The Medal of Honor
Since the Civil War, when the first Congressional Medals of Honor were presented to recipients, there have been 3534 Medals of Honor presented to 3515 military members. Nineteen heroes received the highest military Medal ever presented for their heroism in two different actions, receiving two Medals of Honor.
Of the total given, there are currently 64 living recipients of the Medal of Honor.
A Woman Recipient
There has only been one Medal of Honor presented to a woman, and that one was rescinded 52 years later because she was not a member of the military. However, the Medal was then again awarded and her honor restored in 1977 when the President of the United States determined her military actions, in spite of not been officially in the military, were deserving of the highest honor, keeping Dr. Mary Walker as the only woman to receive the Medal of Honor.
Members of the armed forces are not thinking of medals, honors, or their treatment back home when on the battlefield doing what they think is right and necessary, making instant decisions and taking brave actions, some at the cost of their lives.
Nor are the Medals decided or presented easily and without absolute proof and sworn statements by witnesses. Indeed, the process to determine recipients is difficult, complex and well established so all recipients are held to the same high standards.
Criteria
The current criteria for the standards that prove a recipient has gone beyond the call of duty were established in 1963 during the Vietnam War.
Said simply, the Medal is authorized for a military service member who “distinguishes himself conspicuously by gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty either while engaged in an action against an enemy of the United States; engaged in military operations involving conflict with an opposing foreign force; or 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.”
The Process
Military members must be recommended for the Medal, and that is not a simple process either. The recommendations must include thorough reports of the specific action including the battlefield and its setting. The act itself must have been explained by at least two sworn eyewitness statements, and if possible, any other compelling evidence that can be gathered must also be included. Those recommendation packets for the Medal of Honor must then be approved all the way up the military command structure before getting the approval of the President of the United States President the Commander-in-Chief of the nation’s forces.
All recommendations must be submitted, according to law, within three years of the action being sited, and the Medal must be presented within five years, unless an Act of Congress waives the time limits.
Changes
While the current standards for the Medal itself were set during the Vietnam War, there were other changes between the Civil War and then as well. Both the Army and the Navy have always had separate designs for the Medal for recipients in their branches of service, and the Air Force introduced its own design in 1965. Prior to that, Air Force or Army Air Corps recipients received the US Army Medal design. The U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Coast Guard receive the U.S. Navy design.
The Navy actually has two designs for its Medal of Honor, the second known as the “Tiffany Cross.” The Navy introduced that design in 1919 to be bestowed on Naval personnel whose actions took place during armed conflict while individuals whose actions did not take place during combat received the original star design. However, the two-design for one branch of service created confusion, so the Tiffany Cross has not been used very often.
Originally, the Medal of Honor was worn on the lapel. Today, the Medal of Honor is the only military medal that can be hung around the neck.
Congressional Medal of Honor Society
In 1958, the Congressional Medal of Honor Society was chartered by the US Congress and all of its members are the living Medal of Honor recipients. The Society has its museum and information aboard the USS Yorktown at Patriots Point, South Carolina.
National Medal of Honor Day
Congress also established March 25 as National Medal of Honor Day with the purposes of fostering public appreciation and recognition of Medal of Honor Recipients.
But those 66 living recipients do not spend the day in celebration or fanfare. Instead, they choose to honor all those who have received the Medal since the Civil War as their way of reinforcing their own feelings on what the day means to them, the living recipients.
For the living recipients, It is a day these heroes honor the sacrifices of all who served alongside them as well as those who came before them in battle.
On March 25, the living Medal of Honor recipients lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery honoring “the unknowns.” Each of the ‘unknowns’ buried at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is a Medal of Honor Recipient..
NEXT: Learn more about one of the New Jersey recipients
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Bud Thorne
