Medal of Honor Recipients

Medal of Honor recipients include those U.S. military personnel who have received the Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest decoration for valor in combat.  Medal of Honor recipients are presented a medal which is indicative of the recipient’s branch of service and worn at the throat, suspended from a pale blue ribbon.  The criteria for Medal of Honor recipients has evolved through the years since the award was established during the Civil War.

Medal of Honor Recipients

Private George B. Turner

By Edward F. Murphy

The terse announcement stunned the tightly packed group of young Marines aboard a troop ship in New York Harbor, November 12, 1918. Read more

Marine Corporal Dakota Meyer, who trained Afghan National Security Forces in the use of weapons, took up a position with the quick reaction force during the security sweep of Ganjal village in September 2009.

Medal of Honor Recipients

Marine Corporal Dakota Meyer in Afghanistan

By William E. Welsh

Moonlight bathed the dusty narrow path leading into the village of Ganjal shortly before sunrise on September 8, 2009, as nearly 100 soldiers climbed out of more than a dozen vehicles a mile from the seemingly peaceful village. Read more

Medal of Honor Recipients

General Frederick Funston

By Shippen Swift

Looking at a 1917 newspaper photo of Frederick Funston, barely 5 feet 4 inches tall and weighing just a biscuit over a hundred pounds, today’s reader would wonder whatever made U.S. Read more

Medal of Honor Recipients

Medal of Honor Recipient George Mabry

By Gerald Astor

As a captain during World War II, George Mabry, with the 4th Infantry Division, slogged ashore on Utah Beach on D-Day and led troops through the Normandy Campaign. Read more

The Gettysburg cyclorama shows a badly wounded Alonzo Cushing commanding one of his guns in The Angle.

Medal of Honor Recipients

Union Lieutenant Alonzo Cushing

By William E. Welsh

One of the smoothbore cannons in Captain Merritt B. Miller’s Third Company of the Washington Artillery deployed west of Emmitsburg Road just south of the town of Gettysburg fired a single round at 1:07 p.m. Read more

Major Richard Bong was America’s Ace of Aces.

Medal of Honor Recipients

Richard Bong (1920-1945)

By Sam McGowan

Without dispute, the P-38 was the airplane of the aces. While other fighter types had their share of aces, the P-38 was flown by most of the top scorers, of whom Major Richard Ira Bong was at the top of the heap. Read more

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