The Burden of the Medal of Honor
Volumes have been written on the Medal of Honor and those few who have earned it. Doug Sterner at Home of Hero’s knows more about this topic than probably any other living person. In the past few days I have thought allot about what it takes to even be considered. I have thought about the politics, but most of all I have thought about what happens to the men after the award is hung around their neck.
George Patton said “I’d sell my immortal soul for that Medal”
Harry Truman said ” “I would rather have the blue band of the Medal of Honor around my neck than to be President.”
To a man they all will say they are not Hero’s. Every person they say that to disagrees and say’s but you are. They are often the most reserved and quite people in the room. They come from all walks of life, every ethnic background and every social level. The one thing they all have in common is that they, in a moment of terror that would make most cower placed the value of another man’s life above the value of their own.
I can promise that not a single person that ever earned the MOH wanted it. To them they did what was needed at that instant without any other thought than protecting life, even if it meant they had to take lives to do so.
They did what they did, it is talked about mulled over, sometimes forgotten and brought up again. People are interviewed and a complete picture of the action is put together. Months, years, decades and sometimes the remainder of a mans life goes by. Then they are notifies that they are to be given the MOH. They are invited to the white house and the President says some words and hangs the MOH on them.
Their names are said with awe. Building are named for them. They are asked to give speeches and to show up at at Presidential inaugurations. They will eat more bad chicken dinners at Rotary Clubs, Lions Clubs and every every other club of civic groups who name is on every welcome sign in every small town in America. They will hear the tale of their Heroism told time and again. They go to schools to give talks, they answer every question as if it were the first time it was asked and not the hundredth or thousandth. They have sore hands from all the firm handshakes but they always go out of their way to make sure everyone knows they were not alone, that they are not heroes. That any man in that position would do the same things.
They travel, very often at their own expense to give talks or be at events. They get request for autographs, photographs ect. They have said that it is easier to earn the MOH than it is to wear it.
These men rarely if ever profit from the Medal. They understand that while they may be one of the few to ever wear the MOH it really belongs to the nation. They know that they are the voice for every person who ever put on a uniform. There are very few men alive who can wear the Medal. Its physical weight is only a few ounces, its weight in responsibility to the nation is measurable. Yet every man wear it with the pride of the nation and the dignity of a true Hero.
Doug Sterner calls the men who earned the Medal National Treasures, that somehow does not seem like enough, but I cant come up with a better term either.
©2014 This Aint Hell
Category: Military issues
Something, something…giant balls….clanging….wheelbarrow etc etc….most of us not worthy…just in *awe*.
I have only silent awe for those who wear the MoH.
Excellent, Enigma4you.
Rog that.
Well done!
I’ve met a couple of MoH recipients. They were the very picture of self-deprecation.
Lebben B-You are so right judging from my experience. My room mate at HHC, 2d Brigade, 82d Airborne, back in 1967, was a fellow E-6 who had been put in for the MoH but it had not yet been awarded. He was staying in the barracks until his family joined him there at Bragg. I was thankful when he finally got his quarters assigned because he woke me up almost nightly, re-living the firefights.
All of us other NCO’s learned quickly not to question him about the exploits that earned him the nightmares or the Medal. The normally affable Charley Morris would fix you with a wilting, steely-eyed stare and say, “Change the subject.” I’ll bet that stare served him well as the command sergeant major he later became.
Although I saw his scars and heard the nightmares, I never learned what he had done until decades later from a MoH website. RIP Charley. Here’s his Wikipedia page:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_B._Morris
Small world. One of the recipients I was writing about was CSM Morris. He was from the same part of Virginia I am and we had a good visit talking about squirrel and rabbit hunting.
Did you also know platoon sergeant Condi-Falcon who won the MOH in 68 while serving with the 2 505?
Starts slow clap.
Valor,
Strength or mind or body that allows a person to encounter danger with firmness.
These Men (and one woman) who have earned the MOH do the right thing, under immense pressure intuitively.
When I read about that actions of those that have been awarded to MOH I often see the word fearless. I do not agree with that. I know these men feel fear and terror. They are not stupid. They are able to set aside that fear and do what needs to be done.
The people like Toney,Church Ect that claim awards of valor are not only stealing the awards itself, but discounting the fear that has to be overcome. They cheapen the emotion that the true Hero’s feel.
Aircav: I thought Clara Barton was also awarded the MOH?
In any case, as for the somewhat excessive awards, I seem to recall that at least part of the reason was that for many, many decades the MOH was literally the only medal the armed services could award.
So if you distinguished yourself in some Civil War battle, you either got the MOH or diddly squat.
The only female recipient, a civilian, Mary Walker, along with 910 other questionable recipients (like the members of Lincoln’s funeral detail, all of whom received the MOH for that ‘action’) had her MOH revoked. However, Carter reinstated it in 1977. Just another of Carter’s screw-ups, as I see it.
Have any women from OIF or OEF even been considered for the MoH, that anybody knows or has heard of? I haven’t heard of any, which is why I’m asking.
The only two women that I know of that received the Silver Star for OIF and OEF are Spc Monica Lin Brown, a medic who received her Silver Star due to her actions during an ambush in Afghanistan that wounded several soldiers and disabled a couple of vehicles, and Sgt. Leigh Ann Hester, an MP who lead a squad that broke up a complex ambush on a supply convoy in Iraq.
http://www.npr.org/2011/02/22/133847765/silver-star-recipient-a-reluctant-hero
http://www.nbcnews.com/id/23547346/ns/us_news-military/t/female-medic-earns-silver-star-afghan-war/
Thank you for those links, Jon. That is interesting reading.
I seem to recall that there was an entire regiment who got the MOH during the Civil War for re-enlisting, but maybe I am getting that confused with the funeral detail.
Pinto Nag-two females have received the Silver Star, but those are the highest awards to females in the GWOT.
Thank you for the info, 68W58.
You;re welcome.
The CMH was not really the same award during the Civil War as we think of it today. There are examples of a sailor on a riverboat being awarded a CMH for jumping over the side and saving another sailor’s life (both USN); they weren’t under fire, or even in bad weather. Today, that action might get earn one a Navy and Marine Corps Medal, or possibly just a Silver Lifesaving Medal, but never a CMH. It was just not as revered as it is today. To compare CMHs earned in the Civil War to the ones today are apples and oranges.
Right-you look at the Civil War citations and some of them are only a sentence or two “captured the enemy’s colors’ or something similar.
It’s the MOH, frequently miscalled the CMOH b/c it is issued in the name of (not BY) Congress. And you are 100% correct regarding the Civil War but the Army (and only the Army) took care of the problem by revoking medals. Of course, for political reasons, six or so were restored many decades later.
I think the navy has revoked 17. These were revoked because the sailor deserted or did something else to cause them to take it away.
I will look and find a reference
No, you didn’t confuse the two. Theirs (27 of them!)were revoked too. That was the 27th Maine.
CORRECTION. It was the 27th Maine but the number of MOHs was 29.
The words of Truman and Patton are interesting, but reading them I was reminded of the words of LT (j.g.) Doug Roberts: ” Right now I’m looking at something that’s hanging over my desk. A preposterous hunk of brass attached to the most bilious piece of ribbon I’ve ever seen. I’d rather have it than the Congressional Medal of Honor.”
Now, I know it’s fiction, but I think there’s something to that sentiment. Valor (and recognition for same) is a great thing, but duty and camaraderie are also very fine things. In that same movie the Doc is trying to explain to Mr. Roberts about heroism and he says “That’s mostly what makes physical heroism. Opportunity. It’s a reflex.”
Now, I think there’s a lot more too it than that, but many who would otherwise be heroes never are because they never get that opportunity. And one of the key themes of that movie is that that’s OK. That duty and camaraderie are enough in and of themselves and we who serve should be OK with that. That’s part of the reason that we get so disgusted with those who have served and then lie about their service-was what you actually did not enough? It should be, it’s a perfectly honorable thing. If your service never made you a “hero”, who cares? Without cooks and fuelers and clerks the Army couldn’t function and tedious mundane duties are important to the overall fight.
I’m an Infantryman without any v devices. My proudest accomplishment is while I was a PSG not a single one of my guys got put on the KIA list. The award that I am most proud of is a unit award. My unit got the VUA for Operation Together Forward.
Twist,
I am sure SSG Kyle would rather be able to say what you just did than I have the MOH
I’m sure he would trade places with me in a heart beat. I never understood award chasing. We had a guy in my Company that said he hopes he gets a PH. I stood there looking at him stunned for a little bit. The only reply that I could think of was “what the fuck is wrong with you”.
I never understood medal chasing either. Especially the PH.
That is a very great accomplishment.
Now THAT statement is worthy of a slow clap. Good job, PSG. Well met, indeed.
That’s a great movie by the way. “Mr. Roberts”.
I sent Doug Sterner an Email asking him to drop by and provide some clarification to the questions. Lets hope he does.
One of the coolest events I ever had the honor to attend was the MoH Convention that was held in Pueblo, Colorado. My dad took me to it when I was 9 or 10. The humility of all those men was and is truly awe inspiring. They gave out a little book at that convention that had a picture and the MoH citation for all the awardees in attendance. I walked around for hours meeting those amazing warriors and asking for their autograph. In my 10 year old mind they were bigger superstars then John Elway. That book now resides in a place of honor right next to my grandfathers war journal from WWII.
Any chance of some photos?
Yeah I can post some photos of the book later on tonight for you. I don’t think I have any photos from the convention…just the mental memories.
Hi friends… The proper title is simply “Medal of Honor.” The organization that represents these men is “The Congressional Medal of Honor Society” because the organization itself was chartered by Congress. 911 Medals of Honor were rescinded inthe purge of 1917 as being frivolously awards, including 864 to members of the 27th Maine, 29 to the Lincoln Funeral Guard, and some others. I’ve detailed this at: http://www.homeofheroes.com/moh/corrections/purge_army.html Also among these was the award to Civilian Contract Surgeon Mary Walker, and five Civilian Scouts (including “Buffalo Bill” Cody. Walker’s was later restored under the Carter administration, and subsequently so were the awards to the five civilian scouts. After extensive study of their actions, I wouldn’t quibble with that decision, although many, including some of my friends who are living MOH recipients, objected to the restoration of Mary Walker’s award. While she proudly wore her MOH, her proudest moment was the day she was repatriated from a POW camp where she was part of a POW exchange and was traded “woman for man” by the Confeds. I am always reluctant to easily dismiss either the Civil War or any awards up to the review of 1917 based on the brevity of the citation. That was the nature. Nearly a third of the CW MOHs were for capturing the enemy flag or saving one’s own flag. While that sounds pretty innocuous next to WWII “charging machine gun nest” action, based on CW tactics, saving your regimental flag was tantamount to “Saving and entire regiment” and capturing the enemy’s flag was tantamount to “capturing an entire regiment”…a la Sergeant York. One need only read the story of William H. Carney whose citation reads a simple sentence to realize behind the few words is a more incredible story that rivals anything recent. In fact, one of the most eye opening moments for me in my studies was the 56 MOHs awarded at Cienfuegos, Cuba in the Spanish-American WAr. The citations read simply “for cutting the Cables at Cienfuegos, Cuba.” http://www.homeofheroes.com/wallofhonor/spanish_am/04_cienfuegos.html When you get into the details of that action, it too rivals some of the… Read more »
Doug-first, thanks for homeofheroes.com. That is a great reference and I have spent many hours there reading through the statistics and citations.
I think what some of us are saying about the Civil War (and Indian Wars) Medal’s of Honor is that we realize that they are not the same as those post WWI because at that time it was the only award for valor available and that if some other award would likely have been downgraded (IIRC the DSC was not established until WWI).
It’s also hard to reconcile how some of those medals were awarded while, for instance, Commander Will Cushing never got one considering what he accomplished over and over again during his Civil War service (to say nothing of his mission against the CSS Albemarle)-though, of course, deserving individuals might be passed over for a variety of reasons.
I think the “only available award prior to 1917” arguement is relevant largely to the non-combat, life-saving actions that got Navy MOHs (which under today’s guidelines would have resulted in a Navy & Marine Corps Medal). I’m not really sure it applies so much to the combat actions of the CW, Indian Wars, Boxer Rebellion and Span-Am Wars. Keep in mind, while it was the ONLY available award until 1917 (other than the Gold and Silver Lifesaving Medal), it was also a largely unwanted award by most veterans. Most members in service and veterans of prior wars gave little attention to the MOH until years after the Civil War when GAR activities made celebrities of many recipients. I’m inclined to think most actions that might, under todays guidelines, merit a DSC/NX or Silver Star probably went totally unrecognized, and that in general, only the most incredible actions resulted in the MOH.
I do know that in virtually every expanded narrative for actions pre-WWI I’ve read, I’ve been constantly amazed at how understated the MOH citation itself is.
Doug’s page about the MoH “Purge of 1917” can be found here:
http://www.homeofheroes.com/moh/corrections/purge_army.html
FYI: it was the 27th Maine that was awarded the MoH “en masse” – which were later stricken. 864 MoHs were in this group.
Well, I see Doug got here while I was typing the comment above. Welcome back, Doug. (smile)
I add this as a separate post because it doesn’t relate as much to the questions as the climate. IMHO the greatest burden of being a MOH recipient is two-fold: jealousy and the tendency for others to re-think the award and the recipient. I’ve been at gatherings where I’ve seen vets gather around a MOH recipient like groupies, lavishing praise and awe…only to walk away afterwards to say something like, “Hell, he didn’t do anything half a dozen of my friends who didn’t get the MOH did. Medals DO evoke jealousy, and there is plenty of that to go around in veterans circles. We tend to love our heroes…their story inspires us, but even more we tend to crave the scandal that brings those heroes back down to our own level. Someone wrote, “Show me a hero and I’ll write you a tragedy.” There are plenty examples of such…MOH recipients who get in trouble with the law…one RVN recipient was killed robbing a store. MOH recipients are HUMAN, with the same human fallacies we all have. If they were super-human, they wouldn’t be heroes…what they did was what one would expect them to do. We admire them because they are men, just like us, who rose above what we would expect anyone to be able to do. Their moment of heroism should never be diminished by post-combat actions. The man who was pivotal to the anti-Vietnam War movement (and mentor to Kerry) was the WWII MOH recipient who resigned as Commandant of the Corps in protest of the war. Then there is the RVN Chaplain who returned his MOH in protest of the American policies in South America. Maynard “Snuffy” Smith had nothing but legal problems all his life, but those could not take away from what he did in the air over Europe. Dwight Johnson was a Black hero, who returned to a country still with some prejudice and a wife with poor health that only exacerbated his financial problems. After he was shot and killed in a robbery attempt, his mother said, “Sometimes I wonder if Skip tired… Read more »
Doug, bless you for what you do.
As the son of a Korean War MoH(posthumous) recipient, and as a life-long family friend of the late COL Lewis Millett (MoH), I understand that these awardees credit their actions as much to their comrades as they do themselves. Millett once said he served with heroes who got nothing more than a verbal “thank you”.
Doug,
Thanks for your time and clarifications.
I can’t find anything on the Navy revoking the MOH.
Is there anyone who has refused to receive the MOH?
Here is a list of the 17 rescinded Navy MOHs: http://www.homeofheroes.com/moh/corrections/purge_navy.html
No person has ever successfully refused the MOH. (A common tactic among fakers is to say “I was nominated for the MOH but refuesed to accept it because other men did more than I did.”) The father of a Korean War Posthumous MOH recipient (McGovern) refused to accept his sons award in opposition to the Korean War (he lost two sons, the other receiving the SS in the war) but the Medal was awarded, just not presented. The parents of a RVN posthumous recipient initially refused to accept their son’s award based on religious grounds (they were Jehova’s Witnesses), but the Army prevailed on them to accept it without a ceremony, hand delivered to their door.
Enigma4you: here’s Doug’s page on revoked Navy MOHs.
http://www.homeofheroes.com/moh/corrections/purge_navy.html
There weren’t all that many – Doug’s page says 17, but it’s theoretically possible one or more others got revoked and Doug didn’t find out about it.
My Google foo is not strong today.
By RVN do you mean Vietnam Gallantry Cross?
RVN=Republic of Vietnam i.e. Vietnam War
I had the privilege of meeting and speaking with Greg “Pappy” Boyington about his life and the MOH. A local school is named after Mitch Paige .. Guadalcanal.
Thanks for the article
Just read Sergeant Major Morris’ MOH citation.
Just WOW! Unbelievable. What more can you say?
I met John Finn, MOH recipient at Pearl Harbor at a commemoration ceremony years back. One of the most down to earth guys you would ever want to meet. Invited me to his house in California (unfortunately never got there). Met someone a few years later who told me that John meant every word.
Funniest thing about him was that if a woman came within five feet of him they had to give him a hug and a kiss. I pointed that out to my shipmate John Finn and he just grinned.
Read his citation. He came away from the fight at Kaneohe Bay with something like 25 wounds. Again, just WOW!
John was a one-of-a-kind among great men. You missed an amazing experience by not visiting his ranch. Unlike any home we’ve ever visited. And he was a character. He joined us for our oldest son’s graduation from MCRD years ago. When introduced to the CG he put his arms around him and kissed him on the cheeck and said, “I always kiss Admirals and Generals.” The CG was obviously embarassed and uncomfortable but John didn’t really care. What a guy.
When ever I read an article like this and then read the comments, I always want to go on a “hugfest”. So y’all know I’m “air hugging” all of y’all now.
Kinda looks the same as escaping a straight jacket, that’s just cause I think Chip just grabbed my ass.
Giggle snort burp fart!
Seriously though, thanks so much for all the service sacrifice and putting up with all my fan girling and being a pain in the butt!
Aww,
I really do try to think up stuff that is relevant and will provoke conversation. (Sock puppet funeral exception, was bored and the idea was just to funny not to do)
I am always open to ideas and criticism. So please let me know if you guys want to see something.
You along with all the other writers do a fabulous job.
The sock puppet funeral was hilarious!
Used to hang out sometimes with Mike Clausen, who I miss.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raymond_M._Clausen,_Jr.
He reminded me much of Ira Hayes. Mike was definitely one of a kind, having been booted from the MOH Society twice. Thanks for the comments and explanations Doug.
About 11 or 12 or maybe 13 years ago, while on vacation, I met a MOH recipient named Robert Howard (also known as Bad Bob)at the Medal Of Honor Museum in Charleston S.C.
You can talk that it is because of their(recipients)being in the right place at the right time they were awarded the MOH. I firmly believe that Col. Howard was always in the right place and right time to be awarded. He looked 4 times harder then woodpecker lips and beef jerky when I saw him. I cannot believe what he was like as a Ranger or Special Forces Instructor.
I firmly believe that Col. Howard was put here on this Earth to show folks what being a hero actually is about. It is not about yourself. He was more then willing to talk about others who had been awarded the Medal and praised them for their sacrifice. He never claimed he was special or that he was better then anyone else. A very humble man he just said he was there to provide leadership and that was what he had done. I left the U.S.S. Yorktown pretty amazed at who I had met.
Sorry that this has become a rant or if I have hijacked the comments. I know the requirements for the Congressional Medal of Honor have changed along with the politics over the years. I expect it will that way for the next generations of warriors when they do things of might and wonder that raise the bar just like their forefathers did. All I can say is I am glad to have served while they were around.
Although the pomp and circumstance was really cool, my family would much rather have my uncle with us today, than for him to have been posthumously awarded the MOH.