1. HISTORY OF THE
MEDAL OF HONOR
Virginia Tech

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3. About the Medal The highest military award of the United States
Given for “conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty…”
Only awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for actions during combat
Submitted by peer(s) who witnessed the action and validated by eyewitness accounts

4. By the numbers Signed into law in 1861 by President Lincoln
First awarded on March 25, 1863
3497 total Recipients of the Medal of Honor and 3516 total medals awarded
76 living Recipients of the Medal of Honor

5. Army – 2,450 Air Force - 18 Air Force - 18 Navy - 748 Marines - 299
Coast Guard - 1
Army – 2,450
Air Force - 18
Air Force - 18

6. Beginnings For “petty officers, seamen, landsmen
December 9, 1861 Iowa Senator James W. Grimes introduces legislation to: "promote the efficiency of the Navy“
For “petty officers, seamen, landsmen
and marines” for their gallantry in action

7. 1862
February 17, 1862 Massachusetts Senator Henry Wilson introduced a similar bill, this one to authorize "to distribute medals to privates in the Army of the United States who shall distinguish themselves in battle."

8. Navy MoH here

9. Navy MOH continued to be for enlisted personnel only.
March 1863
Congress extended the tat of the Army MOH to officers as well as non-commissioned officers and privates.
Navy MOH continued to be for enlisted personnel only.

10. First Recipient Pvt. Jacob W. Parrott
Company K, 33d Ohio Infantry.
‘Andrews’ Raiders’, Georgia, April 1862.
Entered service: Hardin County, Ohio.
Birth: July 17, 1843
Awarded: March 25, 1863
Age of 19
and Atlanta.[1
Pvt. Jacob W. Parrott

11. Dr. Mary Edwards Walker First Female Recipient
First Battle of Bull Run Battle of Fredericksburg Battle of Chickamauga Assist Surgeon General, 52nd Ohio Infantry Battle of Atlanta Prisoner of War Awarded Medal of Honor Revoked in Restored in 1977

12. Army MoH Video here

13. Air Force MoH Here

14. First African-American Recipient * William H. Carney
William Harvey Carney
Company C, 54th Massachusetts, Colored Infantry Regiment, United States Army A freeman, he joined the Union Army with 40 other former slaves Awarded Medal of Honor May 5, 1900

15. Youngest Recipient Willie Johnston
William Harvey Carney
11 years old Received MOH on September 16, 1863 Received the 7th Medal of Honor awarded

16. Medals of Honor awarded to members of the United States Army and Navy.
CIVIL WAR
1,522 MEDALS OF HONOR AWARDED
Medals of Honor awarded to members of the United States Army and Navy.

17. New standard for Medal of Honor signed by President Hayes
1876
“The conduct which deserves such consideration should not be the simple discharge of duty, but such acts beyond this that if omitted or refused to be done, should not justly subject the person to censure as a shortcoming or failure…”
“The conduct which deserves such consideration should not be the simple discharge of duty, but such acts beyond this that if omitted or refused to be done, should not justly subject the person to censure as a shortcoming or failure.”
New standard for Medal of Honor signed by President Hayes

18. President William McKinley
1897
Only
Only be awarded for ‘gallantry and intrepedidity’ above and beyond that of one’s fellow soldiers.
Required that submission for the MOH must be made by a person other than the veteran who had performed the heroic action.
Required testimony, under oath, of one or more eyewitnesses to the heroic action(s).
Set a time limit of one year for any person to be submitted for the MOH for an act occurring after June 26, 1887.
President William McKinley

19. 1898
The Army issued proper instructions for display of the MOH suspended from a neck ribbon.

20. PRESIDENT THEODORE ROOSEVELT EXECUTIVE ORDER · SEPTEMBER 20, 1905
“The Presentation of the Medal of Honor to an officer or enlisted man in the military service… will always be made with formal and impressive ceremony…the presentation will be made by the President, as Commander-in-Chief…” .
“The Presentation of the Medal of Honor to an officer or enlisted man in the military service… will always be made with formal and impressive ceremony…the presentation will be made by the President, as Commander-in-Chief…
Believed to have done the most of any President to advance the stature and prestige of the Medal of Honor.

21. Congress authorizes the President to award in the name of Congress
1918
“a suitable Medal of Honor to be awarded to any officer of the Navy, Marine Corps, or Coast Guard who shall have distinguished himself in battle or displayed extraordinary heroism in the line of his profession.”
“a suitable Medal of Honor to be awarded to any officer of the Navy, Marine Corps, or Coast Guard who shall have distinguished himself in battle or displayed extraordinary heroism in the line of his profession.”
Congress authorizes the President to award in the name of Congress

22. Pyramid of Honor General Order No. 6 (1918)
Distinguished Service Cross - Army
Distinguished Service Medal
Distinguished Service Cross
Silver Star
General Order No. 6 (1918)

23. Sergeant Alvin C. York World War I
Meuse-Argonne Offensive
Credited with single-handedly killing 28 Germans and capturing 132.
Historic event, not for the Medal itself, but for the legendary status its recipients would receive in the years to follow.

24. “…awarded for action against an enemy of the United States
Criteria Change
Congress amended Titles 10 and 14 of the US Code establishing criteria and guidelines for awarding the MOH
“…awarded for action against an enemy of the United States
…while engaged in military operations involving conflict with an opposing foreign force, or while serving with friendly forces…”

25. Largest of three designs. All suspended from identical blue ribbon.
Air Force Design
Largest of three designs.
All suspended from identical blue ribbon.

26. Colonel Robert L. Howard
United States Army Special Forces
The most highly decorated serviceman in the history of the United States.
Recommended for the Medal of Honor three times ( ).

27. Medal of Honor Day
March 25

28. Medal of Honor Society
Located aboard the USS Yorktown, Patriot’s Point, Mt. Pleasant, SC