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The Medal of Honor, sometimes referred to as the Congressional Medal of Honor because it is awarded by the President on behalf of the Congress, "President Presents Medal of Honor to Smith’s Family" Army.com. URL Accessed June 3, 2006. is the highest military decoration awarded by the United States. It is bestowed "for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of life, above and beyond the call of duty, in actual combat against an armed enemy force."

Since it was first awarded during the American Civil War, the medal has been awarded 3,460 times, most recently in 2005. All branches of the U.S. military are eligible to receive the medal, and each branch has a special design. The Medal of Honor is presented by the President of the United States, who acts as commander-in-chief on behalf of the American people.

The Medal of Honor is one of only two U.S. military decorations that are presented as neck orders. The other is the commander's degree of the Legion of Merit.

The highest civilian decorations are the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal of Honor. The Congressional Space Medal of Honor is a separate, inequivalent award.

Origin

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 considered America's first combat award (and the second oldest, after the Fidelity Medallion).

Although the Badge of Military Merit fell into disuse after the American Revolutionary War, the idea of a decoration for individual gallantry remained through the early 1800s. In 1847, after the outbreak of the Mexican-American War, a Certificate of Merit was established for any soldier who distinguished himself in action. The certificate was later granted medal status as the Certificate of Merit Medal.

Early in the Civil War, a medal for individual valor was proposed to Winfield Scott, the Commanding General of the United States Army. Scott did not approve the proposal, but such a medal found support in the Navy. Public Resolution 82, containing a provision for a Navy Medal of Valor, was signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln on December 21, 1861. 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." Shortly after this, a resolution similar in wording was introduced on behalf of the Army. Signed into law on July 12, 1862, the measure provided for awarding a Medal of Honor: "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."

Appearance

The Medal of Honor has evolved in appearance since its creation in 1862. The present day 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 to a thick blue ribbon, which is worn around the neck.

The United States Navy and United States Air Force have different designs; United States Marines receive the Navy's version of the Medal of Honor.

The Air Force Medal of Honor is unchanged in appearance since its inception in 1965.

The Coast Guard Medal of Honor, which was distinguished from the Navy medal in 1963, has never been awarded. No design yet exists for it. It is considered a conjectural decoration by the Institute of Heraldry.

Only one member of the Coast Guard has ever received a Medal of Honor, Douglas Munro, who was awarded the Navy version of the medal for action during the Battle of Guadalcanal.

In the rare cases (19 so far) where a service member has been awarded more than one Medal of Honor, regulations specify that an appropriate award device be centered on the MOH 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.

On a ribbon bar the Medal of Honor ribbon is the first ribbon (top left when seen on the uniform). The ribbon bar is the same blue as the neck ribbon, and it includes five white stars, pointed upwards, in the shape of an "M." For civilian wear, a rosette is issued instead of a miniature lapel pin (which usually shows the ribbon bar). The rosette is the same blue as the neck ribbon and also includes white stars. The ribbon bar and rosette are presented at the same time as the neck ribbon. On special occasions, the medal can be worn on civilian attire.

Versions of the medal

There are versions of the medal for each major branch of the U.S. 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. Prior to 1947 when the U.S. Air Force design came into existence, members of the U.S. Army Air Corps, U.S. Army Air Forces, and Air Force received the Army version of the medal.

Though a Coast Guard version existed, it was never issued because the U.S. Coast Guard is subsumed into the U.S. Navy in time of declared war. (The Coast Guard was originally part of the Department of the Treasury, and then the Department of Transportation in peacetime, but was reassigned to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in peacetime in 2003). Signalman 1st Class Douglas Munro was the only member of the Coast Guard to receive the medal; in his case, the Navy version was awarded.

Flag

The Medal of Honor Flag is given to recipients of the Medal of Honor. The awarding of the flag to future Medal of Honor recipients was approved by both houses of Congress and President George W. Bush in October 2002.

The idea of a flag was initiated and designed by Bill Kendall of Jefferson, Iowa, in honor of Medal of Honor recipient Darrell Lindsey, also of Jefferson, who died in action during World War II. His actual flag design was altered by Sarah LeClerc, of the Institute of Heraldry. She removed the words Medal of Honor along with adding the gold border to Bill Kendall's design.

The flag has a sky blue background with gold fringe. Thirteen white five-pointed stars are arranged as on the current ribbon of the Medal of Honor, in six rows of 1, 2, 3, 2, 3 and 2. The flag has no set proportions.

Public Law 107-248, Section 8143, created a Medal of Honor Flag for presentation to each person to whom a Medal of Honor is awarded after the date of the enactment, October 23, 2002. The first Medal of Honor recipient to receive the official flag was Paul R. Smith. The flag was cased and presented to his family, along with his Medal of Honor.

The flag commemorates the sacrifice and blood shed by American servicemen and women and gives emphasis to the Medal of Honor being the highest award for valor by an individual serving in the Armed Forces of the United States.

Awarding the medal

There are two distinct means of being approved for 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 on behalf of the Congress.

The Army Medal of Honor was first awarded to Private Jacob Parrott during the American Civil War for his role in Andrews Raid and was last officially awarded on September 23, 2005 to Corporal Tibor Rubin, a concentration camp survivor from World War II, for actions that occurred during the Korean War.http://www.army.mil/medalofhonor/rubin/citation/index.html - Tibor Rubin's Medal of Honor Citation.

The criteria for the award became stricter after World War I. In all, 3460 Medals of Honor have been awarded. Since the beginning of World War II, only 852 have been awarded, 526 of them posthumously.

Nomenclature

The Medal of Honor is awarded by the President in the name of Congress. The official term for the award is the Medal of Honor (MOH). The Congressional Medal of Honor Society is so named because the Society was created by Congress. Although commonplace, the use of the term "Congressional Medal of Honor" is incorrect, since the proper name of the award is the Medal of Honor. (Boatner, Military Customs and Traditions. and Johnson, The Oxford Companion to American History.)

Evolution of criteria

Public Resolution 82, containing a provision for a Navy medal of valor, was signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln on December 21, 1861. One year later, a similar resolution for the Army was created. The medal was first awarded to six Union soldiers who hijacked the General, a Confederate locomotive. Raid leader James J. Andrews, a civilian hanged as a Union spy, did not get the medal because it was originally given only to enlisted men. Army officers first received them in 1891 and Naval officers in 1915. Many Medals of Honor awarded in the 19th century were associated with saving the flag, not just for patriotic reasons, but because the flag was a primary means of battlefield communication. During the Civil War, no other military award was authorized, which explains some of the less-notable actions being awarded the Medal of Honor. In the post-World War II era, many of those awarded might be instead awarded a Silver Star, Navy Cross or similar award.

During the Civil War, Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton was in a bind for troops. He promised a Medal of Honor to every man in the 27th Regiment, Maine Infantry who extended his enlistment beyond the agreed upon date. Many stayed four days extra, and then were discharged. Due to confusion, Stanton awarded a Medal of Honor to all 864 men in the regiment.

In 1916, a law was passed calling for a board of five Army generals to review every Army Medal of Honor awarded. The commission, led by Nelson Miles, recommended that the Army rescind 911 medals. This included the 864 medals awarded to members of the 27th Maine, 29 who served as Abraham Lincoln's funeral guard, six civilians (including Dr. Mary Edwards Walker, the only woman to ever be awarded the medal, and Buffalo Bill Cody), and 12 others whose awards were judged frivolous. Dr. Walker's medal was restored posthumously by President Jimmy Carter in 1977.

The Navy, early in the 20th century, awarded many Medals of Honor for peacetime bravery. For instance, seven medals were awarded to sailors aboard the USS Iowa when a boiler exploded on January 25, 1904. Aboard the USS Chicago in 1901, John Henry Helms was awarded the medal for saving Ishi Tomizi, the ship's cook, from drowning. Even after World War I, the medal was awarded to Richard Byrd and Floyd Bennett for exploration of the North Pole. Thomas John Ryan received it for saving a woman from the burning Grand Hotel in Yokohama, Japan following the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake.

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. Official accounts vary, but presumably the combat Medal of Honor was known as the "Tiffany Cross", after the company that manufactured the medal. "The Tiffany" was first issued in 1919, but was rare and unpopular, partly because it was presented both for combat and noncombat events. As a result, the United States Navy reverted to a single Medal of Honor, awarded only for heroism, in 1942.

Since the beginning of World War II, the medal has been awarded for extreme bravery beyond the call of duty, where a service member consistently and persistently put his comrades' safety foremost, to the utter disregard of his own life, while engaged in action against an enemy. The only exception being Capt. William McGonagle who was awarded the medal for his actions during an alleged "friendly fire" incident. Due to these criteria, the medal is often, although not always, awarded posthumously.

Before the posthumous awarding of the Medal of Honor in 2005 to Paul R. Smith, the medal was last awarded for actions during the Battle of Mogadishu in 1993, when MSG Gary Gordon and SFC Randy Shughart lost their lives defending downed Black Hawk helicopter pilot CWO Michael Durant. Only three Medals of Honor have been awarded for actions since the Vietnam War. Various times after the Vietnam War, past heroism was recognized and previous awards have been upgraded to the Medal of Honor.

Controversies

A 1992 study commissioned by the Army described systematic racial discrimination in the criteria for awarding medals during World War II. 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.*. 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 Regimental Combat Team (one of whom was Senator Daniel Inouye). In 2005, President George W. Bush awarded the Medal of Honor to Jewish veteran and Holocaust-camp survivor Tibor Rubin.

Just as the Medal of Honor has been awarded a considerable time later where denied due to prejudice, it has been granted under circumstances that raise similar issues. The American Indian Movement has asked that the 20 medals awarded at the Wounded Knee massacre be rescinded.

Authority and privileges

The U.S. Army Medal of Honor was first authorized by joint resolution of Congress on July 12, 1862. The specific authorizing ordinance is found in U.S. Code, Title 10, Subtitle B, Part II, Chapter 357, Section 3741:

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, distinguished himself conspicuously by gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty.

Later authorizations created similar medals for other branches of the service.

The Medal of Honor confers special privileges on its recipients both by tradition and by law. By tradition, all other soldiers, sailors, and airmen, even higher-ranking officers all the way up to the President of the United States, initiate the salute. By law, awardees have several benefits:

  • Each Medal of Honor awardee may have his name entered on the Medal of Honor Roll (). 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 $1027 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 get a 10% increase in retired pay under , subject to the 75% limit on total retired pay.
  • Those awarded the Medal after October 23, 2002 also receive a Medal of Honor Flag. The law also specifies that all 143 living Medal of Honor recipients receive the flag also along with all future recipients.().
  • AR 670-1 section 30-5 'Wear of the uniform by Medal of Honor recipients': Personnel awarded the Medal of Honor may wear the Army uniform at their pleasure, except under the circumstances in paragraph 10-1.

Legal protection

The Medal of Honor is the only service decoration that cannot be privately bought, traded, or sold. 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 fine and imprisonment pursuant to 18USC704(b).

After the Army redesigned their 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. In 2003 Edward and Gisela Fedora were charged with violating 18USC704(b) - Unlawful Sale of a Medal of Honor. They sold medals awarded to U.S. Navy Seaman Robert Blume (for action during the Spanish-American War) and to U.S. Army First Sergeant George Washington Roosevelt (for action during the Civil War) to an FBI agent.

Imposters

Although it is illegal to wear the Medal of Honor without authorization, one can still legally claim to be a recipient, unless such a claim is made with the intent of securing veteran benefits. However, legislation has been proposed to sanction those who falsely represent themselves as Medal of Honor recipients.*

A number of veteran organizations and private companies devote themselves to exposing those who falsely claim to have won the Medal of Honor.*,*,*

Imposters are said to outnumber true Medal of Honor recipients. HLI Lordship Industries Inc., a former Medal of Honor contractor, was fined in 1996 for selling 300 fake Medals for $75 each.

Recipients

In total, 3,459 medals have been awarded to 3,440 different people. Nineteen men received a second award: 14 of these received two separate Medals for two separate actions, and five received both the Navy and the Army Medals of Honor for the same action. Since the beginning of World War II, 852 Medals of Honor have been awarded, 526 posthumously. In total, 615 had their Medals presented posthumously.

The only female Medal of Honor awardee was Mary Edwards Walker, a Civil War surgeon. Her medal was rescinded in 1917 along with many other non-combat awards. It was restored by President Jimmy Carter in 1977.

While current regulations explicitly state that recipients must be serving in the U.S. Armed Forces at the time of performing a valorous act that warrants the award of the Medal of Honor, exceptions have been made. For example, Mary Walker worked as a military contractor, and Charles Lindbergh, while a reserve member of the U.S. Army Air Corps, received his Medal of Honor as a civilian pilot. In addition, the Medal of Honor was presented to the British Unknown Warrior by General Pershing on October 17, 1921; later the U.S. Unknown Soldier was reciprocally awarded the Victoria Cross, Britain's highest award for gallantry, on November 11, 1921. Apart from these few exceptions, Medals of Honor can only be awarded to members of the U.S. armed forces - although being a U.S. citizen is not a prerequisite. Sixty-one Canadians who were serving in the United States armed forces have been awarded the Medal of Honor, with a majority awarded for actions in the American Civil War. Since 1900, only four have been awarded to Canadians. http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2005/07/01/canadians-usmedal050701.html - CBC News Article about America honoring Canadian Medal of Honor recipients. In the Vietnam War, Peter C. Lemon was the only Canadian recipient of the Medal of Honor.http://www.vwam.com/vets/allies/canadians.html - Veterans With A Mission website, discussing Canadian involvement in Vietnam.

By conflict
{| class="prettytable" cellpadding="2" Conflict Awards 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 Invasion of the Dominican Republic (1916) 3 World War I 124 Occupation of Nicaragua 2 World War II 464 Korean War 131 Vietnam War 245 Battle of Mogadishu 2 Iraq War 1 Peacetime 193 Unknown or Classified 9

By branch of service
{| class="prettytable" cellpadding="2" Service Awards Army2401 Navy745 Marines296 Air Force17 Coast Guard1

As of 2005, there are 3,460 recipients of the Medal of Honor. Several online data bases list them:

Similar decorations

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

Several United States law enforcement decorations also bear the name "Medal of Honor". The Public Safety Officer Medal of Valor is also typically considered the police equivalent to the Medal of Honor. The highest civilian honor of all is the Presidential Medal of Freedom, considered to be a direct civilian equivalent of the Medal of Honor.

Foreign awards
The following countries have high military awards similar to the Medal of Honor:

Obsolete awards
The following obsolete military decorations were equivalent to the Medal of Honor

References

External links

Military decorations | Gold medals | Medal of Honor recipients | Awards and decorations of the United States military | Honor

Medal of Honor | Medal of Honor | Medalla de Honor | Medal of Honor | מדליית הכבוד (ארצות הברית) | Medal of Honor (militair) | 名誉勲章 | Medal of Honor | Medal Honoru (USA) | 荣誉勋章

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Medal of Honor".

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