Medal_of_Honor

Medal of Honor



From left to right, the Army, Navy/Marine Corps and Air Force medals


Awarded by the United States of America


Type

Single-grade neck order


Eligibility

Military personnel only


Awarded for

"…a person who, while a member of the Army, distinguished himself conspicuously by gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while engaged in an action against an enemy of the United States…."[1]


Status

Currently awarded


Statistics


Established

July 12 1862


First awarded

American Civil War


Total awarded

3,467[2]


Posthumous
awards

618


Distinct
recipients

3,448[2]


Precedence


Next (higher)

None


Next (lower)

Army - Distinguished Service Cross 
 Navy - Navy Cross 
 Air Force - Air Force Cross



Medal of Honor ribbon

The Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration awarded by the United States government. It is bestowed on a member of the U. S. Military who distinguishes themselves "…conspicuously by gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while engaged in an action against an enemy of the United States…"[1] Because of its nature, the medal is frequently awarded posthumously.
Members of all branches of the U.S. military are eligible to receive the medal, and each service has a unique design with the exception of the Marine Corps and Coast Guard, which both use the Navy's medal. The Medal of Honor is often presented personally to the recipient or, in the case of posthumous awards, to next of kin.
There are two distinct protocols for awarding the Medal of Honor. The first and most common is nomination by a service member in the chain of command, followed by approval at each level of command. The other method is nomination by a member of Congress (generally at the request of a constituent) and approval by a special act of Congress. In either case, the Medal of Honor is presented by the President of the United States on behalf of the Congress.
The medal is frequently, but incorrectly, called the Congressional Medal of Honor, because it is awarded by the Department of Defense "in the name of Congress."[3][4]

Contents

1 History

1.1 Medal of Honor Legion
1.2 Tiffany Cross
1.3 After World War II
1.4 Controversies


2 Appearance

2.1 Flag


3 Authority and privileges
4 Legal protection

4.1 Enforcement


5 Double recipients
6 Medal of Honor Memorials
7 Similar decorations within the United States
8 Notes
9 References
10 External links
11 Credits



The Medal of Honor was first issued during the Civil War. By the time of the Spanish American War, there were more types of medals available for distribution, and the Medal of Honor became the supreme honor. Due to its high status, the medal has special protection under U.S. law.[5]

History
The first formal system for rewarding acts of individual gallantry by American soldiers was established by George Washington on August 7, 1782, when he created the Badge of Military Merit, designed to recognize "any singularly meritorious action." This decoration is America's first combat award and the second oldest American military decoration of any type, after the Fidelity Medallion.[1][6]
Although the Badge of Military Merit fell into disuse after the American Revolutionary War, the concept of a military award for individual gallantry by members of the U.S. armed forces had been established. In 1847, after the outbreak of the Mexican-American War, a Certificate of Merit was established for soldiers who distinguished themselves in action. The certificate was granted medal status in 1905 as the Certificate of Merit Medal.[7]
Early in the Civil War, a medal for individual valor was proposed (by James W. Grimes) to Winfield Scott, the Commanding General of the United States Army. Scott did not approve the proposal, but the medal did come into use in the Navy.

 Grave of a recipient at the Memphis National Cemetery
Senator James W. Grimes of Iowa, the chairman of the Senate Naval Committee, proposed that a medal of honor, similar to the Victoria Cross of England and the Iron Cross of Germany, be given to naval personnel for acts of bravery in action. His bill was passed by both Houses of Congress and approved by President Abraham Lincoln on December 21, 1861. It established a Medal of Honor for enlisted men of the United States Navy and Marine Corps.[8]
The medal was "to be bestowed upon such petty officers, seamen, landsmen, and Marines as shall most distinguish themselves by their gallantry and other seamanlike qualities during the present war."[9] Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles directed the Philadelphia Mint to design the new decoration.[10]
Shortly afterward, a resolution by Senator Henry Wilson of Massachusetts was introduced with similar wording on behalf of the Army and was signed into law on July 12, 1862. This measure provided for awarding a Medal of Honor, as the Navy version also came to be called: "to such noncommissioned officers and privates as shall most distinguish themselves by their gallantry in action, and other soldier-like qualities, during the present insurrection."[9]
The Navy presented its first Medals of Honor to 41 sailors, 17 of them for actions in the Battle of Forts Jackson and St. Philip on April 24, 1862. On March 25, 1863, Secretary of War Edwin Stanton presented the first Army Medals of Honor to six of the surviving members of Andrew's Raid.
In July of 1863 former slave William Harvey Carney became the first Black American to earn the Medal of Honor at Fort Wagner, South Carolina with the all black 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry.

Medal of Honor Legion
 A statue in Louisville, Kentucky honors Medal of Honor recipients from the state.
In the last decade of the century aging Civil War veterans began to seek recognition of their prior service and heroism by requesting awards of the Medal. The Grand Army of the Republic, a fraternal organization composed of veterans of the Union Army created a membership badge that closely resembled the Army's version of the Medal of Honor, causing confusion and animosity among some veterans. As a result, in April of 1890 the Medal of Honor Legion was established to protect the integrity of the Medal. Today the medal is known as the Legion of Valor.
The efforts of the Medal of Honor Legion led to many changes including the review of 1917, where a board of five Army generals convened by law to review every Army Medal of Honor awarded. The commission, led by Lt. Gen. Nelson Miles (a Medal of Honor recipient from the Civil War), recommended that the Army rescind 911 medals. This included the 864 medals awarded to members of the 27th Maine Regiment, 29 who served as Abraham Lincoln's funeral guard, and six civilians whose courage the board did not deny, but who were ruled ineligible for the Medal due their civilian status. Five of the civilians were scouts from the Indian Campaigns including Buffalo Bill Cody. The sixth was Civil War Assistant Surgeon Mary Edwards Walker. Though she had participated in major campaigns from Bull Run to the Battle of Chickamauga and endured three months as a Confederate prisoner of war, her civilian status denied her continued recognition as a Medal of Honor recipient.
Dr. Walker's medal was restored posthumously by President Jimmy Carter in 1977. Cody's award was restored in 1989.[11]

Tiffany Cross
 "Tiffany Cross" version of the Medal of Honor
Between 1919 and 1942, the Navy issued two separate versions of the Medal of Honor, one for non-combat bravery and the other for combat-related acts. The ‘Tiffany Cross’ edition first introduced by the Navy Department in 1919 was the combat version of the medal. Awardees for non-combat actions still received the original (and current) medal design.
The name ‘Tiffany Cross’ comes from the medal being originally designed by the famous jewelers Tiffany & Company of New York. The cross was not a popular award and is the rarest of all Medals of Honor in existence.
Eventually, in 1942, the Navy returned to the original medal design for combat awards and abolished non-combat awards of the Medal of Honor.[12]

After World War II
By 1940 the number of living Medal of Honor recipients had dropped to 279, most of them older veterans. The last Civil War recipient had died just two years earlier. World War II focused new attention upon Medal of Honor heroes, many, like Audie Murphy, came home to active roles as "celebrities." As a result the Medal of Honor rose to increased prominence and recognition in American society.
This new prestige attached to the Medal, along with the fresh group of war heroes, many of whom were the subject of books and movies, led to the creation in 1946 of the Medal of Honor Society. Less political than its predecessor, the organization became more concerned with perpetuating the ideals embodied in the Medal… promoting patriotism and fostering a love of Country in the aftermath of World War II.[13]
On August 5, 1958 President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed legislation sent to him by Congress chartering the Congressional Medal of Honor Society.
The Korean War (1950-1953) had 133 Medal of Honor recipients and only 37 survived. In 1953 the last hero of the Indian Wars died, followed by many of the other older heroes of wars past. By the time Roger Donlon earned the first Medal of Honor of the Vietnam War in 1964 the numbers of living heroes was less than 270. The Vietnam War pushed the numbers back over the 300 mark.[14]
For actions occurring since the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Vietnam in 1973, the Medal of Honor has been awarded seven times, all of them posthumously. Four had been awarded during the Iraq War up to July 2008.
As of February 2007 the number of living Medal of Honor recipients was at its lowest point in history with 111 living recipients.
More than 3400 different people have received the Medal of Honor.[15][16]


By conflict


Civil War
1,522
Indian Wars
426


Korean Expedition
15
Spanish-American War
110


Samoan Civil War
4
Philippine-American War
86


Boxer Rebellion
59
Mexican Expedition
56


Haiti (1915–1934)
8
Dominican Republic Occupation
3


World War I
124
Occupation of Nicaragua
2


World War II
464
Korean War
133


Vietnam War
246
Battle of Mogadishu
2


Operation Iraqi Freedom
4
Operation Enduring Freedom
1


Peacetime
193
Unknowns
9


By branch of service


Service
Awards


Army
2404


Navy
746


Marines
297


Air Force
17


Coast Guard
1




Controversies
A 1993 study commissioned by the Army described systematic racial and religious discrimination in the criteria for awarding medals during World War II.[17] At the time, no Medals of Honor had been awarded to black soldiers who served in World War II. After an exhaustive review of files, the study recommended that several black Distinguished Service Cross recipients be upgraded to the Medal of Honor. On January 13, 1997, President Bill Clinton awarded the medal to seven African-American World War II veterans. Of these, only Vernon Baker was still alive.[17] A similar study of Asian-Americans in 1998 resulted in President Clinton awarding 21 new Medals of Honor in 2000, including 20 to Japanese-American members of the 442nd Infantry Regiment, among them Senator Daniel Inouye. In 2005, President George W. Bush awarded the Medal of Honor to Jewish veteran and Holocaust survivor Tibor Rubin, who was denied a medal for actions taken during the Korean War because of a superior officer's anti-Semitism.[18]

Appearance
 Early Army versions of the Medal of Honor.
 Early Navy versions of the Medal of Honor.
The Medal of Honor has evolved in appearance since its creation in 1862. The present Army medal consists of a gold star surrounded by a wreath, topped by an eagle on a bar inscribed with the word "Valor." The medal is attached by a hook to a light blue moiré silk neckband that is 13⁄16 inches (30 mm) in width and 21¾ inches (552 mm) in length.[1][19]
There is a version of the medal for each branch of the United States armed forces: the Army, Navy and Air Force. Since the U.S. Marine Corps is administratively a part of the Department of the Navy, Marines receive the Navy medal. Before 1965, when the U.S. Air Force design was adopted, members of the U.S. Army Air Corps, U.S. Army Air Forces, and Air Force received the Army version of the medal.[10]
The Coast Guard Medal of Honor, which was distinguished from the Navy medal in 1963, has never been awarded, partly because the U.S. Coast Guard is subsumed into the U.S. Navy in time of declared war. No design yet exists for it. Only one member of the Coast Guard has received a Medal of Honor, Signalman 1st Class Douglas Munro, who was awarded the Navy version for action during the Battle of Guadalcanal.[20][21]
In the cases where a service member has been awarded more than one Medal of Honor, current regulations specify that an appropriate award device be centered on the Medal of Honor ribbon and neck medal. To indicate multiple presentations of the Medal of Honor, the U.S. Army and Air Force bestow oak leaf clusters, while the Navy Medal of Honor is worn with gold award stars.[22]
A ribbon which is the same shade of light blue as the neckband, and includes five white stars, pointed upwards, in the shape of an "M" is worn for situations other than full dress uniform. When the ribbon is worn, it is placed alone, ¼ inch (6 mm) above the center of the other ribbons. For wear with civilian clothing, a rosette is issued instead of a miniature lapel pin (which usually shows the ribbon bar). The rosette is the same shade of blue as the neck ribbon and includes white stars. The ribbon and rosette are presented at the same time as the medal.[10]

Flag
On October 23, 2003, Pub.L. 107-248 was enacted, modifying 36 U.S.C. § 903, authorizing a Medal of Honor flag to be presented to recipients of the decoration.[23]

 Medal of Honor Flag
The flag was based on a concept by retired Army Special Forces 1SG Bill Kendall of Jefferson, Iowa.[24] He designed a flag to honor Medal of Honor recipient Captain Darrell Lindsey, a B-26 pilot killed in World War II, who was also from Jefferson. Kendall's design of a light blue field emblazoned with thirteen white five-pointed stars was nearly identical to that of Sarah LeClerc's of the Institute of Heraldry. LeClerc's design, ultimately accepted as the official flag, does not include the words "Medal of Honor" and is fringed in gold. The color of the field and the 13 white stars, arranged in the form of a three bar chevron, consisting of two chevrons of 5 stars and one chevron of 3 stars,[1] replicate the Medal of Honor ribbon. The flag has no set proportions.[25]
The first Medal of Honor recipient to receive the official flag was Sgt. 1st Class Paul R. Smith in 2005. He was the first Operation Iraqi Freedom Medal of Honor recipient. The flag was cased and presented to his family along with his medal.[26] A special ceremony presenting this flag to 60 Medal of Honor recipients was held onboard the USS Constitution on September 30, 2006.[27]

Authority and privileges
 The grave of a recipient at the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial
The Medal of Honor confers special privileges on its recipients, both by tradition and by law. By tradition, all other soldiers, sailors, Marines, and airmen—even higher-ranking officers up to the President of the United States—who are not also recipients of the Medal of Honor initiate the salute. In the event of an officer encountering an enlisted member of the military who has been awarded the Medal of Honor, officers by tradition salute not the person, but the medal itself, thus attempting to time their salute to coincide with the enlisted member's. By law, recipients have several benefits:[28][29][30]

Each Medal of Honor recipient may have his or her name entered on the Medal of Honor Roll (38 U.S.C. § 1560). 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 the special pension of US$1,027 per month. As of December 1, 2004, the pension is subject to cost-of-living increases.
Enlisted recipients of the Medal of Honor are entitled to a supplemental uniform allowance.
Recipients receive special entitlements to air transportation under the provisions of DOD Regulation 4515.13-R.
Special identification cards and commissary and exchange privileges are provided for Medal of Honor recipients and their eligible dependents.
Children of recipients are eligible for admission to the United States military academies without regard to the quota requirements.
Recipients receive a 10 percent increase in retired pay under 10 U.S.C. § 3991.
Those awarded the medal after October 23, 2002 also receive a Medal of Honor Flag. The law also specified that all living Medal of Honor recipients would receive the flag along with all future recipients.(14 U.S.C. § 505).
As with all medals, retired personnel may wear the Medal of Honor on "appropriate" civilian clothing. Regulations also 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.[31][32]
Legal protection
Until late 2006, the Medal of Honor was the only service decoration singled out in federal law to protect it from being imitated or privately sold. The Stolen Valor Act of 2005, enacted December 20, 2006, extended some of these protections to other military awards as well.[33] Now, any false verbal, written or physical claim to an award or decoration authorized for wear by authorized military members or veterans is a federal offense. [34]

 The Medal of Honor on display
All Medals of Honor are issued in the original only, by the Department of Defense, to a recipient. Misuse of the medal, including unauthorized manufacture or wear, is punishable by a fine up to $100,000 and imprisonment for up to one year pursuant to (18 U.S.C. § 704(b)), which prescribes a harsher penalty than that for violations concerning other medals.[5] After the Army redesigned its medal in 1903, a patent was issued (United States Patent #D37,236) to legally prevent others from making the medal. When the patent expired, the Federal government enacted a law making it illegal to produce, wear, or distribute the Medal of Honor without proper authority. Violators of this law have been prosecuted. A number of veterans' organizations and private companies devote themselves to exposing those who falsely claim to have received the Medal of Honor.[35]

Enforcement
HLI Lordship Industries Inc., a former Medal of Honor contractor, was fined in 1996 for selling 300 fake medals for $75 each.[36]
Also that year, Fort Lauderdale, Florida resident Jackie Stern was convicted of wearing a medal to which he was not entitled; instead of six months in jail, a federal judge sentenced him to serve one year's probation and to write a letter of apology to each of the then-living 171 actual recipients of the medal; the letter was also published in the local newspaper.[37]
In 2003, Edward Fedora and Gisela Fedora were charged with Unlawful Sale of a Medal of Honor. They sold medals awarded to U.S. Navy Seaman Robert Blume (for action in the Spanish-American War) and to U.S. Army First Sergeant George Washington Roosevelt (for action in the Civil War) to an FBI agent.[38]

Double recipients
Nineteen men have been awarded the Medal of Honor twice. Five of these men were awarded both the Army and Navy Medal of Honor for the same action.



Name
Service
Rank
War
Notes


Frank Baldwin
Army
First Lieutenant, Captain
American Civil War, Indian Wars



Smedley Butler
Marine Corps
Major
Vera Cruz, Haiti



John Cooper
Navy
Coxswain
American Civil War



Louis Cukela
Marine Corps
Sergeant
World War I
Both awarded for same action.


Thomas Custer
Army
Second Lieutenant
American Civil War



Daniel Daly
Marine Corps
Private, Gunnery Sergeant
Boxer Rebellion, Haiti



Henry Hogan
Army
First Sergeant
Indian Wars



Ernest A. Janson
Marine Corps
Gunnery Sergeant
World War I
Both awarded for same action. Received the Army MOH under the name Charles F. Hoffman.


John J. Kelly
Marine Corps
Private
World War I
Both awarded for same action.


John King
Navy
Watertender
Peacetime



Matej Kocak
Marine Corps
Sergeant
World War I
Both awarded for same action.


John Lafferty
Navy
Fireman, First Class Fireman
American Civil War, peacetime



John C. McCloy
Navy
Coxswain, Chief Boatswain
Boxer Rebellion, Vera Cruz



Patrick Mullen
Navy
Boatswain's Mate
Civil War



John H. Pruitt
Marine Corps
Corporal
World War I
Both awarded for same action.


Robert Sweeney
Navy
Ordinary Seaman
Peacetime



Albert Weisbogel
Navy
Captain
Peacetime



Louis Williams
Navy
Captain
Peacetime



William Wilson
Army
Sergeant
Indian Wars


Medal of Honor Memorials
On September 21, 2001 a unique memorial was dedicated outside the entrance to the Pueblo, Colorado Convention Center. Named "Heroes' Plaza," the memorial was declared a National Medal of Honor Memorial by the U.S. Congress. Four eight-foot bronze statues of Pueblo's Medal of Honor heroes dominate the convention center plaza and encircle a pool of water. Behind the statues fly the National colors, the flags of each branch of military service, and the POW-MIA flag. The memorial is completed by four large, black marble panels into which is etched the names of all 3,440 Medal of Honor recipients.[39]
There are also memorials at the Riverside National Cemetery in California, the Indianapolis Medal of Honor Memorial in Indiana, and a new Medal of Honor Museum opened on the hanger deck of the U.S.S. Yorktown on Memorial Day weekend in 2007 at Patriots Point in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina.

Similar decorations within the United States
The following United States decorations bear similar names to the Medal of Honor, but are separate awards with different criteria for issuance.

Cardenas Medal of Honor: decoration of the Revenue Cutter Service, merged into the United States Coast Guard
Chaplain's Medal of Honor: awarded posthumously for a single action to four recipients
Congressional Gold Medal
Congressional Space Medal of Honor: despite its name, not equal to the Medal of Honor
Presidential Medal of Freedom: the highest civilian honor
Several United States law enforcement decorations also bear the name "Medal of Honor." The Public Safety Officer Medal of Valor, established by Congress in 2001, "the highest national award for valor by a public safety officer," is also awarded by the President.[40][41][42]

Notes

↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Department of the Army 2008-07-22.Section 578.4 Medal of Honor. Code of Federal Regulations Title 32, Volume 2 Government Printing Office. accessdate 2008-07-22

↑ 2.0 2.1 Congressional Medal of Honor Society. MOH Stats. accessdate 2008-07-22

↑ Boatner, Military Customs and Traditions. and Johnson, The Oxford Companion to American History.)

↑ The Congressional Medal of Honor Society is so named because that is the name it was given in an act of Congress signed into law by President Eisenhower on August 5, 1958 as Title 36, Chapter 33 of the U.S. Code. (See The Congressional Medal of Honor Society's History. Official Site Congressional Medal of Honor Society. accessdate 2008-07-21) The law authorizing the society has since been transferred to Title 36, Chapter 405 of the U.S. Code.

↑ 5.0 5.1 Office of the Law Revision Counsel html 18USC704(b) US Code Collection (Cornell Law School). accessdate 2008-07-21

↑ The Language of Warfare Fidelity Medallion. accessdate 2008-07-21

↑ Foxfall Medals. Certificate of Merit. accessdate 2008-07-21

↑ First Medal Awarded Medalofhonor.com. Retrieved June 26, 2008.

↑ 9.0 9.1  History of the Medal. Public Broadcasting System. accessdate 2008-07-21

↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 = Types of the Medal of Honor: 1862 To Present. Congressional Medal of Honor Society. accessdate 2008-07-22 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "typessecnav" defined multiple times with different content

↑ The Medal's History. Medal of Honor Society accessdate 2008-07-22

↑ Michael Birnie. 2003. "Tiffany" Medal of Honor Comes to Navy Museum News.Navy.mil. Retrieved June 26, 2008.

↑ Congressional Medal of Honor Society Cmohs.org. Retrieved June 26, 2008.

↑ Medal of Honor Society Cmohs.org. Retrieved June 26, 2008.

↑ The Congressional Medal of Honor Society's History. Official Site Congressional Medal of Honor Society. accessdate 2008-07-22

↑ Marines Awarded the Medal of Honor. U.S. Marine Corps. accessdate 2008-07-22

↑ 17.0 17.1 WWII African American MOH recipients. Center for Military History. U.S. Army. accessdate 2008-07-22

↑  21 June 2000. 22 Asian-Pacific Americans Receive Medals of Honor. Center for Military History US Army. accessdate 2008-07-22

↑ The Medal. Congressional Medal of Honor Society. accessdate 2008-07-22

↑ MOH FAQ Congressional Medal of Honor Society. accessdate 2008-07-22

↑  Douglas Albert Munro, USCG. US Coast Guard. accessdate 2008-07-22

↑ Double Recipients. Congressional Medal of Honor Society. accessdate 2008-07-22

↑ 23 Oct 2002, Designation of the Medal of Honor Flag. US Code.gov accessdate 2008-07-22

↑ Special Forces veteran's idea leads to new Medal of Honor flag. Army News Service accessdate 2006-07-24

↑ Medal of Honor Flag. The Institute of Heraldry US Army. accessdate 2008-07-22

↑ Eric W. Cramer, 29 March 2005. First Medal of Honor flag to be presented. Army News Service US Army. accessdate 2008-07-22

↑ 2006, "Old Ironsides" Hosts Medal of Honor Recipients. Navy Newsstand US Navy. accessdate 2008-07-22

↑ Medal of Honor Recipients. Tricare. accessdate 2008-07-22

↑ Navy & Marine Corps Awards and Decorations: Medal of Honor. usmilitary.about.com. accessdate 24 Jul 2008

↑ Special Benefits and Allowances Table. Dept. of Veterans Affairs. accessdate 2008-07-22

↑ Ribbon and Rosette. The Medal of Honor: 1862 to Present. homeofheroes.com. accessdate 2008-07-22

↑ Army Uniform Regulations AR 670-1 3 Feb 2005 Section 30-5 and 30-6 p.339 Chapter 30-6, 339. Department of the Army. accessdate 2008-07-22

↑ S. 1998: Stolen Valor Act of 2005. 109th U.S. Congress (2005–2006) GovTrak.us accessdate 2008-07-22

↑  18 U.S.C. 704 

↑ Amy Chozick. Veterans' Web Sites Expose Pseudo Heroes, Phony Honors. Wall Street Journal accessdate 2008-07-22

↑  4 Dec 1996.Company fined for selling fake Medals of Honor. US News CNN. accessdate 2008-07-22

↑  4 Dec 1996, Florida Man wears medal without Honor. US News CNN. accessdate 2008-07-22

↑  July 9, 2003, Defendants Charged With Conspiracy to Sell Several Congressional Medals of Honor. Federal Bureau of Investigation. accessdate 2008-07-22

↑ Home of Heroes Homeofheroes.com. Retrieved July 13, 2008.

↑ Office of Justice Programs: Medal of Valor.
U.S. Department of Justice. accessdate 2008-07-22

↑ 
[http://www.medaloffreedom.com/ExecutiveOrder9586.htm Executive Order No. 9586. The Presidential Medal of Freedom Harry S. Truman. July 6, 1945. accessdate 2008-07-22

↑ Executive Order 11085. The Presidential Medal of Freedom. John F. Kennedy, February 22, 1963. accessdate 2008-07-22


ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
Bonds, Russell S. 2007. Stealing the General: The Great Locomotive Chase and the First Medal of Honor. Yardley, PA: Westholme. ISBN 1594160333
Boston Publishing Company, and Congressional Medal of Honor Society of the United States of America. 1985. Above and Beyond: A History of the Medal of Honor from the Civil War to Vietnam. Boston, MA: Boston Pub. Co. ISBN 0939526190
Collier, Peter, and Nick Del Calzo. 2003. Medal of Honor: Portraits of Valor Beyond the Call of Duty. New York: Artisan. ISBN 1579652409
Mikaelian, Allen, and Mike Wallace. 2002. Medal of Honor: Profiles of America's Military Heroes from the Civil War to the Present. New York: Hyperion. ISBN 0786866624
Smith, Larry. 2003. Beyond Glory: Medal of Honor Heroes in Their Own Words : Extraordinary Stories of Courage from World War II to Vietnam. New York: Norton. ISBN 039305134X
External links
All links retrieved November 8, 2022.

American Valor Pbs.org.
Highest military awards for gallantryCurrent

Argentine Nation to the Heroic Valour in Combat Cross (Argentina) · 
Hero of Belarus (Belarus) · 
Mannerheim Cross (Finland) · 
Légion d'honneur (France) · 
Param Vir Chakra (India) · 
Medal of Valor (Israel) · 
Seri Pahlawan Gagah Perkasa (Malaysia) · 
Military William Order (Netherlands) · 
Nishan-e-Haider (Pakistan) · 
Medal of Valor (Philippines) · 
Virtuti Militari (Poland) · 
Order of Michael the Brave (Romania) · 
Hero of the Russian Federation (Russian Federation) · 
Laureate Cross of St. Ferdinand (Spain) · 
Parama Weera Vibhushanaya (Sri Lanka) · 
Victoria Cross (United Kingdom •  Australia •  Canada •  New Zealand) · 
Hero of Ukraine (Ukraine) · 
Medal of Honor (United States)


Obsolete

Military Order of Maria Theresa (Austria-Hungary) · 
Pour le Mérite (Kingdom of Prussia) · 
Military Order of Max Joseph (Kingdom of Bavaria) · 
Military Order of St. Henry (Kingdom of Saxony) · 
Military Merit Order (Kingdom of Württemberg) · 
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (Nazi Germany) · 
Order of the Golden Kite (Japan) · 
Vietnam Military Merit Medal (South Vietnam) · 
Hero of the Soviet Union (Soviet Union)




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