Medal of Honor

• 1. Origins And Creation

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  On the 21st of December 1861, President Abraham Lincoln signed a bill authorizing two hundred medals of honor for naval personnel. This legislation emerged from a proposal by Lieutenant Colonel Edward D. Townsend to Lieutenant General Winfield Scott. Scott initially opposed the idea as a European monarchical tradition incompatible with American republicanism. After Scott retired in October 1861, Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles adopted the concept. Iowa Senator James W. Grimes introduced bill S. 82 on the 9th of December 1861. The bill authorized medals for petty officers, seamen, landsmen, and marines who distinguished themselves by gallantry during the Civil War. On the 15th of May 1862, the Department of the Navy ordered one hundred seventy-five medals from the Philadelphia Mint at $1.85 each. These early versions featured Personal Valor inscribed on the reverse side. A similar resolution for Army recipients was introduced by Senator Henry Wilson on the 15th of February 1862. Congress approved this measure and it became law on the 12th of July 1862. By mid-November, the Department of War contracted with William Wilson and Son to produce two thousand Army medals at $2.00 apiece. Both versions were made of copper coated with bronze, giving them a reddish tint. On the 3rd of March 1863, Congress made the Army Medal permanent. Three days later, Secretary of War Edwin Stanton presented the first six Medals of Honor to volunteers in his office.

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• 2. Design Evolution

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  The original Naval version displayed an inverted pentagram design adopted in early 1862 that has remained unchanged since its inception. The Army's 1862 version followed closely but substituted an eagle perched atop cannons instead of an anchor connecting the pendant to the suspension ribbon. In 1896, Congress authorized a light blue service ribbon with five white stars arranged in an M shape. This ribbon replaced earlier designs due to misuse by nonmilitary organizations like the Grand Army of the Republic. General George Lewis Gillespie redesigned the Army medal in 1904 to distinguish it from other decorations. His new version featured a smaller star and introduced the light blue pattern with white stars seen today. A bar inscribed with Valor appeared above the star for the first time. The Navy adopted this same ribbon pattern in 1913. During World War I, the Department of the Navy created two separate medals: one for combat called the Tiffany Cross and another for non-combat actions. Tiffany Company designed the cross-shaped medal in 1919 after Secretary Josephus Daniels rejected Commission of Fine Arts drawings as un-American. The Tiffany Cross proved unpopular among recipients and was retired in 1942 when the Navy returned to using only the original 1862 inverted five-point star design. When the Air Force received its own distinctive version in January 1967, designers incorporated elements from both previous versions while replacing Minerva's head with the Statue of Liberty's image.

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• 3. Award Criteria And Review

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  Early regulations published in 1865 specified that medals should only be awarded to those who evinced signal acts of valor or devotion during battle. These rules also permitted awards for extraordinary heroism outside combat operations. By February 1917, an Army Medal of Honor Review Board struck nine hundred eleven medals from the list because they had been awarded inappropriately. Among those removed were members of the twenty-seventh Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment who reenlisted to guard the capital during the Civil War. The board also revoked awards given to civilians including Buffalo Bill Cody and Mary Edwards Walker. Walker continued wearing her medal until her death despite the revocation. In 1977, the Army's Board for Correction of Military Records unilaterally restored Walker's medal at a relative's request. This action violated period law requiring revocation in 1916 and modern statutes. Public Law 88-77 passed on the 25th of July 1963 standardized requirements across all services. It required recipients to distinguish themselves conspicuously by gallantry and intrepidity at risk of life above and beyond call of duty. The act removed loopholes allowing non-combat awards to Navy personnel. Congress drew three circumstances of combat from President Kennedy's executive order of the 25th of April 1962. These included engagement against enemies, military operations involving conflict with opposing foreign forces, or service with friendly foreign forces engaged in armed conflicts where the United States was not belligerent.

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• 4. Notable Recipients

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  Private Jacob Parrott became the first actual Medal of Honor recipient when awarded for participation in a raid on a Confederate train in Big Shanty, Georgia on the 12th of April 1862. Six decorated soldiers met President Lincoln in the White House after presentations. Bernard John Dowling Irwin earned his medal during Apache Wars actions on the 13th of February 1861, making him chronologically earliest though not first presented. Forty-one sailors received their medals on the 3rd of April 1863 following action during Battle of Forts Jackson and St. Philip. Signalman First Class Douglas Munro stands as only Coast Guardsman awarded the medal posthumously on the 27th of May 1943 for evacuating five hundred marines under fire during Guadalcanal battle. Mary Edwards Walker remains sole woman recipient despite receiving her award in 1865 while serving as civilian Army acting assistant surgeon. Her case later led to revocation in 1917 before questionable reinstatement by Army Board in 1977. Robert Blake became first black recipient when awarded the 16th of April 1864 for serving as powder boy aboard USS Marblehead. William Harvey Carney earned his medal during Battle of Fort Wagner but was not presented until 1900. Hiroshi Miyamura holds distinction as only Medal classified top secret due to his actions on the 24th of April 1951 during Korean War where he was presumed dead. His medal remained unannounced until his release in August 1953.

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• 5. Legal Protections

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  Brigadier General George Gillespie Jr., a Civil War recipient, obtained patent number 104,444 on the 22nd of November 1904 for new medal design. He transferred rights to Secretary of War William Howard Taft one month later. Congress passed statute codified at 18 U.S.C. section 704 prohibiting unauthorized wearing, manufacturing, or sale of military decorations in 1923. The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 amended this law to permit enhanced penalties involving the Medal of Honor specifically. The Stolen Valor Act of 2005 made it federal criminal offense deliberately stating false claims about receiving military decoration. Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional in United States v. Alvarez case decided June 2012 regarding First Amendment free speech guarantees. President Barack Obama signed Stolen Valor Act of 2013 making it offense to falsely represent oneself as awardee to receive money property or tangible benefits. As of 2017 only two reported arrests occurred under federal law though twenty-two states enacted their own legislation. Federal courts sentenced defendants in Iowa Ohio Missouri Texas Illinois Pennsylvania Georgia Rhode Island Wisconsin New York Minnesota Canada for violations between 2016 and 2024.

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• 6. Privileges And Benefits

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  Each recipient's name enters Medal of Honor Roll certified to Department of Veterans Affairs for monthly pension above any other military pensions. Current pension amount stands at $1,671.16 per month subject to cost-of-living increases. Enlisted recipients receive supplemental uniform allowance plus special air transportation entitlements allowing travel overseas or continental U.S. with dependents when accompanied by recipient. Special identification cards provide commissary and exchange privileges for recipients and eligible family members. Eligibility extends to interment at Arlington National Cemetery if not otherwise qualified. Fully qualified children automatically nominated to any United States service academy. Recipients receive ten percent increase in retired pay. Those awarded after the 23rd of October 2002 receive Medal of Honor Flag based on concept by retired Army First Sergeant Bill Kendall. All one hundred three living prior recipients received flags before that date. Invitations extend to all future presidential inaugurations and inaugural balls. Regulations allow wearing uniform at pleasure with standard restrictions on political commercial or extremist purposes. Forty states offer special license plates for certain vehicle types at little or no cost. Nebraska Hall of Fame statutes amended in 1969 require commission procure plaques naming Nebraskan recipients. Uniformed services encouraged render salutes regardless rank whether in uniform though not required by law.

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