to one year. In United States v. Alvarez (2012), the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that the Stolen Valor Act of 2005 was an unconstitutional abridgment of the freedom of speech under the First Amendment–striking down the law in a 6to3 decision.
The Tiffany Cross Medal of Honor arose immediately after World War I, as the US Navy decided to recognize via the Medal of Honor two manners of heroism, one in combat and one in the line of a sailor's profession. The original upside-down star was designated as the non-combat version and a new pattern of the medal pendant, in cross form, was designed by the Tiffany Company in 1919. It was to be presented to a sailor or Marine who "in action involving actual conflict with the enemy, distinguish[es] himself conspicuously by gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty and without detriment to his mission." This pendant became the Tiffany Cross.
The Coast Guard Cross (CGC) is the United States Coast Guard's second highest military decoration for Coast Guardsmen who distinguish themselves extraordinary heroism in combat with an armed enemy force. Established by Act of Congress on 15 October 2010, it is intended to recognize members of the United States Coast Guard for extraordinary heroism in action. Coast Guardsmen serving under the Department of the Navy would be eligible for the Navy Cross. This medal, though approved, has not yet been awarded. By virtue of having never been awarded, it is the rarest United States military award.
↑ U.S. Coast Guard Signalman First Class Douglas Albert Munro was posthumously awarded the Navy version of the Medal of Honor for bravery at Guadalcanal on September 27, 1942.
↑ Rank refers to rank held at time of Medal of Honor action.
↑ An Act to Revise, Codify, and Enact into Law, Title 10 of the United States Code, Entitled “Armed Forces,” and Title 32 of the United States Code, Entitled “National Guard,” Pub. L. 84-1028 (1956), 70A Stat. 540.
1 2 "Medal of Honor". Mohhsus.com. Medal of Honor Historical Society of the United States. Archived from the original on June 29, 2016. Retrieved December 28, 2021. as of July 5, 2022, there have been 3,534 Medals of Honor awarded including 19 second awards.
↑ SECNAVINST 1650.1H, P. 2–20, 224.2. August 22, 2006
↑ Dwight Mears, “Medals ‘Ridiculously Given’?: The Authority to Award, Revoke, and Reinstate Military Decorations in Three Case Studies Involving Executive Clemency,” Military Law Review 229 (2021): 398, 419.
↑ Above and Beyond: A History of the Medal of Honor and the Civil War. Boston Publishing Company in cooperation with the CMOH Society. 1985. p.5. ISBN0-939526-19-0. These medals were made of copper and coated with bronze
↑ Above and Beyond. Boston Publishing Company. 1985. p.5. 2nd paragraph.
↑ Bonds, Russell S. (2006). Stealing the General, The Great Locomotive Chase and the First Medal of Honor. Westholme. p.309. ISBN978-1-59416-033-2. The medal of honor is bronze, of neat device, and is highly prized by those of whom it has been bestowed," Townsend wrote in an 1864 report. Its original design, embodied first in the Navy Medal, was an inverted, five-pointed star...
↑ Above and Beyond: A History of the Medal of Honor from the Civil War to Vietnam. Boston Publishing Company in cooperation with the CMOH Society. 1985. p.5. ISBN0-939526-19-0. The medals were made of copper and coated with bronze, which gave them a reddish tint
↑ Mollan, Mark C. (Summer 2001). "The Army Medal of Honor: The First Fifty-five Years". Prologue Magazine. 33 (2). Archived from the original on July 18, 2014. Retrieved September 3, 2014. Further depreciating the value of the medal, the Grand Army of the Republic and other veterans groups began giving out their own medals, some of which looked conspicuously similar to the Medal of Honor.
↑ Comerford, Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Tim (December 20, 2013). "A Matter of Honor – History of the Medal of Honor". navylive.dodlive.mil. Navy Office of Information. Archived from the original on September 4, 2014. Retrieved September 3, 2014. According to Frank, the Army redesigned its medal because other organizations had medals that looked similar. For example, the Grand Army of the Republic had a medal that, from far away, looked like a MoH.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
↑ An Act to Revise, Codify, and Enact into Law, Title 10 of the United States Code, Entitled “Armed Forces,” and Title 32 of the United States Code, Entitled “National Guard,” Pub. L. 84-1028 (1956), 70A Stat. 540
↑ "Medal of Honor History". Exhibits. State Historical Society of Iowa. Archived from the original on September 28, 2013. Retrieved January 28, 2013.
↑ Robert F. Dorr; Fred L. Borch (November 4, 2005). "History in Blue". Air Force Times. Archived from the original on February 15, 2013. Retrieved January 22, 2013.
↑ "Legion of Merit". afpc.af.mil. United States Air Force. August 3, 2010. Archived from the original on September 15, 2012. Retrieved September 3, 2014. The degrees of chief commander and commander are conferred on members of foreign governments only and are awarded for services comparable to those for which the Distinguished Service Medal is given to members of the United States armed forces.
↑ "Double Recipients". Congressional Medal of Honor Society. Archived from the original on February 28, 2012. Retrieved March 14, 2012.
↑ Ron Owens. Medal of Honor: historical facts and figures, Turner, 2004, ISBN978-1-68162-240-8
↑ "Medal of Honor Recipients Tell Their Stories". C-SPAN. National Cable Satellite Corporation. November 21, 2012. Archived from the original on April 14, 2013. Retrieved January 28, 2013. The Medal of Honor is the highest U.S. military honor and is usually presented by the President of the United States.
↑ Jeff Schogol; Leoo Shane III (January 12, 2007). "Marine posthumously awarded Medal of Honor". Stars and Stripes. Archived from the original on February 19, 2013. Retrieved January 28, 2013. At the ceremony, Bush noted that more than half of the Medal of Honor recipients since World War II have died earning it.
↑ Regulations for the Government of the United States Navy (Washington: GPO, 1865), 141.
↑ Regulations for the Government of the United States Navy (Washington: GPO, 1865), 142.
↑ Tillman, Barrett (2003). Above and Beyond: The Aviation Medals of Honor. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press. p.3.
↑ "Encyclopedia Virginia". Encyclopedia Virginia. February 19, 1927. Archived from the original on May 17, 2013. Retrieved May 26, 2012.
↑ "An Act to Amend the Act Approved February 4, 1919 (40 Stat. 1056)", August 7, 1942, Public Law 702, 56 Stat. 743-45."
↑ Ron Owens. Medal of Honor: Historical Facts and Figures (Paducah, KY: Turner, 2004), 11. ISBN978-1-68162-240-8
↑ "An Act to Amend Titles 10, 14, and 38, United States Code, with Respect to the Award of Certain Medals and the Medal of Honor Roll", July 25, 1956, HR 2998, Public Law 88-77, 77 Stat. 93.
↑ DoD Awards Manual 1348.33, V1, October 12, 2011 (November 23, 2010). pp. 31–32, 8. Medal of Honor (1) (a) 1., 2., 3. (k), p. 10, Title 10 US Code sections 3741, 6241, and 8741 (Titles 14 & 38 not referenced by DoD)
1 2 "An Act to Amend Titles 10, 14, and 38, United States Code, with Respect to the Award of Certain Medals and the Medal of Honor Roll", July 25, 1963, HR 2998, Public Law 88–77, 77 Stat. 93.
↑ DoD Manual 1348.33, V1, Oct. 12. 2011 (November 23, 2010), pp. 31 & 32, 8. Medal of Honor (1) (a) 3. (k), p. 10, Title 10 US Code sections 3741, 6241, and 8741 (Title 14 & 38 not referenced By DoD).
1 2 "Subcommittee No.2 Consideration of HR2998, A Bill to Amend Titles 10, 14, and 38, United States Code, with Respect to the Award of Certain Medals and the Medal of Honor Roll", House of Representatives, Committee of Armed Services, June 6, 1963.
↑ Executive order 11046 – DoD Awards Manual 1348.33, V3, October 12, 2011 (November 23, 2010), pp. 19–21, 4. Bronze Star Medal (Title 10 & 37 is referenced by DoD, Titles 14 & 38 is not referenced by DoD)
↑ "An Act Making Appropriations for the Support of the Army for the Fiscal Year Ending June Thirtieth, Nineteen Hundred and Nineteen", July 9, 1918, HR12281, Public Law 193, 40 Stat. 870.
1 2 Dwight Mears, “Medals ‘Ridiculously Given’?: The Authority to Award, Revoke, and Reinstate Military Decorations in Three Case Studies Involving Executive Clemency,” Military Law Review 229 (2021): 398.
↑ Dwight Mears, “Medals ‘Ridiculously Given’?: The Authority to Award, Revoke, and Reinstate Military Decorations in Three Case Studies Involving Executive Clemency,” Military Law Review 229 (2021): 400, 402.
↑ Army Regulation 672-5-1, Military Awards, Par. 1-28a, Jun. 3, 1974.
↑ Air Force Manual 900-3, para. 3-2(d)(2), Nov. 20, 1969.
↑ Dwight Mears, “Medals ‘Ridiculously Given’?: The Authority to Award, Revoke, and Reinstate Military Decorations in Three Case Studies Involving Executive Clemency,” Military Law Review 229 (2021): 419.
↑ Todd South, "Former Green Beret, whom Trump pardoned for alleged murder, won't get Silver Star or SF tab back, Army rules," Army Times, Mar. 17, 2021.
↑ DoD Instruction 1348.33, Sec. 8, Dec. 21. 2016, Change 3, May 22, 2019
↑ Dwight Mears, “Medals ‘Ridiculously Given’?: The Authority to Award, Revoke, and Reinstate Military Decorations in Three Case Studies Involving Executive Clemency,” Military Law Review 229 (2021): 406.
↑ War Dept. General Orders No. 100, Dec. 17, 1891.
↑ An Act to Establish in the War Department and in the Navy Department, Respectively, a Roll, Designated as “the Army and Navy Medal of Honor Roll,” and for Other Purposes, Pub. L. 64-50, 36 Stat. 53.
↑ Dwight Mears, "Removing the Stain Without Undermining Military Awards: Revoking Medals Earned at Wounded Knee Creek in 1890," 48 Am. Indian L. Rev. 179 (2024), 196-97.
↑ Dwight Mears, "Removing the Stain Without Undermining Military Awards: Revoking Medals Earned at Wounded Knee Creek in 1890," 48 Am. Indian L. Rev. 179 (2024), 196-97.
↑ "Archived copy"(PDF). Archived from the original(PDF) on December 13, 2012. Retrieved January 11, 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) p. 85
↑ "Process". Medal of Honor. United States Army. December 21, 2012. Archived from the original on September 1, 2011. Retrieved January 28, 2013.
↑ Shaughnessy, Larry (February 8, 2011). "America's newest Medal of Honor recipient is leaving the Army". CNN. Archived from the original on November 9, 2012. Retrieved February 9, 2011. Even though he's leaving the Army, Giunta is entitled to a number of special benefits reserved for Medal of Honor recipients, including a monthly Veterans Affairs pension of more than $1,237 a month for life as well as an invitation to every presidential inauguration and inauguration party.
↑ Mary E. Johnston, Combating Thieves of Valor: The Stolen Valor Act of 2013 Is Constitutional Yet Unenforced, 25 Wm. & Mary Bill Rts. J. 1355 (2017), 1358–1359
↑ DoD Manual 1348.33, November 10, 2010, Vol. 1, P. 29, 6., a., (1), (2) & P. 35, i.
↑ Stealing the General: Great Locomotive Chase and The First Medal of Honor, ISBN1-59416-033-3, 2006, by Russell S. Bonds
↑ Dwight Mears, “’Neither an Officer nor an Enlisted Man’: Contract Surgeons’ Eligibility for the Medal of Honor,” Journal of Military History 85 (2021): 55.
↑ Dwight Mears, “’Neither an Officer nor an Enlisted Man’: Contract Surgeons’ Eligibility for the Medal of Honor,” Journal of Military History 85 (2021): 57, 60.
↑ "An Act Authorizing the President of the United States to present in the name of Congress a medal of honor to Colonel Charles A. Lindbergh", December 14, 1927, HR 3190, Public Law 1, 45 Stat. 1
↑ William Putnam, Arctic Superstars: The Scientific Exploration and Study of High Mountain Elevations and of the Regions Lying Within or about the Arctic and Antarctic Circles (Boulder, CO: American Alpine Club, 2001), 171.
↑ Congressional Research Service, Medal of Honor Recipients: 1979–2014, Anne Leland, Information Research Specialist, December 2, 2014, https://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RL30011.pdfArchived 2015-09-24 at the Wayback Machine . The report lists the late awards until the end of 2014. seven additional late awards have been presented at the White House, three by President Obama in 2015 and 2016 and four by President Trump in 2017 and 2018. Not included as a late award is the award to the Vietnam Unknown in 1984 by President Reagan.
↑ McNaughton, Edwards, Price, "'Incontestable Proof Will Be Exacted': Historians, Asian Americans, and the Medal of Honor," Public Historian 24 (Fall 2002), 19.
↑ McNaughton, et. al, 'Incontestable Proof Will Be Exacted,' 29-30.
Mears, Dwight S. (2018). The Medal of Honor: The Evolution of America's Highest Military Decoration. Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas. ISBN9780700626656. OCLC1032014828.
Mikaelian, Allen; Wallace, Mike (2003). Medal of Honor: Profiles of America's Military Heroes from the Civil War to the Present. New York: Hyperion Books. ISBN978-0-7868-8576-3.
Tucker, Spencer (2012). Almanac of American Military History. Vol.1. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO. ISBN978-1-59884-530-3.
Further reading
Broadwater, Robert P. (2007). Civil War Medal of Honor recipients still in actice duty:Thomas Payne, Earl Plumlee, William Swenson, and Matthew Williams Medal of Honor Recipients: A Complete Illustrated Record. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co. ISBN978-0-7864-3223-3. OCLC144767966.
Collier, Peter; Del Calzo, Nick (2011). Medal of Honor: Portraits of Valor Beyond the Call of Duty (3rded.). New York: Artisan. ISBN978-1-57965-462-7. OCLC712124011.
Curtis, Arthur S. (1969). 37 Greatest Navy Heroes: Including the Story of Marvin Shields, First Seabee Medal of Honor Hero (Vietnam). Washington, D.C. OCLC10660663.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
DeKever, Andrew J. (2008). Here Rests in Honored Glory: Life Stories of Our Country's Medal of Honor Recipients. Bennigton, Vermont: Merriam Press. ISBN978-1-4357-1749-7. OCLC233835859.
Foster, Frank C. (2002). A Complete Guide to All United States Military Medals, 1939 to Present. Fountain Inn, S.C.: MOA Press. ISBN978-1-884452-18-5. OCLC54755134.
Hanna, Charles W. (2010). Black Recipients of the Medal of Honor: A Biographical Dictionary, Civil War Through Vietnam War. Jefferson, N.C.: Mcfarland. ISBN978-0-7864-4911-8. OCLC476156919.
Johnson, John L. (2007). Every Night & Every Morn: Portraits of Asian, Hispanic, Jewish, African-American, and Native-American Recipients of the Congressional Medal of Honor. Winston-Salem, NC: Tristan Press. ISBN978-0-9799572-0-8. OCLC180773640.
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